Pigs Ticket Bikers, Racism Hard to Ignore
On the Bed-Stuy blog last week was a huge thread of comments sparked by Petra’s complaint about her friend being ticketed for riding his bicycle on the sidewalk. With the exception of the couple of assholes roboting in humorless monotone that “the law is the law,” most people shared their experiences with the NYPD in quota-making heat. I was shocked at how many people were victimized, the vast majority for stupid garbage like being on the bike to cross the sidewalk from the stoop to the street, or for swerving to the sidewalk to avoid — that’s right — a cop car parked in the bike lane.
I’m so used to scoffing dismissively at complaints of racism, but when you read some of these comments, it’s impossible to ignore. Cops treat people like dirt for no reason other than they can. There is literally no recourse. If a cop wants to spit on you or curse at you or talk to you like a child, he can. What are you gonna do about it? He’s the one with the gun, and the huge system behind him to back him up in his power trip that he’s fantasized about since he was the middle school bully.
And to all those who are getting ready to reprimand me for questioning the cops — for example, “we’ll see how much you hate the cops when they save you from being mugged” — how about just shut the fuck up ahead of time. Save yourself the embarrassment, you’re ridiculous and your jingoist spluttering is as pathetic as that of the president defending his decision to blow up Iraq. The day a cop saves me from jack shit, I might possibly, though doubtfully, reconsider. All I have ever gotten from cops is harassment, and I am white and have no record. I can’t imagine what a black guy with a petty criminal record from when he was 16 must tolerate from these cocksuckers.
I mean really, when is a cop around to actually stop crime? Giuliani and his boosters have elevated the post hoc ergo propter hoc into a religion — Rudy’s administration “doing something” no more ended crime in New York than FDR’s barbaric policies ended the Great Depression. A decline in criminals and crime due to the waning of the crack “epidemic” and, well, gentrification, were some of the main drivers. Ticketing jaywalkers, hmmm, not so much.
Cops just clean up the mess after. They’re not as stupid as you may think — they’re not about to patrol dangerous areas to be heroes, they’re gonna ticket non-threatening dorks on bikes and then maybe later go in a pack to an after-the-fact crime scene to put on airs of self-importance and possibly remind you that you “need” them. And god forbid one of them harms someone without justification, as there’s no punishment to be meted out whatsoever. I mean, cops aren’t even legally required to respond to calls. What the fuck do we even pay those fat slobs for? We’re not even allowed to have weapons for self-defense. It’s the cops — if they feel like responding — or nothing, and too many times in this city, it’s nothing.
Really, so far my experience with cops in Bushwick is bizarre, creepy propaganda plays, a group of mourning kids being arrested on dubious grounds, more confidence-seeking propaganda, and arresting hipsters for drinking on private property where they live. I have yet to hear of a crime actually being stopped, but plenty that went unstopped. My argument is not that we need more cops. Good god, what a nightmare that would be. No, rather, I think we should fire the whole lot of them and get some Wackenhut up in here. Then we will be their clients, they will have no union to protect them from us, and they can be fired for fucking up. Ever heard of a rent-a-cop blowing a kid away who held a hairbrush in the air? No, but seriously, cops suck and a new system is needed, one that is more realistic, one where crime is stopped on the micro level by old ladies with 9mms in their pocketbooks.
So. *cough*
Anyone been the victim of NYPD on their bike in Bushwick?
November 13th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
everyone knows riding bikes on the sidewalk is illegal. they are doing their jobs.
November 13th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
Ah, this is the Jeremy I know and love.
James, c’mon, honestly. There’s a website for mindless twats like you, and it’s called freerepublic.com. Scoot along home now.
November 13th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
Yeah, I remember when the cops would come to the operahous lofts like a year ago (it’s in bushwick) and whenever there’d be a robbery etc. they would tell us to move out of the neighborhood, How helpful.
Power corrupts, whithout a doubt.
I’ll be the first to admit that we need them and we can’t live without them. But that doesnt mean that we should put up with their crap.
The above notwithstanding I have to admit that to the best of my recolection, my direct personal experience with coppers was very pleasant.
