If the law applies equally to cars and bikes and both are considered vehicles, but the Central Park precinct is only ticketing cyclists, then that is the very definition of selective enforcement.

Selective enforcement is illegal, right? Can an officer doing that be reported to internal affairs or to the Civilian Complaint Review Board?

The police action in Central Park is selectively targeting only certain road users (cyclists) for traffic infractions while witnessing but ignoring the more serious and dangerous traffic infractions by other road users (motorists).

Secondly, even within their supposed zero tolerance for traffic infractions by cyclists, there is a second layer of selective enforcement going on. Only certain cyclists are stopped.

I have heard in person from people and read on streetsblog about all the tickets being given. I have noticed a much heavier than usual police presence in the park for the last two months. I go up and talk to the officers and they act like it is normal and they are not up to anything different. I roll through red lights while in the park in full view of those police interlopers and am not given tickets. This represents more selective enforcement and possible profiling.

This situation is such a waste of police resources and is wrong in every way.

Glad TA did this. Thank you. Next time, tape a nice clear sign above the speed read-out that says Central Park Speed Limit 25Mph. That will make the video more effective at emphasizing the blatant lawbreaking going on here.

The speed limit for bikes in Central Park is 15 MPH.

That’s because they’re so much more dangerous at that speed than cars are at 40.

Mr. Rosenthal, maybe it’s time for some FOIA action>?

Gotta say, the worst thing about this NYPD selective enforcement of cyclists in Central Park: these are the worst tickets imaginable for so many reasons. Why are they doing it? Easy: if police brass want their officers to write however-many tickets for the month they can easily just sit in the park and nab rider after rider (many just out trying to get exercise or move around) and easily meet whatever quota and make it look like they are doing their job and writing those tickets.

It’s harder – but really not THAT much harder – to go out and ticket wrong way cyclists and those riding on the sidewalk. Like thismuch harder. And those tickets would actually make a difference in the mindset of riders and at least be harder to argue against. Again NYPD – write some tickets that will change behavior for unlawful riding, not someone riding in a park. Sheesh!

In Prospect Park, the West Lake downhill on the Southwest quadrant (in front of the circle for Coney Island Avenue) allows cyclists to get up to speeds of 25+ miles per hour. when cars are on that road during afternoon/evening rush hour, it’s guaranteed that nobody in a motor vehicle is going less than 30.

I’m dreading the day when Marty convinces the police to get all zero-tolerance-ey on cyclists in Prospect Park. Or has the Beep figured out this is a no-win proposition?

If Doug Blonsky is right that the current light infrastructure will not support flashing yellow lights, we need the NYPD to treat hard red as flashing yellow when the park is quiet. Police are capable of using proper discretion and they can make this work for all park users if they want to. Hopefully Councilwoman Brewer and Boro Pres. Stringer can help NYPD and CPC find a workable solution.

Neither bicycles nor motor vehicles existed when the roadways were designed. The park roads were designed for pedestrians, equestrians and horse drawn carriages or teams as they were called. Issues with accommodating cycling in the park started at the time the modern bicycle was developed in the 1890’s. A cycling boom developed with millions of bikes being sold. Conflict between cyclists and other Central Park users started immediately. Cyclists proposed a separate cycling path inside the park perimeter.

Interesting account at http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9900E4DF153BEE33A25753C1A9639C94679ED7CF gives some

For the same reason cars require licenses, registration, and insurance: they are several orders of magnitude more dangerous.

Joe R, this seems somewhat hypocritical, especially given your usual stance toward traffic signals.
It is a red herring to talk about cars travelling through unsignalled intersections at 30mph … that is equivalent behavior to bikers “burning” through red lights, which I think we all would agree is neither safe nor desirable.

A driver treating a red light as a stop, or even yield, sign is not inherently more dangerous than a bike rider doing the same. You are typically a proponent of removing traffic signals, as I recall, so I am surprised you do not conced this point.

This is not an issue of the relative size and speed of the car vs. bicycle. It is an issue of how we want to optimize traffic flow in our streets.

The real conflict arises from traffic lights that are engineered to move the maximum amount of car traffic through the streets. Obeying these signals is very inconvenient for a biker, a situation which is exacerbated when there is little or no cross traffic at the intersection. Allowing bikes to proceed through red lights is a compromise which let bikers travel more efficiently while retaining signals optimized for car drivers.

“A driver treating a red light as a stop, or even yield, sign is not inherently more dangerous than a bike rider doing the same. You are typically a proponent of removing traffic signals, as I recall, so I am surprised you do not conced this point.”

I agree, provided the driver slows down enough to really see if it is clear, the same as I do on my bike when I pass reds. You could easily just have “yield to peds” for everyone on the Central Park loop but NYC drivers would likely never yield. Push to cross would really be the ideal solution when cars are present in Central Park, perhaps even when they’re not. Yes, I’m generally a proponent of removing traffic lights when possible. I’ll also admit a good part of the reason why I generally loathe them is the poor way they’re implemented in NYC. Properly done, traffic signals can be a good tool to move motor traffic safely and efficiently. And no user should ever get a red when there’s nothing crossing the intersection. That’s really one of my biggest beefs about traffic lights. We’ve had the technology to prevent that for a while.

Thanks also for pointing out that red herring. I’m feeling a little ill today, just wasn’t thinking clearly. Great explanation in your last paragraph regarding why cyclists should be allowed to proceed through reds(provided there’s no peds crossing or cross traffic).

Chris,

Unfortunately, the mentality you describe pretty much goes with any competitive sport, not just bike racing. Ironically, it’s exactly that which turned me off to the sport except as a spectator. Back in college, I rode a lot recreationally, and it was suggested by several friends that perhaps I should consider bike racing. As much as I loved riding 3000 ro 4000 miles a year, I wasn’t sure if I’d be up for riding 6000 to 10000 miles. However, the clincher (no pun intended) was the attitude of the a-holes I would be riding with. To put it kindly, the majority were the kind of people I really wouldn’t want to have anything to do with off the race track. That attitude seems to permeate the sport at its lower levels, although to be fair those at the highest levels seem to mellow out a bit (perhaps modestly realizing they’re not unbeatable?). Riding with some of these guys, it was unbelieveable the way they might fly through crowded crosswalks, then get pissed at me for not doing the same. My answer to that was I’m more interested in not killing someone than in keeping my heart rate up. Needless to say, that didn’t go over well. Granted, being skilled cyclists, we could probably pull stunts like that 999 times out of 1000 in perfect safety. But to me, the problem wasn’t just that 1 time in 1000 when something would go wrong, but the fact that doing crap like that scared/pissed off pedestrians 1000 times out of 1000. Sad to hear that things really haven’t changed much in 30 years. This is why the more commuter and sane recreational cyclists we get out there to balance out public impressions, the better.

All that said, it’s probably a better idea to just ride elsewhere if a race is in progress. Not worth the conflict even if you technically have as much right to be there as the racers. I’ll guess that some of their anger had to do more with the fact that there are very limited times/places where one can race in NYC. Honestly, we should build these guys decent places in each borough where they can race 24 hours a day without running into anyone else. It’ll make them happy, and also make the rest of the public who has to deal with them happy.