Bill de Blasio, the freak-bodied mayor of New York City, is hell-bent on implementing his "bike-friendly" agenda, consequences be damned.
Those consequences, it turns out, can be quite messy. De Blasio may think he's supporting an "eco-friendly" means of transportation, but in reality he is enabling a public menace, a twin-wheeled hazard that terrorizes the pedestrians of his city, often without repercussions.
The New York Post reports:
Since 2011, bicyclists have injured more than 2,250 pedestrians — including at least seven who died — according to stats from the city Department of Transportation and published reports.
Injuries are up 12 percent this year, rising to 127 through June 30 from 113 over the same period in 2018, the NYPD says.
Most of the injured last year were in Manhattan, where 134 pedestrians got hurt, nearly half the citywide total of 270.
At least two pedestrians have been fatally run down by cyclists in 2019. "People are mad," said one Upper West Side resident whose young daughter suffered a head wound after being clipped by a speeding cyclist. "She got hit while we were just walking on the pathway—and a lot of cyclists were speeding past us, yelling at us to get out of the way."
Anecdotal evidence suggests there are few things urban cyclists enjoy more than yelling at pedestrians to get out of their way. New Yorkers are frustrated by Mayor de Blasio's unflappable allegiance to the Big Bike lobby, including his plan to install 30 new miles of bike lanes per year throughout the city.
In an urban landscape where space is already limited, the new bike lanes are crowding out pedestrian walkways, and in at least one instance, an ambulance lane. Cyclists routinely ignore traffic lights, putting pedestrians at further risk. Mayor de Blasio has shown no signs of backing down, but the NYPD is doing its part to crack down on the cycling menace. Police issued nearly 20,000 moving violations to cyclists during the first half of 2019, a 10 percent increase compared to the same period in 2018.
According to science, walking is a more environmentally friendly way of getting around than cycling.