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Eyes on the Street: The Fourth Avenue Protected Police Staging Area

Officers relax in the Fourth Avenue bike lane yesterday, which has become the department's parking lot during nearly two weeks of protests. Photo: Stephen Miller
Officers relax in the Fourth Avenue bike lane yesterday, which has become the department's parking lot during nearly two weeks of protests. Photo: Stephen Miller

Nearly two weeks ago, a Staten Island grand jury declined to indict an NYPD officer in the chokehold death of Eric Garner. Since then, protestors have taken to the street on a near-daily basis. To prepare for protests near Union Square, a popular demonstration spot, the NYPD has, for the past two weeks, diagonally parked a large group of vehicles in the Fourth Avenue protected bike lane from 14th Street down as far as 9th Street.

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Thanks to DOT's redesign of Fourth Avenue earlier this year, police mopeds and vans now have a convenient parking spot during the past two weeks' protests. Photo: Stephen Miller

With traffic often slowed as Fourth Avenue approaches Union Square, particularly during protests, cyclists heading uptown are forced to mix it up with cars as they pass van after van with officers staying warm inside. It's a regular problem around precinct houses, magnified to an even larger scale, and another small reminder from the NYPD: It's their city. You just live in it.

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