Cyclists Still Getting Criminal Summonses — And Mayor Mamdani Is Still Waffling

Another day, another criminal summons sting against cyclists at the Williamsburg Bridge — and another day of Mayor Mamdani blowing off questions about why he is continuing a policy of his predecessor that he says he opposes.

Streetsblog witnessed two more cyclists get criminal summonses for allegedly riding through a red light at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge on Thursday — the latest issuance of pink summonses that are part of a Mamdani-Adams crackdown cycling overseen by Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

“I got to the intersection and the cop pulled me over, and I was like, ‘What?’ and he said, ‘You ran the red light,'” said one of the cyclists after receiving the ticket at the light at Delancey and Suffolk Street, which is not a through street. The intersection is what some cyclists call “a fish-in-a barrel spot for cops” because the traffic light, which was installed for cars, now only applies to cyclists since the intersection was redesigned to bar through traffic by car drivers.

The other cyclist, who also declined to give her name because of the criminal nature of the summons, added, “That’s not what cops should do for a red light,” referring to getting a criminal ticket instead of a regular traffic ticket.

She also said the police officer wrongly told her the ticket could be paid online — it can’t; it requires suspects to appear in court, which can take all day. Drivers who run red lights in their 2,500-pound vehicles merely get traffic tickets payable by mail or online.

One of the ticketed cyclists confronted the police officer.

“I was like, ‘What are you doing?'” she said. “And he said, ‘This actually comes from way above me,’ but it’s still confusing, right, because cars can’t even go through here and I’m getting a criminal summons for running a red light.”

Both cyclists said they felt entrapped by the police sting, which comprised at least five officers at a traffic signal that drivers routinely run with impunity.

The policy, indeed, comes from “way above” the officer on the beat. It was created by Tisch while she was the police commissioner under then-Mayor Eric Adams. Yet it has continued under Mayor Mamdani, despite saying several times that he opposes the policy.

Since becoming mayor, Mamdani has been asked repeatedly about why he allows the police commissioner he hired to carry out a policy against cyclists that he opposes. He has repeatedly said that he is in “conversations” with Tisch about it.

On Thursday, Streetsblog reporter Sophia Lebowitz again asked about it.

Mr. Mayor, I apologize for asking a question you’ve already been asked, but we haven’t really gotten a clear answer: You said as a candidate, and have reiterated as mayor, that you do not support the NYPD’s criminal crackdown on cyclists. Since taking office, you have said your conversations with Commissioner Tisch are “continuing.” Why do you continue to allow the commissioner to enforce a policy that you say you oppose?

The mayor’s answer was his latest non-answer:

“So, that’s a policy that was in place in the prior administration,” he said. “It has continued thus far. It is the subject of internal communications. We will have an update on that very soon as to what the new policy will be.”

A map of where these summonses have been issued suggests that this policy is both coming from the top, but also that commanders on the precinct level have broad discretion, given that there are some commands with few if any tickets, and some precincts — even some intersections — with scores of them.

The Seventh Precinct, which comprises the Delancey Street corridor where cops have been summonsing cyclists, is commanded by Capt. Jayson Evert, who was disciplined in 2021 by his superiors for abuse of authority after the Civilian Complaint Review Board substantiated a charge that he refused to process a civilian complaint while he was a cop in the 13th Precinct.