I have asked cops more than once to help me by asking directions etc. they were always very helpful and kind.
I was once driving without a seatbelt, a cop ordered me to pull over to the side, came over to me and asked me if i know why he pulled me over. I answered that I’m not exactly sure but i’m certain that there is a good legitimate reason. So he asks me if i was wearing seatbelts, I say, I always make it my business to wear seatbelts but if he’s asking i would assume that i forgot this time. I then said ‘officer, sir, would you please please not ticket me for that as i’ve never yet gotten a moving violation ticket. He asked me for my license and registration and then told me to be carfull next time and off i went scot free.
I have had two other similiar stories where by me admitting guilt and talking deferentially to the cops they let me go.
Once while driving and talking on phone the cops pulled me over and i started apologising, he asked me if it was an emergency (it’s possible that he almost wanted me to affirm that it was such) I said no, but please blah blah blah. He said, look I cant just let you go, how can i give someone else a ticket and not you, but don’t woryy it’s not a point on the license etc.
then again, who knows.
November 14th, 2007 at 1:02 am
In other words, cops have never harassed you TOO much, because you sucked their dicks and made them feel like big men. I’m not saying you did the wrong thing — the best way to deal with dangerous people is to give them whatever they want and hope they go away. Mugger, mafia, police, whatever.
November 14th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Oh boy, Jeremy, do I EVER agree with you. Cops stopped preventing crime years ago. When was the last time you bumped into a narc? It’s been years. They don’t really even go undercover anymore. All that Miami Vice crap is long gone. Prevention is not their thang. It’s ENFORCEMENT. Enforcement of the corptocracy. When you see “Protect and Serve” you have to ask yourself, “to protect and serve who, ’cause it obviously ain’t me.”
November 14th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Jeremy - I’m sorry that cute girl on the L train didn’t seem interested in you this morning, even when you were wearing your best new used jacket. Lighten the hell up schmuck. If you do something illegal you might get fined/ticketed/arrested for it. Oh those big bad cops! Look, a lot of them are dicks, but not all, and when your cracker ass gets robbed sometime are you going to call the cops, or just blog about it?
November 14th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
to 6, isnt Jeremy gay?
Anyway, as a pedestrian, I hate sidewalk bikers and think they should be ticketed. Cops bust balls, and especially if your black, puerto rican, drunk, on a bike, or all of the above. This is very old writing on the wall.
November 14th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Hey #6, I already pre-empted your fucking retarded comment in my original post. You missed the point, like I knew so many people would.
And you mis-pigeonholed me so severely with the hipster baiting I don’t even know where to start. Ass.
November 15th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Hey Jeremy ever think there may be a reason you get stopped for riding your bike on the sidewalk? Maybe because its illegal? We all know your a very unique individual like the other million hipsters running around bushwick with there unwashed hair. But seriously did you ever ask the cop what the reason for the stop was? In case you don’t know people with there bikes on the sidewalk tend to carry guns knives and in other parts of Brooklyn do drive by shootings. The bike on the sidewalk is a favorite for gang members to snatch purses etc.. Know you might say well I’m a white guy who’s really hip and this is racism. NO! its not dickweed. Unless the cops ticketing you are only black straight men it cant possibly be racism. And if the little monkeys in bed stuy, east ny, flatbush can get stopped for riding there bikes and get tickets why shouldn’t you??
November 15th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
did you guys read the original guy’s story? they didn’t even RIDE their bikes on the sidewalk, they PAUSED on the sidewalk. if law enforcement is gonna obey the letter of the law to that extreme with no nod to the given situation, we’re in serious trouble. or that is to say, we have been in serious trouble for some time.
i hate when people ride on the sidewalk, but that is not what’s at stake here. cops shook down a couple of guys who were about as dangerous as, well, me, just because it was easy and so they could add a notch to their quota.
November 15th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Oh it just keeps getting dumber.
Look, #9, I have never been stopped for riding my bike on a sidewalk. Because I don’t ride my bike on the sidewalk. I never hinted in the post above that I do ride on the sidewalk. And the racism I mentioned is evident in the linked passages above, not in my cop run-in that never happened. On the internet, we have these things called hyperlinks that lead to other webpages — bear with me here — that have more detailed information on them! Kind of like footnotes. Amazing, huh? Do yourself a favor and clear up that confusion by checking out the appropriate back story.
