NYC Cyclist Ticketed For Riding on Sidewalk; Passerby Arrested For Cracking Joke

• Why have balls or defend your Constitutional right to free speech?

• just say your sorry and move on...why challenge the police?

• It looks like NYC is starting to have the same kind of crime problem we have in Vermont - not enough criminals to go around... forcing the police to "drum up business" however they can...

• Riding on the sidewalk isn't necessarily the best idea but if it wasn't packed with walkers what's the harm? The marshal law, police state isn't coming folks, it's here. Right there in that video defecating all over everyone's constitutional rights.

• I don't never wnat to go to New York

• cop should be suspended before he does something worse. He has attitude problems

• Wow. And we're giving these psychopaths guns and badges?!

• The ticketing officer is a sgt., he was training the two rookies that were in the van with him. No, it was not thrown out. The sgt was determined not to let it go. The man was charged with disorderly conduct, impeding police business(something to that effect) and resisting arrest.

• In actuality, the cyclist was not disobeying the law. He was returning to his home where the impending ticket was being issued, on his driveway. "IRONIC OR MORONIC"?

• I disagree with the way the police handled this issue but they were correct in asking the passerby to mind his own business. The arrest was an issue between the police and the biker. The passerby was wrong for getting involved with his comments and the police was wrong for arresting the man for making a harmless remark.

• How is it that everyone walking the streets knows where the "bad" shit is happening, but three squad cars have to roll in for a guy on a bike and the average snarky New Yorker? I guess the city would have gone to ORANGE ALERT if someone jaywalked the corner just then!

• What an abuse of power!! However, it is always wise to do as the police instructs in a situation such as this. I understand the guy felt as if he did nothing wrong, but that is something for the prosecutor/judge to decide. If the cop say stop, you should probably stop walking at that point. If there weren't so many witnesses this guy probably would have been taken to the ground if not worse. I was stopped by a police officer while I was walking through the grounds of a hotel after coming from a friend's room. I jokingly said, "What can I do for you, Mr. Officer of the Law?" (as Robin Harris-the comedian always says in his standup routine). The officer didn't find it funny and became angry although I was smiling and not trying to belittle him. I was just in a good mood. He asked me for ID. I showed him my drivers license which was expired for about a week. He ask me what was I doing at the hotel, I said I just visited my friend in room 506. Since I hadn't done anything wrong/illegal he gave me a ticket for having an expired driving license. I told the police officer, I'm walking not driving. He said he didn't care and for me to laugh at that! I explained the incident to the judge and it was thrown out of court. But I still had to take time from work to make an appearance and the officer didn't even show up to court.

• This is New York, who cares... jeez...

• All I saw was a persons 1st ammendment get violated at first I thought it could be perceived as obstructing govermental administration but after consideration I must say I have seen cops crack jokes at people they arrest in plain view of the public on TV .... but luckly for theyoung man who was arrested they didnt beat on him with nightsticks or mace him as he was trying to walk away ...

• fuk police !!!!!!!!

• I took the "mistake" to mean that he should know better than to attract the attention of police... such a move usually doesn't end well for that person, whether they were doing anything wrong or not. I did not take it to mean that the author thought the guy did anything to deserve that type of response by the officer.

• "You a grown man, you know that's against the law," I would say "YOU a grown man... when the police tell you to move on, you move on... You don't take on the NYPD without expecting some sort of consequences."

• NYC the taint of America

• Your tax dollars at work. Ever wondered where the cops were when, say, you were being mugged at gunpoint, or your car or house was being broken into, or when some guy decided to drag his girlfriend into the street and start beating her, but when you called the police they didn't have any units available? Easy. They were doing *this*.

• Yo jizz23... your a real dumbass. "A riot". That man was practicing free speech you fuckin retard. Our first amendment. "Drug dealers steal candy and get caught"? Wow your mommy must be real proud of you. Next time keep your cum dumpster shut.... jizz 23

• Yo vnm1827 you're a real fuckin loser huh. "Entice a riot"? What are you retarded or some shit. That man was practicing his right to free speech. You dumbass. Its stupid fucks like you that fuel these cops to doing this dumb shit. You're a real idiot. Next time keep your cum dumpster shut. I pity idiots like you

• Disgusting. I can't believe this is allowed.

• Laws about driving bicycles in NY are painfully obvious and clear. Drive on the road, on the right side, as close to curb as practical... Law leaves choice for assessing danger on your side and if YOU think that it is safer for you, you have right to the whole width of the traffic lane. All traffic laws and regulations apply to bikes too. I drive here for couple of decades, daily. Never have had problem obeying these simple rules nor have been in danger from anyone. So, WHY drive on sidewalk? Bicyclist would be upset if trucks drove in bike lanes and would want them ticketed. Leave sidewalks to pedestrians for whom they are designed. Come to NYC and drive whole days long and enjoy but don't violate simple and clear traffic regulations, there is no need to.

• Why do you hate the United States of America? If you want to live in a police state, go to Central America.

