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merged: 18th and Church abouts, PUSHED into street on bike — Brooklynian

merged: 18th and Church abouts, PUSHED into street on bike

e
e
edited November -1 in Flatbush/Midwood/Ditmas Park
I was riding my bike today through Flatbush so that I could get to Propsect Park to exercise and enjoy my Saturday. I was going in the right direction, but had kind of wandered off of my preferred path. However, I am used to biking through that area, and biking/driving through black areas in general.

I have rode my bike in NYC and Brooklyn for almost 8 years. I guess I usually do ride on the sidewalks, as the streets are too crowded and dangerous, although if they are calm, I will bike in the street as well. THIS PARTICULAR STREET WAS ONE WAY- IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION I WAS GOING IN. IT WAS ALSO CROWDED ON BOTH SIDES WITH SO MANY PARKED CARS, THAT ONLY ONE LANE OF CARS COULD ACTUALLY DRIVE THROUGH IT. So it truly was dangerous for me to be biking on that street. Like I said, I was a little lost, and just wanted to keep heading in the right direction towards the park.

Around Church and 18th St., I suddenly encountered a middle aged black man who was very, very angry at me for biking on the sidewalk. He started *BARKING ORDERS AT ME TO "Get out in the street!". He kept repeating this, yelling at me and then BLOCKING ME AND PUSHING ME WITH HIS BODY (TOUCHING ME, not violently, but aggressively) into the street.

Methinks it was just a chance for BLACKS TO BE IN CHARGE that he couldn't help leaping at. Probably some type of psychopath or violent criminal.

I get annoyed easily by people chatting on cellphones on trains, etc, and I do tell them to stop, but I THINK HIS PUSHING ME WAS A BIT INAPPROPRIATE? I think this had a lot to do with CONTROL.

Other people in that area sit on chairs in the sidewalk, blast music in the sidewalk, etc. Children often ride their bikes and play on the sidewalk. I have NEVER HAD ANYONE COMPLAIN TO ME ABOUT MY BIKING ON SIDEWALKS. It's usually a non-issue, with sidewalks that aren't crowded anyways. I have never bumped into anyone with my bike or even had a close call.

FYI, I am not a hipster, nor do I ride a hipster bike, although I am an attractive, and already non-naive when it comes to race white woman.
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Comments

  • dbb
    dbb
    "I have rode?"
  • e
    e
    Hey, don't be a grammar-nazi... I didn't edit my post or anything.
  • modsquad
    modsquad
    Jah!! How's that bent pecker hangin'!
  • youbetcha
    youbetcha
    As far as I know if you're over the age of fourteen and riding a bicycle of any kind on the sidewalk, you are breaking NYC law and are subject to getting a ticket from the police. As a cop once told me when I was around fifteen, "A word to the wise should be sufficient."
  • tsarina
    tsarina
    Get off the sidewalk, drive in the direction of traffic, not against it. If you are so terrified of traffic stay on bike lane streets. You are supposed to follow all traffic laws.
    Sidewalks are for pedestrians. (Period) and for little kids on their bikes.

    Its not a black, white thing. its an entitled person flaunting all laws kind of thing.
  • pitu
    pitu

    Subject: Re: 18th and Church abouts, PUSHED into street while on bike

    e wrote: I have NEVER HAD ANYONE COMPLAIN TO ME ABOUT MY BIKING ON SIDEWALKS.
    well, now you have. you are absolutely in the wrong, in so many ways.
    tsarina wrote: Get off the sidewalk, drive in the direction of traffic, not against it. If you are so terrified of traffic stay on bike lane streets. You are supposed to follow all traffic laws.
    Sidewalks are for pedestrians. (Period) and for little kids on their bikes.

    Its not a black, white thing. its an entitled person flaunting all laws kind of thing.
    ^^^ exactly
  • e
    e

    Subject: Ok, but PUSHING ME/TOUCHING ME was a bit much?

    Shouting? Certainly the blocking/pushing part. I know I am supposed to ride with the flow of traffic, but as I said, I was kind of meandering around and got caught on that particular street. I had been going with the flow of traffic the whole time, and was planning, and did find a better street to ride on when I got off that street.

    I've never had an issue with someone evening mentioning that before. Yes, I ride in front of police officers too.

