My wife just called

ringrunner said:

all is well, but she got to drive on the sidewalk

LOL. Don't mess with a woman trying to get home to her family!

you can haz grammar?

So WALK to the park! No one is required to run there.

What's it called again, a side-what? Siderun, sidejog? No sideWALK. Why can't people walk to the park and walk back? Why do you think you have a right to run on the sidewalk? Why so selfish and self-centered?

I play soccer in the park, but I'm not blasting shots at people's heads on the sidewalk on the way there. I think these people just want to be seen running.

When someone is running for exercise on a crowded public sidewalk on a busy weekend in Park Slope ... that is the definition of douche bag. And I'm fine with douche bags being fat and dying young.

Why do so few people have common sense and common courtesy in this town?

Aquamann said:

well, we douche bags who jog on a crowded sidewalk are usually just trying to get to prospect park where we can exercise without inconveniencing you.

And I just love this concept of inconveniencing and endangering people so they don't inconvenience and endanger people.

Well, all of you are lucky that I dont have my pitbull pulling me on skates like a sled dog :-)

People, people let's be upset at the correct offending party - the people who only shovel a narrow path!

I'm not against people running, just people running on crowded sidewalks. Yes, we do usually agree. You seem pretty considerate so I'm surprised that you think it's OK to run on crowded sidewalks.

I'm all for riding bikes, but not on sidewalks - so I don't ride on sidewalks. I think you're legally supposed to run in the road - maybe Booklaw would know this. Either way, running up crowded Union Street or 7th ave sidewalk on a weekend is utterly obnoxious (and 7th ave doesn't even lead to the park anyway).

I'm sorry you don't live near the park, but your inconvenience shouldn't have to be a public nuisance for the rest of us. And why can't you walk a mile? I'd think if you can run, you can walk. In fact, a mile walk there and a mile walk back makes for a nice warm up and cool down anyway.

But no, you shouldn't die. Geez, I think you know I don't post things like that. We're talking about a minor public safety issue, not something personal or Earth-shatteringly important - like bagels.

stacey said:

People, people let's be upset at the correct offending party - the people who only shovel a narrow path!

But even without snow, I don't think it's right to run on crowded sidewalks. And I don't have a problem with people who are jogging on uncrowded sidewalks - even down my street, because my street isn't a main thoroughfare. I saw Kristen Schaal (Mel from Flight of the Conchords) jogging down my sidewalk once (name drop) and had no problem with that.

I just think that if someone's jogging and they see a lot of people walking on the sidewalk, that their inner GPS should be saying "recalculating."

People, people let's be upset at the correct offending party - the people who only shovel a narrow path!

so, stacey wins!

usually, i have to weave my way up to the park. i'll try to do most of that on the cross streets, but i have to go up the avenues at some point. 8th is broad and best, but i have to do some of it on 6th. if the road is clear, i'll take it. but right now, it's not.

as for walking to the park, it's all about numbers. exercising takes time. if i walk to the park, i don't have as much time to run once i get there. and my workout is much less fruitful. for people who live 3 blocks away from the park, it's different. but many of us are simply not as close as we'd like to be.

alas, i think this is a fairly easy one. runners, look out for walkers. leave entitlement out of the equation and use some respect. walkers... do the same.

and sled dogs, either with roller skates or without, are good for the neighborhood. i vote yes.

I still think the onus should be on the runner to avoid the pedestrians - we can't see runners coming up from behind.

But it doesn't sound like you (Aqua) are among the runners I have a problem with - unless that was you running through pedestrians on Union Street sidewalk Sunday afternoon with your headphones on.

Why dont we continue? What about people who walk while texting and slam into you, or poles, or trees? Bikers who still bike on the sidewalk even with all the bike lanes? Kids on those scooters? The hazards are everywhere!

ringrunner said:

Wow, I did not know what I would start.

Ha! Sorry about that Ring - my bad. Are you the people I always see running at the Armory Y?

Sorry, but the snow shoveling thing doesn't work. 7th avenue and Union sidewalks are pretty clear. Besides, I haven't heard anyone defending running down those streets when they're packed on a weekend, so I'm not sure there's even a real disagreement here.

I appreciate that you guys are just trying to deflect this to a third party that is unrepresented in this thread to prevent this from getting ugly. But it's not getting ugly. Aqua and I are civil folks.

My original comment was not directed at him, or anyone here, though I admit I should have just used the word people instead of the word douche bags. If not for civility, then at least for maintaining the show-don't-tell writing style.

Hey, it's not getting ugly in here Arm. Not like the times I've seen you post something, and then your arch enemy (can't remember the screen name) jumps down your throat for whatever you said because they obviously have issues with you. There's no hate here.

Well as for shoveling, my neighbour has a snowblower and does a full wide path for the whole block. It is very nice. Something to consider perhaps...