• What's up with the cops in New York ? Don't they have real criminals to catch, WHAT A JOKE ON THE GOOFY COP.

• Good for him. He should learn to keep his mouth shut if it has nothing to do with him. I do not agree with the Police for pulling the cyclist over but many felons are caught and arrested by slipping with petty offenses. Murder suspects jump the turnstile and get caught. Guys caring drugs or weapons steal candy and get busted. Let the Police do what they need to...stay out of their business. You have no idea what was going on! Maybe they follwed him from the scene of a crime...do you know they didn't? Just STFU and mind your own business. And yes, that dumb ass almost did insite a riot...did ou see everyone else that had no idea what was happening come to his rescue...how long before one of them takes a swing? BBack up fata$$!!! You have no idea what's going on...it was like an elephant stampede up in dat mofo!!

• This is what you get when you live in NYC.....everyone there is worst then animals. My dog has more sense these people on the street. If NYC fell in the ocean would be the best thing that every happen to the US/\.

• Inciting a riot? By cracking a joke? You need your priorities checked.

• Inciting a riot? By cracking a joke? You need your priorities checked.

• You have to be kidding right! Seriously Vnm! These cops clearly over stepped their authority and then conjured some story to arrest the man. Instead of busting a cyclist for jumping the curb to ride 5 feet to their friends apartment they should have busted the guy across the street dealing drugs. Also, the guy wasn't even talking to the cops - so the cops then proceed to him, demand for ID - which he doesn't have to give them! Especially since he committed NO crime. Please learn that there is NO LAW in NYS and would argue most states in the US but, the backwards ones like Arizona, that require you to have an ID or to show one to an officer without reason. Why, because he said so? You have to be kidding. So the cop goes for the $50 summons on the guy on the bike, then arrest some other guy because of a joke, gets detained for not even a crime - costing me and you MORE TAX DOLLARS - which from this video evidence will sue the NYPD and get a nice settlement. COSTING ME AND YOUR MORE TAX dollars!

• I agree 100%. A patriot would never let the public know how stupid the cops can be. It undermines their authoritah and opens the door for terrorists and dirty hippies to illegally exercise the freedoms in the constitution that were written to protect the cops from looking stupid. Absolutely.

• How did he obstruct governmental administration?

• If armed cretins in government-issued costumes can treat innocent people this way, we don't have to "move to the middle east"; the worst of it has already moved here.

• NYPD doing their job that's all keep your opinions to yourself don't like law and order move to the middle east, what that man did was trying to incite a riot and obstruct governmental administration.

• Two things about this video. The guy on the bike and guy arrested were cracking jokes at each other. Also the guy in red the red shirt was more of a disturbance

• NYPD got nothing better to do?

• Dumb ass punks filming it...way to support your local police! If that "joker" was in your face breaking your balls, you'd want the police there to protect your punk ass!

• This is why the rest of the world hates America.

• I share your hopes. I also hope that I win the Powerball jackpot three times in a row, land the leading role in the next James Cameron action/adventure film, and live to be a sprightly 157 years of age.

• Glad all the real crime has been taken care of. now they are the comedy police.

• YOU are actually the one to come off rather angry and self-righteous here; this forum shouldn't be about you and in my opinion you've only served to turn this issue ( that is about something bigger than you into your own pretentious and whiny soapbox rant. Leech. If you have a problem with Joe, write him a letter.

• Police asking the lady to calm herself... even though it was the police that escalated things. This is why citizens should always have the right to arm themselves. The police state is getting worse!!!

• Don't be afraid to ride, or the fascists win. Just come in with your eyes open, know the laws, your rights, and expect them to be violated at the hand of NYPD. But if you are minding your Ps and Qs, you'll be fine. We have MANY great opportunities to ride in the coming month!

• You are correct....I thought it was just hash marks, but a second look you can see his stripes and shield....And he is the one who is supose to make the right decisions...

• The cyclist is standing right next to a legal curb-cut and garage. If he'd been driving a car onto the sidewalk, these cops wouldn't have had a second thought about it. NYPD: You are discrediting yourselves by pursuing this irrational crackdown against bicyclists. Stop it.

• The officer who initiated everything and made the arrest was a Sergeant.

• I would like to know what the Judge said....Did it make the Courts or get dismissed at the Pct? Funny, all those Officers responding I did not see one Sgt.

• I'm betting the original police officer who got mad had just that morning realized that "it's just a job, and you're just a tool," and he was upset about it. Creepy that all the REST of the officers didn't try to talk him outta being mad. "Face" is of course very important to people, it's just you gotta build it on something relatively stable, that isn't gonna end up hurting other people. Thing is, folks try to contrive that stability by creating a role and then filling it, as if that automatically makes you good, instead of vesting it in things like honor, integrity and ethics. None of these require rocket science. But they're more accessible in a social system that isn't wrapped around victimization, because then the conventional narrative and the reality are more closely aligned.