    MENTIONING IT? Not much of an issue.
    BUT HE GOT VIOLENT ABOUT IT, and yes, that's a ghetto issue.
  • homeowner
    homeowner
    Okay, so this is clearly one of those cases where you should look in the mirror.

    You admit you were 1) endagering other people by 2) breaking the law, and yet this guy shouldn't have said something to you and shouldn't have attempted to stop you?

    You didn't get "caught" on a street, you consciously rode your bike down a street that was clearly a one way in the wrong direction ON A SIDEWALK. You could have and should have turned around and continued to ride with traffic until your reached a one way going in the right direction or a two way street.

    This is why breaking traffic laws that apply to bikers is stupid...
  • e
    e

    Subject: Anytime someone disagrees with me, or breaks out statistics

    Factoid: any given violent crime committed in nyc is 13 times more likely to have a black perpetrator.

    Heather Mac Donald
    Time for the Truth About Black Crime Rates
    The lessons of the Sean Bell case
    2 April 2007


    MOD NOTE: please don't repost entire articles - it violates copyright. A link and synopsis or first paragraph is a good way to go. Thx.

    This topic was merged with a related one on this board.
  • e
    e

    Subject: Anytime someone disagrees with me, or breaks out statistics

    Anytime someone disagrees with me, or breaks out statistics on anything... I just call them a racist.

    I also make snarky responses on websites, and degrade other people's life experiences, friendships, and relationships, all for the purpose of bending reality to suit my worldview, with it's rigid tenets and ideals (with the main argument being that blacks and white liberals are never, ever wrong).

    I am a white liberal, who gets off on the idea that I am somehow superior to others depending on the number of black friends I collect, etc. I love to take the morally superior high road, and pounce upon anyone, including social workers, asking about the safety of any given area.

    I also believe non-white minorities, in a descending and cascading order of blacks, latinos, and then asians, are always in the right whenever there is a conflict between them and a white person, be it a random act or an idealogical disagreement between friends.

    I also stereotype people who hold different views as un-hip and generally out of the loop.

    I should know all of this... I'm an ex-liberal myself.
  • bondgirl
    bondgirl
    Really, you need a hug...
  • niner
    niner
    A hug with the ban hammer.

    Stop already. It's annoying.
  • independent mind
    independent mind
    Hey e. Enough, enough, ok?

    Sorry you were assaulted, truly.

    But please don't hurt people's feelings with racist remarks.

    I say this not because I assume I'm superior to you, but because I can see you're just hurting and lashing out.

    Your posts are self-destructive, and degrading, enough.
  • e
    e
    You know what's so funny about Prospect Heights? I see so little real integration there. I see whites sitting around in cafes and such, and blacks who have totally different interests and lifestyles and are actually from there keeping to themselves. I see a lot of self-segregation in such "up and coming" neighborhoods. Why is that? It doesn't seem to be a very blended environment. It's like one neighborhood with two separate worlds.
  • bondgirl
    bondgirl
    Which Prospect Heights do you live in, e? My boyfriend & I both live in PH, & are out & about all the time - it's like the Colors of Benetton (poetic license, not the retailer) here! In fact, I chose to live in PH for this very reason. It's how I was raised. Of course, there are going to be congregations of ethnicities, skin colors, shoe preferences, etc, but to say that there is little integration here is incorrect.
  • hunter.gatherer
    hunter.gatherer
    Who is this person you describe? I'm sure he or she must exist, since you say so? But I've met and known an awful lot of people in my life, and never came across any of this variety.
  • domino
    domino
    There are still many many miles to go before we can eradicate racism - we have come far but not far enough. In a perfect world there would be no labels but unfortunately there are - largely due to ignorance.

    Ever notice that the people with the least amount of facts supporting their arguments are the ones that shout the loudest? Or use other distractions such as sarcasm?

    People in general want to hang to what is familiar - change is difficult to accept. Ask the first black family that moved into Brownsville. The first Hispanic family into Sunset Park. The first Arabic family into Bay Ridge.

