Apparently, she's Public Enemy #1.
In a bizarre twist on the ongoing cycling crackdown, police issued both a criminal summons and a $190 ticket to a mom on a family-style e-bike in Park Slope last week, alleging she rode through a red light and did not stop for a pedestrian when there wasn't even one there.
It is the first known case of NYPD cops giving out a criminal summons as well as a traditional traffic ticket to a cyclist as part of Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch's ongoing and sprawling war on cyclists that she says is only targeting "out-of-control" e-bikers.
The mom, Phaedra Paulson, sees it a lot differently.
"I’ve been in New York for 20-something years and to be considered a criminal for passing through a red light [after stopping] on my bike is what the absolute fucking 'Handmaid’s Tale' are we living in," said Paulson. "Are you kidding me, I’m going to be a criminal?"
Paulson, a professional designer and stylist as well as a mom of a 6-year-old daughter, disputed the double infractions.
She was carrying materials for work from Manhattan on Wednesday evening along Dean Street – a heavily trafficked east-west bike lane – and stopped at a red light at Fifth Avenue, Paulson said.
There weren't cars or pedestrians around, so she followed a Citi Bike e-bike rider through the red and pulled up at the next intersection, Flatbush Avenue, where a cop stopped her and the other rider.
The officer hit her with the $190 ticket for failing to yield to a pedestrian, though Paulson said there were no people on foot crossing at the time. And the criminal summons was for going through the red light.
"There were no pedestrians," she said. "It feels like a huge dragnet."
Paulson is one of countless people caught in the NYPD's data-free spree that launched on April 28, which has caught up both e-bikes and non-electric bikes. Streetsblog has detailed the Kafkaesque blitz like no other, showing how it has led to cops pulling a Taser, jumping in front of cyclists and then charging them with failing to yield, and charging them for legal riding behavior like going with the "Walk" sign.
The experience shook Paulson, who has chosen biking as her preferred mode of transportation over her car.
She got a Rad Power e-bike with a back seat about two years ago and has covered nearly 2,000 miles with the device. It has been a game changer for her and her family, whether it be transporting her daughter to school or lugging stuff between boroughs for work.
"I’ve spent the better part of my adult life on a bicycle, I hate driving," she said. "It’s just a nice way to be in the city. It’s freedom, it’s ease. I don’t want to be stuck in traffic."
Now she will have to take time off from work to go to sit in summons court and pay at least $190 if she decides not to contest the charge, despite not endangering anybody with her behavior.
"I will lose a day of work – for working," she said. "We’re just trying to live our fucking lives."
A police spokesperson, who declined to give a name, said the agency is "looking into" the case.
Tisch said previously that her campaign against e-bikes stems from data, but later admitted that it was based only on complaints about electric bikes that she has "heard." In fact, according to the NYPD, e-bike riders caused 0.04 percent of pedestrian injuries in the first three quarters of the year. Here's what that looks like:
Streetsblog has been covering NYPD Commissioner Tisch's decision to turn traditional traffic tickets into criminal summonses like no one else in town. Here's a full list of our coverage over the past two weeks, in case you have missed something or need a reminder that when there's a big story on the livable streets beat, turn to Streetsblog:
May 2: "Policy Change: NYPD Will Write Criminal Summonses, Not Traffic Tickets, for Cyclists."
May 5: "NYPD’s Red Light Criminalization Marks ‘Obscene’ Escalation: Advocates."
May 6: "As NYPD’s Criminal Crackdown on Cyclists Expands, It Grows More Absurd: Victims."
May 7: "Komanoff: Tsk, Tsk, Tisch — Criminal Summonses for Cyclists Will Backfire."
May 9: "NYPD’s Push To Criminalize Cycling Spells Trouble For Immigrant Workers."
May 12: "Cyclist Launches Class Action Suit For Bogus NYPD Red Light Tickets."
May 14: "NYPD Admits Bike Crackdown Based on ‘Community’ Vibes, Not Data."
May 15: "Tisch Rap: NYPD Criminal E-bike Summonses Surge 4,000 Percent."
May 15: "Quiet Desperation: NYPD’s Tisch Didn’t Tell DOT About Her Crackdown on Cycling."
May 16: "'All in the Family': NYPD Commissioner and Power-Broker Mom Are Both Crusading Against E-Bikes."
May 19: "A Valuable History Lesson for Jessica Tisch: ‘The Rules of the Road’ Were Written for Cars"
May 19: "Day 1: Criminal Court Judge Issues Safety Lectures to Cyclists, Including Citi Bike Celeb"
May 21: "‘Cart Before Horse’: Upper West Siders Demand NYPD Halt Bike Crackdown"
May 22: "‘The Biggest Complaint’? The Real Stories Behind NYPD Commissioner Tisch’s Bike Crackdown"
May 28: "Defending Bike Crackdown, Adams Says Drivers Have Been Targeted ‘Far Too Long’"
May 29: "Council Outrage Over NYPD Bike Criminalization Grows, But Speaker Adams Is In No Rush"
May 29: Memo to NYPD Commish Tisch: Drivers Keep Driving, And Killing, on Suspended Licenses
May 29: "Data Dump: E-Bike Crashes Were Down Before NYPD Crackdown, Contradicting Tisch’s Rationale"
May 30: "Tisch Reveals Real Reason for Her E-Bike Crackdown: E-Bike Licensing"
May 30: "Cyclist: Cop Pulled a Taser During Summons Chase"
June 2: "Monday’s Headlines: Critical Mass of Rage Against the NYPD Edition"
June 4: "Echo Chamber: Tisch Touts E‑Bike Crackdown to Adoring Upper East Siders"
June 5: "‘War on Cyclists’: E‑Bike Speed Limit Panned by Safety Advocates"
June 5: "Thursday’s Headlines: Speed Limits for E‑Bikes Edition"
June 6: "How Will E-Bike Speed Limits Actually Work?"
June 6: "Manhattan’s West Side Stands Up To E‑bike Criminalization"
June 9: "Lander and Myrie: No Nix on Commish Tisch Despite Tix Blitz"
June 9: "Anatomy Of A Debacle: How Mayor Adams Went From Visionary to Bully on E‑Bikes"
June 10: "Now Do Cars: Adams and Council Push For E‑Bike Speed Limits Ignores The Biggest Danger"
June 13: "Friday’s Video: A Recap on Mayor Adams’s ‘War on Cyclists’"