• The cops are obviously the ones who started the incident in the first place, it wouldn't have escalated had THEY minded their own business, he would have made light of the situation, casually with the cyclist and kept going, but the overwhelming majority of cops here are fucking ridiculous assholes who try to create hostile situations to arrest people and write them tickets for anything they can regardless of whether or not it's illegal. I've witnessed it too many times here.

• ...you guys can break it down any way you want but one thing is abundantly clear...that whole situation is fucking absurd...

• I'm on my way to New York next month, and was planning on spending a week just riding around. I'm not even sure now that I want to. I understand fines for driving cars on the footpath, but fining cyclists, if they're not being reckless, is one step from making laws about running.

• Among the myriad causes for outrage here, I think this is the most acute: There are at least a half-dozen armed tax-feeders involved in this incident, and not a single one of them had the rudimentary maturity and presence of mind to tell Mr. Alpha Male Badass Hero that he had no damn reason to arrest that kid.

• What poor community relations skills this shows. When you here people saying bad things about the cops... this kind of thing (only often much worse) is why. The initial arrest was frivolous, and it just went downhill from there. I think this is what happens when police, (who signed up to catch REAL crooks and bad guys) are assigned the task of giving out silly tickets to cyclists or mundane things like having handbags on their handle bars or riding 2 feet on a sidewalk (that is also a curb cut to a garage!) -- at some level the cops must feel like it's not what they signed up for-- But they have to make those numbers! So they have no sense of humor, they just bulldoze through it since they know it's BS. ---and then they just snap and arrest anyone who looks at them funny. Please, let's assign cops to more important tasks! All I saw in this video was the police department loosing even more credibility with the very people they have sworn to protect by treating grown men like 6th graders and handcuffing anyone who questions it. It's demeaning!

• @Ichatter28: You are so right: I AM crass; and I couldn't give a good fuck about it. I'd rather be that, than up on some high-horse, playing the arbiter of good taste and behavior. Joe just annoys the shit out of me, when his editorial voice can be heard in his posts. But Joe is also a big-boy-blogger; he can handle it. And maybe he might be a little more mindful about coming off so self-righteous in his writing. meow

• Jaycee that was crass

• Thank you for posting. I only hope that this video finds its way to Police internal affairs and that the ticketing officer is severely disciplined for abuse of authority. Rayclarkpalmer

• I totally wanna be friends with the people filming. HILARIOUS.

• The Strokes were right all along.

• A, harassment, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest - the overbearing cop trifecta. Cops can always find (or create) reasons to arrest anyone on one of those three, or all three, charges.

• Fair enough.

• Johnny, you might be right! If that was your takeaway from what I wrote, I obviously did not do well enough to get across how absurd I think this arrest is. In fact, I only posted it to bring attention to the unfairness. That said, I've been harassed by police officers enough in my life -- and witnessed too many situations like this -- that I know getting rattled, raising one's voice and talking back only serve to escalate the situation, fueling power-tripping assholes like this officer in the sunglasses. In that sense, I think terms like "smart-ass" and "big mouth" are fair, but it should also be clear in my write-up that neither of those two things are, or should be, illegal.

• '"Riding on the sidewalk, huh?" a guy walking by laughs. "You a grown man, you know that's against the law," adds another man. "Mind your own business," the cop shouts back, and the smart-ass makes his first mistake, countering with, "I wasn't even talking to you!" From there it's on, and pretty embarrassing for both sides, but mainly the professionals.' What "mistake" did the so-called smart-ass actually make? Certainly none that would merit getting cuffed and wagoned. What was so embarrassing about what the smart-ass did? He just popped off and was breaking balls. And technically, he was defending the law and cops. And in so doing I think he was being sarcastic and somewhat ironic with his commentary on some bullshit, draconian law enforcement: a ticket for riding a few seconds on the sidewalk? Are you fucking kidding me? It wasn't even as if the smart-ass cursed the cops out or anything. "...it spirals into a full-blown situation in which five officers, flanked eventually by two cop cars and one NYPD van, arrest a guy for having a big mouth -- basically for being annoying -- and then getting outraged." I mean, it almost reads like you are defending the outrageous actions of the police in this case, like the smart-ass had it coming or something; at the very least, you have created a false equivalence between the smart-ass' "big mouth" and the police basically violating this man's 1st and 4th amendment rights. Look, I recognize that this is a blog, and you are more than welcome to editorialize till your heart is content. In fact, that is one of the things that keep me and others coming to blogs more in more for news/opinion. And with all that said, I've read enough of your stuff here now to get a sense of your voice and maybe a little bit about you, Joe, and I must say: I REALLY dislike you. You may or may not realize it, but, while you are a very good writer, your posts just drip with this smug, self-righteousness, that is completely devoid of any humor or irreverence. Now I completely understand how made such a jekroff out of yourself with your post trashing Howard's early foray into the world of twitter. Basically, you just seem like a little humorless prick, who is probably pretty lame at parties. Have a good weekend.

• Fuckin' fascists!

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