Just so y'all know, we sent this letter out to the media with this press release

Thousands of Cyclists to Reclaim New York City Streets in Historic Pre-RNC Critical Mass Ride

Police threaten riders with arrest (see attached letter)


At 7pm this Friday August 27 New York cyclists and skaters will gather at the north side of Union Square to take part in the time honored ritual of Critical Mass, a community bike ride. While Critical Mass has been present in Manhattan only since 1998, it began in San Francisco in 1992 and quickly spread across the world and now takes place monthly in over three hundred cities around the world.


Typically the NYPD maintains a minimal presence at Critical Mass events with a hands-off approach to the monthly ride. When there is a police presence at Critical Mass, police scooter escorts in fact assist Critical Mass riders in “corking†traffic by stopping cars from side streets that have a green light – helping riders run red lights. However, since this month’s Critical Mass promises to be one of the largest seen in New York City due to it being the Friday before the Republican National Convention and is seen by many as a kick-off event to a week of protest, the NYPD has taken a circuitous route to dealing with Critical Mass. Since the ride is an organic event with no leaders and no central organization, the NYPD addressed a letter to Transportation Alternatives encouraging them to inform their members that this month’s ride will see a different approach from the police.



The NYPD is saying that Critical Mass creates dangerous conditions to both citizens and riders by its significant impediment to traffic. Riders are “Obstructing Governmental Administrationâ€. Now riders will apparently risk arrest for not abiding by the very laws the police have helped them violate in the past. Critical Mass itself is not an illegal event, as bike riding is legal but since the ride can number up to 1500, and is expected to top that number on Friday, it has always been in the best interest of all involved to allow the ride to cork traffic so that is passes as quickly as possible. Isolated clumps of bike riders through out the city would create chaos, while allowing the entire group to stay together and pass quickly creates only minor inconveniences for automobile traffic.



Participants in Critical Mass look forward to each month’s ride as a reclamation of public space and a defiant celebration of an alternative more positive version of urban living. This month’s ride has long been viewed as a tone setter for the week of protest against the Republican National Convention and the timing of this letter is clearly indicative of an attempt to create a climate of fear around anti-RNC protests. As many activists are expected to be present at Friday’s Critical Mass, it is clearly a chance for the NYPD to make mass arrests and present themselves as being in charge. By identifying Critical Mass participants as law breakers, and appealing directly to Transportation Alternatives as a “wonderful organization†with “lawful desiresâ€, the NYPD clearly means to manufacture a dichotomy between “good†and “bad†protestors: those who will surrender their constitutional rights in the face of police intimidation and those who will not. (Also see: “peaceful protestor†buttons.) The best way for them to send this message is by criminalizing Critical Mass and arresting its participants before the week of anti-RNC protests even begin.

If the ride is broken up, is there a way to try and get those ahead to wait for those behind so that what we have is a massive traffic jam of bikes essentially blocking the roads? I mean if those in front tried to keep an ear to the ground and went slow enough then the need for corking would be lessened. We could obey all their traffic laws, but I think as was said above this would create a situation where we moved really slowly along the roads and automobiles would be seriously hampered from getting where they are going.

What kind of leaflets will be passed out amongst Critical Massers by TA or Times Up folks to help people understand that the police might not be so helpful this time around...and maybe it might help to pas out something for them to do incase we are getting arrested: what to do if you see someone arrested or are arrested yourself 2) trying to get people to pass word up tot he front of the lins about what is happening in the back and middle so that if arrests start happening in the back, or if the police somehow force parts to wait to break up the mass the front people dont just move on but wait till they can see or hear that things are fine.

solidarity seems to be the key to this one.

Same BS occured in San Francisco about 7 years ago. The Mayor of SF got upset about Critical Mass when he got stuck in traffic one month (Boo Hoo). At that time he said there will be no more critical mass rides. The next month about 10,000 riders showed up for the critical mass ride. Most of us had a great time. The police were able to stop and arrest about 300 riders.
The following month the critical mass riders (about 2000 strong) decided we would follow the law by the book. We stoped for red lights, etc. We soon discovered that about 200 cyclists could travel through a green light before it changed. Thus what happened was that Critical Mass was broken up into about 10 groups of 200 going all over town.
The police soon discovered that it was far better to keep the ride together. This affected the city much less then breaking it up into smaller masses all over the city. This is when they backed down and allowed the ride to go through red lights so that we would stay together in one mass.
So the moral of the story is: If the police are being pricks the mass should break into dozens of miny masses going in multiple directions. Let the police try to deal with us then.

