Light bust at Grand Army Plaza, Prospect Park

Although I’ve been bicycling for many years now, I’ve come a long way from bike-friendly small-town Davis, California. Biking in New York City now is more than just a ten minute commute to class. It’s an urban alternative transportation, which is both enjoyable and practical. But as with large cities, more conflicts arise as we cyclists battle for the road with not just cars, but pedestrians, and less obviously, cops? Just because there are many miles of bike lanes laid out, it does not mean that we are recognized. I’ve ditched my monthly metrocard a few months ago and become a serious bike commuter. So it would make sense I’d attend my first Critical Mass in my city of Brooklyn. (FYI: Critical Mass is group biking around the city in an effort to make biking more prominent and legitimized)

I wouldn’t say this one in Brooklyn was a complete let-down, but it definitely wasn’t what I expected. First, there weren’t too many people. 25 max. Second, there was a weird tension between the cyclists & the cops. Apparently October had always been a stressful month for cyclists. I researched for any recent cyclist-cop clashes but couldn’t find any. Hmm. It was definitely a strange setup: there were way too many cops to cyclists. I see that cops could facilitate our ride by blocking the streets, but that is just too much. The trail of cops was quite intimidating. The feeling “whooo, it’s like we’re being escorted”, faded quickly. So during the ride, which was in and around Prospect Park, one of the cyclists commented, “Let’s confuse the cops!” Though I’m not the biggest fan of cops, I didn’t think it was an amazing idea to piss them off. We followed anyway because it was just a bike ride. It was a lovely night. Light breeze, mid-high 60s. Prospect Park at night might be creepy but it feels okay since I’m with so many others. We rode through a marching band parade. Confused street onlookers. Then after our final ride through the park, to our starting point, the Grand Army Plaza entrance, we saw blinking lights — LOTS of them. At first I didn’t know what was going on. The row of cops were pointing and shouting instructions: You pass through, you turn right. I was one who made it through. My friend wasn’t so lucky. We found out it was a “light bust.” Cyclists without lights got tickets. Oh dear, it was a TRAP. I didn’t believe it. According to another, Brooklyn cops have always been lenient toward the cyclists, and kept out of our way. Manhattan was the stricter place. Now that Friday night, at least 20 cops were waiting for us knowing there would be lots of cyclists at that point. What a set-up. At the end, lots were busted for not having headlights. One was arrested for not having an ID [Edited: He was detained. Thanks, Jabir!]. My friend had handed me my bike light not knowing it mattered. Well, it was either him or me. It was also his first Critical Mass experience.

Well, there you go. I’m not certain I’ll participate again. Even if I avoided a citation, I didn’t want it to be a play between cyclists and cops. I just want to ride, ride, ride, show our existence to not just the cops, but to everyone. Critical Mass just isn’t the way to go about it, at least not in Brooklyn.

8 months ago, after I told a boy who sat next to me on my flight back to New York where I lived in Brooklyn, he said, “Oh, so do you go to Pratt?” I had never heard of Pratt. I had just moved from Greenpoint, in the northern tip of Brooklyn. Pratt Institute sits in a nice little neighborhood in Clinton Hill/Ft. Greene only a few blocks from my current apartment. I pass by the school on the way to the grocery store, the bank, the library and the park yet it’s so esoteric to me. Their gated campus, neatly mowed lawns, security and art store intimidates me – mostly because I don’t belong.

1. Brooklynian – Forums about Brooklyn. Popular: in less than a day, my post received over 100 views.
2. Myrtle Avenue – Businesses in and around the Avenue
3. Clinton Hill Blog – Clinton Hill blog
4. Brooklyn on Wikitravel – Pretty comprehensive information

1. Central Park, Manhattan
   The only time I would probably go here is after work; it’s only a few subway stops from the SoSauce office. Otherwise, it’s a bit out of the way for a large constructed piece of nature in the middle of upper Manhattan. While vast and clean, it’s clearly superficial– half of it is fenced off for “preservation”, and the other public parts– especially the Meadow, is too populated. It’s spring, so people still have a chance to nab a lucky spot in the shade! I sound bitter, but when you don’t want to leave the City, it’s still a nice place to grab a pretzel and lie down and enjoy the landscape… towering buildings poking out from the trees.
2. Prospect Park, Brooklyn
   I’m madly in love. You can go fishing here. I could count more than a few lakes/ponds and fields and other scenic nature components. It’s big enough (yet small enough) that you can get lost without really being lost. Several turns could make you end up in front of an ice rink near a lake or have you across the street from McDonald’s. But when you lie in the middle of a meadow, you can’t see buildings poking out and maybe you can pretend you’re not in New York. I’ve gone 3 times this month though it’s hell to get there… I’d either have to take a train to the City and transfer back to Brooklyn, or walk for about an hour to get there.
3. Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn
   The landscape reminds me of Dolores Park, San Francisco, except it has a fort, Ft Greene. It’s hilly, with proper amount of trees and open spaces. I say it’s a great community-sized park, decent for picnics, although not big enough if real isolation is needed.