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NYPD requests injunction against the NYC Critical Mass
If you're a New Yorker, please attend the hearing. If not, please fax letters in support. # below.
PLEASE FORWARD
hi friends,
New York City has just requested an injunction against the NYC Critical Mass. This is the monthly pro-bike ride that is now attracting up to 5000 people. They say we are blocking traffic, yet we all know bicyclers are traffic & that they should be encouraging more cycling for a healthier less-congested city. If you support the Critical Mass and don't want to see mass arrests this friday (it's the extra fun Halloween ride this friday, starting at 7pm Union Square North), there's some things you can do, the most important is having a packed hearing room as the City's requested injunction is granted or denied! Please spread the word far and wide. It's assumed a number of people will be able to speak.
3 pm tomorrow, Wednesday, October 27th
Judge Pauley's courtroom
500 Pearl St.(Near City Hall, opposite Foley Square, south of 100 Center St.)
http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?ed=Le_uuup_0TqqyfndOlUgZUDxX6SF0g--&
csz=ny%2C+ny&country=us&new=1&name=&qty=
you can also read the injunction at http://info.interactivist.net -- and yes, this impacts many kinds of processions and gatherings...You can also write a letter of support by tonight to Judge Pauley:
Honorable William H Pauley III
United States District Court
500 Pearl Street
New York, NY 10038
The letters should explain who you are, what you do and why you think that Critical Mass is important, or why you choose to ride in it (you can add how many years you have taken part, what groups you are involved with, etc). Please drop it off at the bike convergence space, 49 E Houston tonight, or you can fax it to this machine (by 9:30 pm EST) & we will take it over for you -- 212 674 6206 (no cover sheet needed)
One of the amazing things about Critical Mass is that it's an unorganized coincidence, a ride without leaders. So it's important that everyone helps get the word out and show it matters to us all.
if you click http://www.critical-mass.org, you'll find it has spread to nearly 400 cities, all yearning for cleaner air and more convivial public space.
You need not be a New Yorker to respond ASAP!
spread the word, many thanks
hi friends,
New York City has just requested an injunction against the NYC Critical Mass. This is the monthly pro-bike ride that is now attracting up to 5000 people. They say we are blocking traffic, yet we all know bicyclers are traffic & that they should be encouraging more cycling for a healthier less-congested city. If you support the Critical Mass and don't want to see mass arrests this friday (it's the extra fun Halloween ride this friday, starting at 7pm Union Square North), there's some things you can do, the most important is having a packed hearing room as the City's requested injunction is granted or denied! Please spread the word far and wide. It's assumed a number of people will be able to speak.
3 pm tomorrow, Wednesday, October 27th
Judge Pauley's courtroom
500 Pearl St.(Near City Hall, opposite Foley Square, south of 100 Center St.)
http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?ed=Le_uuup_0TqqyfndOlUgZUDxX6SF0g--&
csz=ny%2C+ny&country=us&new=1&name=&qty=
you can also read the injunction at http://info.interactivist.net -- and yes, this impacts many kinds of processions and gatherings...You can also write a letter of support by tonight to Judge Pauley:
Honorable William H Pauley III
United States District Court
500 Pearl Street
New York, NY 10038
The letters should explain who you are, what you do and why you think that Critical Mass is important, or why you choose to ride in it (you can add how many years you have taken part, what groups you are involved with, etc). Please drop it off at the bike convergence space, 49 E Houston tonight, or you can fax it to this machine (by 9:30 pm EST) & we will take it over for you -- 212 674 6206 (no cover sheet needed)
One of the amazing things about Critical Mass is that it's an unorganized coincidence, a ride without leaders. So it's important that everyone helps get the word out and show it matters to us all.
if you click http://www.critical-mass.org, you'll find it has spread to nearly 400 cities, all yearning for cleaner air and more convivial public space.
You need not be a New Yorker to respond ASAP!
spread the word, many thanks
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NYPD loses on injunction against NYC Critical Mass!!! Update to follow!
by abh 28 Oct 2004
Update: Injunction against Critical Mass Denied
Meanwhile, IMC readers are hotly debating the future of Critical Mass in a time of public interest and growth.
One reader writes: "The court scene was great! So many supporters showed the judge let them into the jury box for seating. The city legal staff (it would be a stretch to call them counsel as they were so inept) made super slow pitch for their case and they inadvertently blew their own argument by supplying the judge with the website for critical mass. It showed they well knew there were large rides dating way back and the city was in no way taken unawares by large recent rides. Gallery had to stifle laughter throughout the procedure."
Another reader notes: "The very most intriguing feature of today's hearing was the City's acknowledgement that it is not against the law to ride more than two abreast in New York City."
Judge Pauley will rule Thursday morning on both injunctions.
In a packed hearing this afternoon, with at least 100 people crammed into a court room that comfortably fit 40, lawyers for the city and for the 5 cyclists made their case before Judge Pauley on the two questions at hand:
* Should the Judge grant an injunction enjoining the NYPD from cutting bicycle locks without charging the owner with a crime?
* Should the Judge grant the City an injunction demanding that Time's Up [times-up.org] must get a permit for Friday's Critical Mass or all participants will risk arrest.
#file_1# The filings are included above. Plaintiffs' co-counsel Steve Hyman, argued for the cyclists on the first issue: the city took private property without notice and hasn't charged anyone with a crime. They can't do that. The judge appeared to take this due process issue very seriously, and lawyers for the City had very few answers to his questions about how to justify this. The City argued in their filings and to the judge that the cyclists had abandoned their bikes to avoid arrest, which only begs the question (which Hyman did indeed ask), Why not charge them then?