See you in the streets on Friday.

i love how they think that cm riders are all TA's. i mean geez, time's up has existed for more than a decade and in the 2004 nyc cycling map and a few years before that, time's up has been listed as a legitimate cycling advocacy group. eat your hearts out you budget funded groups!

yes, all bikers in ny are t.a. members, not!

=v= Yeah, the whole T.A. angle is a strange one.

so, TA is telling their people to be bicycling ambassadors and to follow all traffic laws and be nice and neat and show the world what good little obedient lapdogs to authority New Yorkers are.

fuck that shit. get yer heads out yer ass, TransAlt!

-r

It is surprising to learn how cyclists are viewed by authority. You would think Tyler was in charge of such mayhem.

Which laws are they likely to enforce. Are they going to require us to ride single file on the right side of the street? Can we be arrested for gathering in groups of more than 20? Will every bike be inspected for lights of front and back?

Hi y'all,

The A.Noise webstream will be up and running Friday night to coincide with this Critical Mass.


The A.Noise broadcast is a coalition production, put togethor by independent sound people. NYC Indy Media Sound Collective, Enemy Combatant Radio, RiseUp Radio, Kill Radio, etc. Playing music, interviews and taking frequent phone calls (breaking news, updates, pictures of what is going on), starting Friday night 7PM!

This audio webstream is being piped thru some massive tubes, and will be fm relayed round the world (we have word from Spain, San Diego, Brazil, and local microcasters, as well as major U.S. radio picking up parts or wholes of daily broadcasts)

Listen in to the playlist now up at
 http://www.radio.indymedia.org

We go live Friday, from A.Noise Studio A at the Independent Media Center at 40 Worth. 7PM

***with special coverage of the Critical Mass bicycle convergence***

so, we encourage you to call in! -- while riding, taking a break, if things go crazy or not! Call in with news, updates, a picture of what is going on. We want to hear what is going on. We are sure the world does too!

Call (212) 233-5767

(The webstream will be archived and easily available).

- Andrew
NYC IMC Sound Collective
Co-Coordinator August Sound Coalition

MORE INFO:
 http://radio.socialtechnology.net

Listen in, in multiple formats
at  http://www.radio.indymedia.org
FM relayed from San Diego to Brazil
Local low power FM

 http://www.dot.state.ny.us/pubtrans/share.html

Familiarise yourself with the NY state bike laws, it is best to be informed of the rules they will try to use against us.

it is especially important to stay informed if you are trying to avoid arrest to make sure you don't miss the March on Sunday.

oh yeah, and all of us fixies keep an eye out... our bikes are not street legal...

As per "violations of the law": The running of red lights is the most obvious. But they could also nab you for your bike not having 2 working brakes; or at night you must have a rear red light and a front white light. After a few court cases in nyc involving CM, it was found that riding in group and taking up the whole road is not in fact illegal, but riding two bikes abreast and refusing to go single file to let a car past is. (In CM, you see, bikes are spontaneously and continuously passing each other.) Oddly, if there is a bike lane on the street, you're required to be in it. Bikes must ride with traffic, not against it. Only riders younger than 14 must have a helmet.
Of course, they never enforce any of these with any regularity (except for riding on the sidewalk). Then again, the cops could just do what they always do: arrest first and ask questions later.
Ride on, New York!

Dear Riders,

Here are links to RNCNotWelcome and National Lawyers' Guild sites with information on how to protect yourself if you are arrested or confronted by police. Please forward and be prepared.

 http://nlgnyc.org/RNC.html
 http://www.rncnotwelcome.org/legal.html

Looking forward to riding on our streets tomorrow night!

Just a clarification on bike lanes. Yes, if there is one you are required to use it, but not if you find it dangerous -- i.e. double-parked cars in it, poor road condition, threat of being doored, etc.

