|
Critical Mass Ride on
Earth Day
by Matt Brown
I skated in the critical mass ride last night [April
22, 1999], joining the group at Central Park South and Avenue of the
Americas. The group coming from downtown was escorted by police cars front
and back and the ubiquitous scooters alongside. As we entered the park, the
police surprisingly put up the barricades behind us, blocking traffic. We
thought that was great.
Rounding the curve onto Park Drive, we were suddenly
confronted by barricades across the roadway and an army of cops in riot
helmets armed with plastic restraints. With no verbal warning, some officers
moved in and started grabbing riders and their bikes at the head of the
group. The only officer who was communicating with us was a donut-laden
asshole (Officer Messener) who was screaming so loudly that no one could
understand what he was saying. After arresting four or five people, he came
towards a group of us asking, "Who's next?"
The crowd was growing scared and angry, and we still
had no fucking idea what they wanted/expected us to do. They didn't give us
an order to disperse or anything else. It looked like they just planned to
arrest all of us. Since we had no police negotiator (no one expected to need
one), I finally went up to an officer who wasn't screaming and pleaded with
him to make an announcement.
Finally, after getting the crowd to calm down, the
police said that we were free to continue riding, as long as we rode no more
than two-by-two in the bike lane. Why they couldn't have said this at the
beginning instead of making (yet another) ridiculous show of force is beyond
comprehension. They accused US of obstructing traffic when it was the NYPD
who closed off access to Park Drive.
Free speech in NYC is truly dead.
[According to other reports, a total of 11 were
arrested. Their tickets were later voided.] |