Judge Pauley interjected as well that perhaps cyclists saw the NYPD blocking the far end of the street and "thought it was time for a capuccino." Which of course brought laughter from the gathered public, which of course is not allowed in court. Alas.
Norm Siegel argued on the much broader question of whether the Judge should grant the city's request that would essentially bar Critical Mass in the absence of a permit. His argument boiled down to these points: * the permit issue does not belong in federal court, * making these five plaintiffs bear the burden of the permit issue is unfair, and * Critical Mass doesn't need a permit because it isn't against the law.
The judge, who had clearly done his homework, wanted the City to explain why they need an injunction now when this has been going on across the country for years and rides last summer were at least as large as Friday's ride is expected to be. Lawyers for the city appeared to be confused about which summer was last, as they seem to argue alternately that Critical Mass is new and Critical Mass is old. Bike Summer's Critical Mass had at least 1000 riders which the city acknowledged in their filings and then denied in court, claiming that the ride has only swollen to huge numbers in the last few months.
The very most intriguing feature of today's hearing was the City's acknowledgement that it is not against the law to ride more than two abreast in New York City. The Rules of the City of New York, which govern traffic in the city and supercede New York State traffic laws. Check P.26 of the attached PDF, "Memo of Law on Behalf of the Cyclists," for the finer points of the layers that make up traffic law in New York City. You'd never know it from the NYPD's recent press release [nyc.gov], but it is indeed entirely legal to ride more than two abreast, and lawyers for the City conceded this point. City rules which explicitly supercede the state law in question don't make a peep about riding two abreast, and explicitly state that on wide one-way streets you can ride on either side of the road. Chalk one up for the bikes.
Judge Pauley will rule Thursday morning on both injunctions. Stay tuned.
Today's filings are online at http://info.interactivist.net
See also:
http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=04/10/26/0042213&mode=nested&tid=14&tid=1&threshold=-1
Update: Injunction against Critical Mass Denied
Meanwhile, IMC readers are hotly debating the future of Critical Mass in a time of public interest and growth.
One reader writes: "The court scene was great! So many supporters showed the judge let them into the jury box for seating. The city legal staff (it would be a stretch to call them counsel as they were so inept) made super slow pitch for their case and they inadvertently blew their own argument by supplying the judge with the website for critical mass. It showed they well knew there were large rides dating way back and the city was in no way taken unawares by large recent rides. Gallery had to stifle laughter throughout the procedure."
Another reader notes: "The very most intriguing feature of today's hearing was the City's acknowledgement that it is not against the law to ride more than two abreast in New York City."
Judge Pauley will rule Thursday morning on both injunctions.
In a packed hearing this afternoon, with at least 100 people crammed into a court room that comfortably fit 40, lawyers for the city and for the 5 cyclists made their case before Judge Pauley on the two questions at hand:
* Should the Judge grant an injunction enjoining the NYPD from cutting bicycle locks without charging the owner with a crime?
* Should the Judge grant the City an injunction demanding that Time's Up [times-up.org] must get a permit for Friday's Critical Mass or all participants will risk arrest.
#file_1# The filings are included above. Plaintiffs' co-counsel Steve Hyman, argued for the cyclists on the first issue: the city took private property without notice and hasn't charged anyone with a crime. They can't do that. The judge appeared to take this due process issue very seriously, and lawyers for the City had very few answers to his questions about how to justify this. The City argued in their filings and to the judge that the cyclists had abandoned their bikes to avoid arrest, which only begs the question (which Hyman did indeed ask), Why not charge them then?
Judge Pauley interjected as well that perhaps cyclists saw the NYPD blocking the far end of the street and "thought it was time for a capuccino." Which of course brought laughter from the gathered public, which of course is not allowed in court. Alas.
Norm Siegel argued on the much broader question of whether the Judge should grant the city's request that would essentially bar Critical Mass in the absence of a permit. His argument boiled down to these points: * the permit issue does not belong in federal court, * making these five plaintiffs bear the burden of the permit issue is unfair, and * Critical Mass doesn't need a permit because it isn't against the law.
The judge, who had clearly done his homework, wanted the City to explain why they need an injunction now when this has been going on across the country for years and rides last summer were at least as large as Friday's ride is expected to be. Lawyers for the city appeared to be confused about which summer was last, as they seem to argue alternately that Critical Mass is new and Critical Mass is old. Bike Summer's Critical Mass had at least 1000 riders which the city acknowledged in their filings and then denied in court, claiming that the ride has only swollen to huge numbers in the last few months.
The very most intriguing feature of today's hearing was the City's acknowledgement that it is not against the law to ride more than two abreast in New York City. The Rules of the City of New York, which govern traffic in the city and supercede New York State traffic laws. Check P.26 of the attached PDF, "Memo of Law on Behalf of the Cyclists," for the finer points of the layers that make up traffic law in New York City. You'd never know it from the NYPD's recent press release [nyc.gov], but it is indeed entirely legal to ride more than two abreast, and lawyers for the City conceded this point. City rules which explicitly supercede the state law in question don't make a peep about riding two abreast, and explicitly state that on wide one-way streets you can ride on either side of the road. Chalk one up for the bikes.
Judge Pauley will rule Thursday morning on both injunctions. Stay tuned.
Today's filings are online at http://info.interactivist.net
See also:
http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=04/10/26/0042213&mode=nested&tid=14&tid=1&threshold=-1
For more information:
http://nyc.indymedia.org/feature/display/1...
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