Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Civil Rights

Ding Dong Bruce Smolka’s Gone

By Aaron Naparstek | | 13 Comments
Newsday is reporting that NYPD Assistant Chief Bruce Smolka has filed for retirement. Smolka is reknowned for his needlessly aggressive tactics in breaking up peaceful political demonstrations, his disregard of basic civil rights and his all-too-frequent abusiveness towards women. In one infamous video he was caught kicking a female demonstrator in the head at a […]

In Defense of Ghost Bikes

By Charles Komanoff | | 23 Comments
Aaron’s piece questioning the memorialization of bike fatalities reminds us that cycle advocacy is rife with paradoxes. Drawing attention to cycling deaths and injuries can be powerful politically and symbolically but may also scare off would-be riders. Moreover, cycling is safer for all when there are more cyclists. We’ve all wrestled with these contradictions and […]

NYPD Parking Abuse Scandal Widens

By Aaron Naparstek | | 67 Comments
Chinatown businessman Jan Lee was cuffed and detained for photographing police officers’ illegally parked cars in front of his shop. Despite threatening late night calls to his home phone from a Brooklyn police officer (who forgot to block his phone number from appearing on caller ID), CBS Channel 2’s Brendan Keefe continues his series of […]

Fighting the NYPD’s “Parade” Rules

By Glenn McAnanama | | No Comments
Starting August 24, the NYPD’s new "Parade" rules will take effect unless the Mayor or City Council take action to stop them. What would these new rules mean to everyday people? Any group of two (yes, 2) or more cyclists or pedestrians traveling down a public street, who violate any traffic law, rule or regulation […]