New Haven pursues a ground-breaking question.
Critical Mass is a leaderless, free-wheeling celebration of “bike culture” on the last Friday evening of the month in New Haven and dozens of cities around the world. It brought out a record 200 riders in the Elm City last month, sending masses of cyclists into early Friday evening traffic. Critical mass rides, which are partly an assertive statement about who has a right to the road, have led to confrontations and police crackdowns in other cities.
New Haven’s “kinder and gentler” version has grown steadily, which raised concerns in the minds of New Haven’s finest. Could a way be found to make the ride fun and safe without inconveniencing motorists? A powwow in Pitkin Plaza Thursday afternoon came up with a possible solution. It’s a solution not every CritMass-ista is likely to embrace: riders and cops working together on logistics.
(Click here for a previous reader debate about New Haven’s Critical Mass.)
Lt. Ray Hassett, after observing the ride last month, asked to meet with some cyclists who participate in Critical Mass. Cycling advocate Matthew Feiner sent out an email announcement, and half a dozen cyclists showed up at Koffee? on Orange to meet with Hassett and Lt. Joe Witkowski. (That’s Hassett with cyclist Leslie Blatteau in the photo.)
The cops said they hadn’t been aware that the ride happens on the last Friday of every month. Now they want to make sure it’s safe.
They weren’t too excited about the fact that bicyclists take turns “corking” intersections. That means that if a light turns red before all the cyclists have ridden through it, volunteers stop oncoming traffic from the other street which now has a green light. They usually do it with a smile and some friendly hand motions, sometimes passing out a little flyer that explains what Critical Mass is and thanks motorists for waiting until everyone has ridden through.
Witkowski said these corkers are not trained to deal with traffic, and they’d be at fault if a motorist drives through the now-green light and hits them.
The cyclists said if they don’t cork the intersections, the ride gets spread way out. Small groups get stuck at consecutive lights. That didn’t seem safe or fun.
They also said that over the years the ride has taken place, the response of the vast majority of motorists is either friendly or neutral. A few have gotten belligerent when they were restrained, no matter how polite the restrainer was.
The officers were also concerned about motorists several vehicles back from the intersection, who don’t know why cars aren’t moving.
“What about emergency vehicles?” Hassett wanted to know.
“We always move over right away,” Feiner replied.
Hassett said the department has not received a lot of complaints, but wanted to be proactive in its dealings with CritMass.
After they discussed the issues for a few minutes, he said, “We don’t want to organize [the ride]. We want to assist you.”
Feiner said, “My dream is to have New Haven and Yale cops on bikes come out and assist.”
Both officers immediately embraced that idea, downright enthusiastic about it. They named the officers they knew who’d be on duty at that time. THey figured a couple could be made available for the ride, which usually lasts less than an hour.
First the group rides around downtown streets “because that’s where the people are,” explained Leslie Blatteau. The cyclists want to demonstrate the fun and practicality of biking to the public.
Then they ride off in a different direction through a different neighborhood each month, such as the Hill, East Rock, Fair Haven. One summer evening last year more than 100 rode all the way to Lighthouse Point Park and back downtown as they took in a brilliant sunset.
So some officers on bikes will be meeting the rest of the folks who gather at 5:30 p.m. on the lower Green next Friday. This approach is a far cry from the head-bashing, bike-impounding approach that New York City cops took to Critical Mass beginning with the ride that took place during the Republican National Convention in August 2004. That encounter generated a number of lawsuits. One was finally settled a year or so ago; it found the officers had violated the cyclists’ civil rights. New Haven cops clearly don’t want to go in that direction. How some of the “anarchist bikers” in New Haven will feel about having a police escort is yet to be determined.
Several hours after Feiner sent out an email to the city’s cycling list-serve announcing that “the NHPD will be providing bicycle police to help cork at this month’s ride,” the only response was from one cyclist who wrote, neutrally, “I wonder if this is done in any other city. This might be a first.”
"Community" in "community policing" can be both a noun and adjective. This is great example of it, at once, being both. Congratulations to all.