I like the idea of Critical Mass being made up of "continually passing" cyclists. :)

Some more info on bike laws:
 http://transalt.org/info/cycling.html#l

I always thought that more care should be taken to make way for pedestrians. They're not the enemy.

F...bloomberg,F...them all.LETS RIDE OR DIE BABY.I 'M BRINGING MY AIRHORN TO ANNOY THE ENTIRE N.Y.C.........ROCK AND ROLL RIDERS!!!!!!!

Oh, please, not that damn airhorn again. You annoyed all the riders last time too, dumbass.

I think if they know about Times Up, they know they're not going to send out any face-saving letters to their constituents. No disrespect to TA- they do cool stuff, but they have to worry about appearances in ways that I suspect Times Up doesn't.

Not to discourage anyone from riding tomorrow. But, I would be very wary of what the police will be up to. A mass, pre-emptive arrest at Critical Mass would serve two purposes. It would take a number of activist "troublemakers" off the streets (and away from their organizations and affinity groups) less than 48 hours before the first big day of protest and it would send a powerful message to the general public that speaking out against Bush and the Republicans will get you in trouble this next week. Those who were at the "A16" IMF-World Bank protests in Washington, D.C. four years ago will recall that police got the jump on protesters by arresting 600 folks at an unpermitted Mumia march that was held the night before the big protest.

As exciting as it would be to ride thousands strong tomorrow, it may make more sense to anticipate having to decentralize the ride. No need to all get snared in the same net.

We ride - fuck the threat - but we should ride smart! Fresno Critical Mass knows. So, we start like docile sheep, up or down Park (better yet, I suggest, down 17th, where our mere presence will bottle that street up for quite a while; down to and uptown on the Ave of the Americas - past all those corporate fucks - to Central Park So., go west and come back downtown via Broadway and 7th Ave - spliting up to give those fucks an even harder time to maintain order - rejoin at Time Sq, and then get nasty, going down 7th past the Garden, or bracking off again at 34th to sorrounded the Garden and create a traffic nightmare), and at a point of our choosing -if the shit-eating-swine start acting like pigs - split up east/west down the island to reconvene at Union Sq, or - and I personally prefer this one - Tompkins Sq Park. Either way, we obey the law, ride in slow-ass moving groups of compact two hundred or so, divide and reconvene in parallel and opposite directions, and finish in friendly territory where ours will have our back - and where if the pigs really want it, we join the illustrious list of those who have made local lore and history. Ride On!!

Pity this didn't come up sooner. It'd be a fine thing to have 1,500 riders wearing T-shirts that said, "WE'RE NOT BLOCKING TRAFFIC—WE _ARE_ TRAFFIC."

As a result of intimidation by the police and Coast Guard, the Critical Mass after party has lost its space (see below, via the RNCNotWelcome Distribution list). See below, and let them know if you have info on an alternate location. If there's anyone from Time's Up on this thread, can you please post the new location, if one if found, here?

Many thanks, see you all tonight.
Mia

Outernational -- the baddest band this side of the revolution -- was
scheduled to perform at the Time's Up after-party on Friday August 27th
at The Frying Pan on Manhattan's Hudson River. The show was to be the
ending spot for the Critical Mass bikeride, which itself is part of the
resistance and protests against the Republican National Convention.
After first threatening the Critical Mass ride itself, the NYPD told
the owner of the Frying Pan that there would be four thousand riders
with no place to go and there would be trouble, and then the Coast
Guard told the club that there could be terrorist attack against the
club (which is on a barge).

Outernational is in the thick of the people's resistance to deliver a
big NO to Bush and all that he stands for. We refuse to be intimidated
and will respond to the repression by fostering and fomenting a culture
of resistance. We intend to still play the Critical Mass after-party.
We are calling on all supporters and fans, people's organizations and
independent media to spread the word and help secure a location for the
Critical Mass after-party on Friday night. Please let us know about
any spaces or venues where we can hold this show.

As a result of intimidation by the police and Coast Guard, the Critical Mass after party has lost its space (see below, via the RNCNotWelcome Distribution list). See below, and let them know if you have info on an alternate location. If there's anyone from Time's Up on this thread, can you please post the new location, if one if found, here?