And oh, how could I have forgotten the well-known statistical fact that people who ride their bikes on sidewalks are more likely to have a gun with which they clearly are more likely than not to use to steal an old lady’s purse or conduct a drive-by? I must have missed that compilation of crime reports from which that scintillating stat was gleaned. Mea culpa.
I got a stat for you: all you cop-loving bitches with your lips glommed onto the end of a big cop cock, drool leaking out of the corners of your smiling but full mouths, are the same type to make arguments devoid of fact. That’s because both types of people are DUMB as SHIT. Which also explains why you assume every white man in Bushwick to be a hipster of some sort.
November 16th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
you’re an idiot
you deserve to be mugged at gunpoint by a bunch of locals who resent you for even living there, while the rest of them sexually assault your girlfriend (or partner or whatever…) and p.s. your pants are too tight, you need a shave and a haircut, and I don’t give a shit about your bike.
take care, you fucking asshole
November 16th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
And that’s what passes as rational debate for some. Pathetic.
Oh yeah, and people can resent me all they want, but it’s MY neighborhood.
November 20th, 2007 at 10:08 pm
its my neighborhood too,
and my comments are anything but rational…
but if you are ever in any REAL trouble I guess you’re not gonna call the NYPD?
November 20th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
Of course I am, moron, is there some competing justice organization to which I can appeal? No. Can I take matters into my own hands without the monopoly justice organization attacking ME? No. It’s the donut-munchers or nothin, and I’m not into sacrificing myself for principled stands.
November 25th, 2007 at 2:28 am
Those of you attacking Jeremy - do any of you even KNOW a cop in your personal life?
My partner has a friend of the family who is a detective in the 83rd, our local precinct. I grew up surrounded by cops - step-father, two of his brothers, all of their buddies.
Every single one of them are racist, homophobic, and sexist bullies with badges who sincerely believe they are better than the people they are supposed to protect. Think of every demeaning racial and homophobic word you know - these men use them with impunity. None of them live in the neighbourhoods they are assigned to - nor would they.
What’s the old saying? “Those who covet power should not have it”?
Have any of you witnessed the behavior of Bushwick’s finest? The blowing through red lights? Ignoring 911 calls? The absolute contempt for the residents?
I’ve been on both sides of it, while living in a building by the Bushwick Houses. The police spoke to their dogs with more respect.
UNTIL little blonde caucasian ME mentioned - with a smirk - that my partner’s family was close friends with Detective X. That changed everything.
I was led gently by the arm away from the crowd and told to stand - surrounded by heavily armed cops - by their truck. I was offered a personal escort back to my apartment. My statement was taken first, after the main detective was told, “She’s family.”
I got to be a fragile princess for an hour.
The second time - different cops and I didn’t ‘introduce myself’ - but I was still treated better than my Latino and African-American neighbours. Racism in Bushwick? Ya think?
If it’s any consolation - the LAPD are worse.
Look - I know their must be decent and good cops out there, but I don’t think they are in Bushwick. When I hear gunshots going off on my street - a frequent occurance - I still call 911. Do I expect them to help, or even care? No.
Would I use my “in” with Detective X if I had to? You betcha. It’s sick that I feel like I have to though.
January 18th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
[…] even when we’re on private property, and other bullshit like pot smoking or jaywalking or riding a bike on the sidewalk for 15 feet. No, thanks, I’d rather be mugged — it’s far less an indignity than paying taxes […]
June 26th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Here in Williamsburg’s Northside, you’ll sometimes see tiny NYPD buggymobiles (I don’t know what they’re called, but they can only hold one cop and look kind of silly) and cops in the subway when the automotive high school lets out. Those kids can be rowdy to say the least and I assume when they see the cops they tone it down.
(Side note from me to you (not for publishing) –Jeremy I commend you for publishing comments that are not in step with your thinking. To my knowledge you’re the moderator here, are you not? Anyway, I just want to say I think that’s kind of cool, who does that these days? -K.H.)