Update on the Bike Lane Bandits - Video!

He he he, they're so revolutionary, they have a PR department. I'm out of town for the ride on Sunday, but I wish I wasn't!!!!!!

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Notes on the Williamsburg bike lane scandal and ARRESTS?!

A quick update on the scandal I posted about EARLIER from gothamist:

"According to tipsters, the neighborhood's volunteer community watch group responded to reports at around 4 am that two men were using spraypaint to recreate a section of the bike lane, which the Department of Transportation controversially removed from a 14-block stretch of Bedford Avenue last week. Police arrived at the corner of Bedford Avenue and Rutledge Street and arrested two suspects, sources said. That story lines up pretty well with this posting by Twitter user WMSBG, which went online about two hours ago: "Police arrested this night two goiyem for re-painting the bike lane on Bedford ave with the help of Shomrim."

This small act by the city has sparked such a lively and occasionally informed debate about shared urban living, that you kinda can't look away.  Shomrim are the community-appointed security detail that the Hasidic community has created to patrol their neighborhood. They have a much debated efficacy and history in the area, as the long and entertaining "comments" section after the gothamist POST reveals. . . a sample of the community outrage HERE.

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14 blocks of biking fall under pressure from a few.

UPDATE!! IT'S ALREADY HAPPENING

Bad news HERE. 14 blocks of bike lanes DESTROYED in Williamsburg. Some neighborhoods just can't take the horror of cyclists. Outrageous. This FIGHT has been going on too long.

"The Department of Transportation's decision to eliminate a section of bike lane from the borough's longest street is a surprising move, considering the agency's recent efforts to bolster the city's cycling network under the leadership of bike-loving Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan."

Recognizing the city as a whole, diverse, interconnected entity is important, and communities who wish to wall themselves off should purchase and gate communities away from terrible threats like green transit and progress. If you ask me.