Many thanks, see you all tonight.
Mia

Outernational -- the baddest band this side of the revolution -- was
scheduled to perform at the Time's Up after-party on Friday August 27th
at The Frying Pan on Manhattan's Hudson River. The show was to be the
ending spot for the Critical Mass bikeride, which itself is part of the
resistance and protests against the Republican National Convention.
After first threatening the Critical Mass ride itself, the NYPD told
the owner of the Frying Pan that there would be four thousand riders
with no place to go and there would be trouble, and then the Coast
Guard told the club that there could be terrorist attack against the
club (which is on a barge).

Outernational is in the thick of the people's resistance to deliver a
big NO to Bush and all that he stands for. We refuse to be intimidated
and will respond to the repression by fostering and fomenting a culture
of resistance. We intend to still play the Critical Mass after-party.
We are calling on all supporters and fans, people's organizations and
independent media to spread the word and help secure a location for the
Critical Mass after-party on Friday night. Please let us know about
any spaces or venues where we can hold this show.

My bus arrives too late to ride with this C-M, but here's what happened to crackdowns in DC:

In April 2002 the cops attempted to mass arrest a 230 rider special Critical Mass for IMF. We held the road curb to curb and they could not get in front for over two hours. When they finally got through and closed the trap, people charged their lines and aggressively resisted, and they only netted 37 riders out of 230. No charges ever stuck against those 37, and the bikes were returned after someone threatened to steal "yuppie" bikes as replacements.

In March 2003, a ride was hammered by 230 cops(with only 33 riders) during the war. There were no arrests but massive attempts to ram bikes with motorcycles and general harassment. Afterwards,there was discussion on a deliberatly insecure channel of blocking the bridges into DC by crews that would deploy automatically unless the ride called in with an "all-clear." Not one cop came to the next ride after that one.

One way to do a Critical Mass that is even more disruptive while carrying little risk is this: make the ride big enough that it can "legitimately" take all lanes-or restrict it to two-lane streets. Ride as slow as possibloe, but obeying lights, etc. Now it is always as slow as a bike or as slow as a car, whichever is slower. There is no violation of any law, so the cops can do nothing. Motorists, however, do not get to watch teh ride disappear on the other side of a red light. Instead it stops too and is still there and still snail-slow when the light changes. This kind of ride obeys every nuisance traffic law, with special emphasis on ones that impede and delay traffic like no turn on red signs.

If we do this right, the cops will have no choice but to cork the roads themselves and signal us through(their commands override the lights and signs by law). It will. be the only chance to keep traffic moving.

In July of 1997, Mayor Willie Brown of San Francisco threw a tantrum when he tried to take over the ride, and was loudly booed by about 8,000 cyclists just as the ride began. The cyclists gleefully swarmed downtown SF for hours, until the SFPD finally managed to direct a few of them into an alley, and mass arrest some Critical Massers. Though claiming 250 were arrested, the actual number was only 115 or so. All the charges were eventually dropped. EVERYONE who contested their arrest and/or citations got off. Those people who continued pressing legal action against the city were successful with their lawsuits.

Ride on!

Decentralized Direct Actions WorldwideExxon/Mobil, the RNC & Widespread Nonviolent Militancy

"Fascism should more appropriately be called corporatism because it is
a merger of state and corporate power" -- Benito Mussolini