    If you would bother to get to know the person BEHIND the race label you just might find that they are not that very different from you with many of the same worries and problems. This is a lesson that racists from all walks of life refuse to accept. I guess ignorance truly is bliss to more people than we care to admit.
  • hunter.gatherer
    hunter.gatherer
    You wrote this :"It's usually a non-issue, with sidewalks that aren't crowded anyways."
    And then you wrote this: "Other people in that area sit on chairs in the sidewalk, blast music in the sidewalk, etc. Children often ride their bikes and play on the sidewalk."
    Sounds like an area with crowded sidewalks to me. And even if they aren't you should stay off of them, and ride down streets in the correct direction. So you have to make a loop to get in the direction you want to go. So what.
    Behavior like this gives the rest of us cyclists a bad name, and I would've confronted you too.

    I am white, and a cyclist, and street smart whether on or off my bike. I call you on your bs.
  • anastasia beaverhausen
    anastasia beaverhausen
    Can't we just put e. in a cage and poke her with a sharp stick?
  • domino
    domino
    I dunno - any time I encountered road hazards, and I did not know an alternative route to take, I would get OFF the bike and walk it on the sidewalk until I was able to resume riding on the street along my same route.

    I guess the rights of little kids, elderly pedestrians, dog walkers etc. who have the right of safe passage as dictated by traffics laws do not compare to your rights to willfully jeopardize their safety and ignore the laws?

    Sorry, older black man with common sense 1; self righteous bike rider zero.
  • domino
    domino
    I think e is really Dennis Miller in drag trolling and baiting this site for material - trying to get something to revive his "comedy career" from the conservative cellar he dwells in. Conspiracy theorists take note! Those damn conservatives are out to pick our brains via clever traps!
  • independent mind
    independent mind
    The only way to break down racist stereotyping, and the disaffection of socially isolated people is with compassion, making fun of them only fulfills their hostile world view. I think bondgirl is right, e needs a hug, (and to apologize, yes, e, to apologize!)
  • owler
    owler
    it is illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk. The police can seize your bike if you are riding on the sidewalk and you can be arrested. You could have just got off your bike and walked it, it's got nothing to do to with the color of anyones skin. You were in the wrong. End of story.
  • lo kee
    lo kee
    Is this really on-topic with the discourse this site is intended to facilitate?

    Ban this troll.
  • stooplady
    stooplady

    Subject: Sorry but....

    I am so sorry you were pushed and hope you weren't hurt but...adults should walk...their bike on a sidewalk. It doesn't matter that the street was crowded or that it was one way.
    This is New York (or Brooklyn) and it is very scary when a bike comes up from behind. It is also rude.
    I rode a bike for many years and also rode on the sidewalk and it was down right wrong.
    Yes, it is also wrong when cars cut us off or when potholes are as big as swimming pools or when we do have the right of way and vehicles ignore the law but...bikes were not made to ride on the sidewalk. Children may ride on the sidewalk but adults ride their bike on the street or walk the bike to the next corner.
    As a bike rider I sometimes became oblivious to others on the sidewalk. But as a pedestrian I am sometimes spooked when a bike whooshes by or comes up from behind. Again, it doesn't matter what "others" are doing.
    Enjoy the ride!
  • mat
    mat
    "FYI, I am not a hipster, nor do I ride a hipster bike, although I am an attractive, and already non-naive when it comes to race white woman."

    lol! You forgot to mention 'ridiculous excuse for a human being' or 'fake internet persona'. Take your pick. Either seems to apply.
  • tisiphone
    tisiphone

    Subject: biking

    You are not permitted by law to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk.

    You are considered a moving vehicle and must obey all traffic laws, including going with the flow of traffic, not against. Think of yourself as a car and obey all the laws for cars, i.e. stop at red, SIGNAL, etc.

    We don't care how pretty you are or not, follow the rules!
  • stooplady
    stooplady

    Subject: Why is this being posted again?

    :roll:
  • backinthejungle
    backinthejungle
    E, you are garbage and you deserve everything that happened to you. Get off the fucking sidewalk with your bike or don't ride down a one-way. That street is a one-way for good reason and BLIND KIDS live in a house near there. Blind black kids so you probably think they are trying to one-up you in some way you filthy fucking racist piece of filth. I hate you and stay out of my neighborhood.
  • backinthejungle
    backinthejungle
    Also you are probably a fake person unless you are that bumblefuck dipshit "Flatbush Vegan" so instead I direct my rage at your fiction. Go choke on an aloo pie.
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