Motorcycle Only Check Points in NY

Jim

A similar discussion to this has been going on in a local NYC motorcyclist email list and a friend of mine put his 2c in there a couple of days ago. He is the attorney who sued the NYSP over the checkpoint tactics. I think his post there warrants cross-posting to here...

I actually have attended the community meetings to protest NYPD's "Stop and Frisk" policy which essentially allows them to stop you if you "look" like a badass. Profiling and stopping anyone with no reasonable cause is BS and very un-American.

The reality of the NYPD's SQF policy is that they only use it "uptown".

Which means that in practice it is applied only to lower middle class blacks and hispanics. Because ya' know everyone north of 96th looks like a badass, right?

If they tried this shit on Wall Street there would be hell to pay. Times Square or Lincoln Center, we'd see our tourist income drop by 85-90%. Nobody wants to pay $350/night to be treated like criminals.

Meanwhile, over in the NYC Commuters thread one of our locals reportedly was singled out the other night in a general (not MC-targeted) checkpoint. Before he could even get the kickstand down one cop had already grabbed the keys out of his ignition. When is the last time some cop reached into a car to grab the ignition keys before questioning had even begun?

There was more. Wander over if anyone is curious.

Cops here are systematically treating motorcyclists like shit for absolutely no reason at all.

Time for a revolt. Seriously.

this is the real reason for the NSA snooping, stopping the populace from exercising it's constitutional rights. But I digress.

I read this on the NYC DOT page: "The existing bus and taxi high occupancy vehicle lane (HOV) into the Queens-Midtown Tunnel is open for any motorists who have three or more persons in their vehicle (HOV 3+). The hours of operation are 7:00 am to 10:00 am on the westbound LIE from Calvary Cemetery to the tunnel. Motorcycle riders must obey the same rules as other motorists and have the required number of passengers" http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/carpool.shtml

Does this mean that bikes have to have 3 or more people on each one??? IF so that is insane.

So they're still in violation of Federal law. HOV lanes on federally funded highways are supposed to be open to motorcycles.

Jim

The info on this website is intentionally wrong an misleading (or just outdated, for the naive folks out there). What's bothering me is that this link appears to be dead: nymstf.org/HOVaccess.htm Any comments from the nymstf folks?

Website was redesigned. We're fixing up dead links.

There is a "secret" old link which might help you:

http://apps.nymstf.org/HOVaccess.htm

Good, for a second I was afraid that the information is no longer relevant. Any chance we could petition the DOT to remove that piece of misinformation or even replace it with something that says that these requirements don't apply to motorcycles?

Funny you mention that! I just (45 min ago) submitted a message to the NYC DOT to either remove the text, or provide their legal basis for not doing so....

Also, I emailed the FHWA, and asked them for any requests from NY asserting that there was a safety problem related to motorcycles in HOV lanes:

What became of these requests, if I may inquire. Did they ever respond to you?

Wow... I really forgot I ever did that!

Never got a reply. Imagine my surprise. Probably would have been better off if I faxed them, instead of emailed.

That's it New York I don't love you any more!

Now I have to find a way to get around you coming & going to New England!

You must comply
you must comply
you must comply
you must comply

:)) I leave NY every Thursday night ~midnight, go to Prov, RI; spend the weekend there and come back to NY Monday noon time. Been doing this for the past year and what a difference it made on my perception of my beloved city. Definitely, just stay clear off of NYC on a bike, in a car, anything other than subway is a torture on multiple levels here. Subway itself is not the saint, but it is the savior we need - at least when it works :))

*facepalm*

And nobody saw THAT coming?!?!

I'm actually pretty convinced that's part of the strategy.

Cops really don't even try to stop the most egregious offenders here. We got a report from a fellow rider here just today that a group of 30-40 hooligans pulled wheelies past a cop and flipped him off, and he didn't even flash his fucking lights.

The checkpoints are theater. It's done for show (and for overtime income). Because it is done for show it is set up so as to be as visible as possible, i.e. at the worst possible times in the busiest places. It gives the police the illusion of being effective, and if the public sees a safety zone full of motorcyclists getting the third degree it reinforces the perception that we're all scumbags. And... the resulting horrific traffic backups reinforce the general deep-seated hatred toward motorcyclists, which only further marginalizes us and makes it that much more difficult to seek policies against the checkpoints.

Just remember, the checkpoint that stopped me the day that Alexian Lien got beat up on the West Side Highway was supposed to stop those assholes who beat up Lien, but didn't even try. Those useless pathetic bums with badges stepped aside and let the whole group go right by.

And when I questioned the cop running the thing about why I was stopped he invoked the Nuremberg defense: "I was just following orders."