"If elected, I will run the government like a business" -- George W.
Bush

Forget for a moment that Exxon/Mobil (XOM) is the main proponent of
greenhouse gas emissions?
Along with Enron, the Exxon/Mobil corporation was the biggest monetary
contributor to George W. Bush's 200 presidential campaign. It has
reaped the benefits of record high petroleum oil prices which have
been brought about and sustained by G.W. Bush's energy policies. One
can easily make the argument that this latest war in Iraq was fought
largely for XOM (and other oil corporations) -- their gas they sell is
tainted with the blood of American soldiers and Iraqi "collateral
damage." But, whether you buy that argument or not, it is easy to see
how closely interrelated corporate policy (particularly XOM's) is with
the government policy. If we have any ideals (or hopes for future
generations) we must recognize this situation for what it is --
FASCISM.
It may not be the genocidal fascism of the industrialized Nazi's, but
this brand of Republican fascism must, nevertheless, be seriously
confronted before it gets bolder and causes more pain and suffering
around the world. This American fascism may not be the genocidal
fascism of the Nazi's, but it empowers the oil corporations and
facilitates a global warming which could wipe out most species on
Earth.
Greenpeace and Adbusters, along with some others, have already called
for an international boycott of Esso/Exxon/Mobil (and there have
already been international days of protest) but? we need to become
evermore coordinated and vigilant. At the very least we should be
able to get every Democrat to boycott the Republican-funding XOM and,
at best, we should be able to put that fascist corporation out of
business by means of widespread nonviolent militant civil
disobedience. We need to fight to win and we need to add populist
elements to the battle. Any one person or group can participate at
their own level in this protest which can include, but is not limited
to, sit-ins, leafleting, creative harassment of all types, and maybe
petty vandalism like graffiti and stopped-up toilets. Don't forget
(and I'm not recommending this), Gandhi, on multiple occasions,
advocated even suicide (by fasting, walking into clubs, and in
response to Nazism) to draw attention to injustice. And Gandhi wasn't
even facing ecocide.
The RNC begins August 29th in NYC where up to 2 million people are
expected to protest Bush and his policies. At that time, there and in
cities around the world, a simultaneously coordinated protest of XOM
can send a clear message that we the people are not fooled by oilman
Bush and the corporate fascism he represents. In NYC all of the XOM
stations can be protested throughout the week of the RNC while, in
other cities, high-traffic stations can be engaged during peak rush
hours (4-7 p.m.). The number and ambition of activists in your
community will obviously determine the style and number of protests in
your city, but make sure to write letters to the editor and contact
other media outlets for best results. In some areas the "flash mob"
style of protest could be most effective -- even with folks unaware of
the protest beforehand. Whoever takes charge locally will largely
determine the style of protest -- but everyone who shows up, literally
and figuratively, is worthy of respect and is not to be dictated to.
Leadership in this cause is largely to just get the ball rolling as
effectively as possible -- so spread the word in your community and
get creative with actionable plans. Learn your rights and take a
stand despite the Patriot Act. True patriots revolt (against a true,
clear, corporate fascist entity that we can destroy). Lay siege,
conquer and destroy! Exxon/Mobil must die.

www.stopexxonmobil.org
pax.protest.net/event.cgi?ID=459252
www.pacificenvironment.org/stopexxonmobil/
 http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/news/details?item_id=439825
www.dontbuyexxonmobil.org/
 http://www.vshiva.net/
 http://www.amnestyusa.org/justearth/
 http://www.gnn.tv/
www.webprowire.com/summaries/495562.html
www.thehurricaneonline.com/
news/2002/12/06/Opinion/Exxon.Mobil.Protest.Throws.Oil.In.Sadaams.Eyes
www.columbia.edu/cu/cssn/cssn-list/2002/12/00011.html
www.climateark.org/articles/reader.asp?linkid=22985
www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=395
 http://www.geovrml.org/archive/msg01062.html
 http://www.corpwatch.org/news/PND.jsp?articleid=28
www.adbusters.org
www.greenpeace.org

great actions
a community of all nations here and around the globe for social justice and peace

free the Critical Mass bicyclists!

www.esperanto.net

While I strongly support the right of demonstrators to protest the RNC, I have to say that I feel little sympathy for the Critical Mass riders. As a pedestrian, I have come close to being run over on several occasions by CM riders running through red lights. It is only a matter of time before someone--particularly a child or elderly person--is seriously injured or killed by being hit by a bicyclist. As much as CM'ers might like to think otherwise, this blatant disregard for traffic laws and common courtesy doesn't threaten drivers, secure in their 2 tons of steel--it threatens pedestrians.

Pedestrians are not the enemy. I am tired of hearing excuses from Critical Mass supporters that their safety is threatened if they have to split up into two groups if they come to a red light.

CM likes to claim that "we're not blocking traffic, we ARE traffic". I agree. As traffic, they should follow traffic laws. By placing pedestrians at risk in order to further their own aims without regard for the consequences, CM represents the perfect of example of why the Left has had difficulty achieving vistories in this country--the arrogance and rudeness motivated by self-righteousness will never win anyone to our cause.