Sometimes it seems to me that the real reason that Mayor Bloomberg and his Police Commissioner have gotten into their unending multi-million dollar war with Critical Mass bicycle riders is that they hate being sassed by scruffy radicals. Other times it seems to me that the fault really belongs to two former officials of Mayor Koch's era, Stanley Brezenoff and Nat Leventhal who restructured how NYC evaluates agency productivity. Those two developed and polished the Mayor's Management Report (To see the current draft of the MMR for the Police Dept. click here.

As I read the data there, there are fewer arrests in many categories of offenses. How can the police show they are busy? Well, issuing 49 summonses and arresting three Critical Mass riders certainly gives their numbers a boost -- but so does narcotics enforcement. Misdemeanor narcotics arrests -- read pot -- are up very sharply. Is this the result of a pot wave or a need to boost productivity numbers? You may want to read Paul Armentano's article on Alternet a few days ago where he points out that marijuana arrests are vastly and disproportionately of people of color. NYC arrested more than 32,000 for pot in 2006, overwhelmingly minorities.

Clyde Haberman gets it. In a good interview with a few of the Billionaires for Bush, Haberman points out what Mayor Bloomberg's office is unwilling to admit:

The spied-upon included many groups that, agree with their views or not, engaged purely in political activity; they had no history of violence and no agenda other than a constitutional right to oppose the government. The Billionaires are a good example. The only bomb that they’ve been known to throw is a joke that falls flat.

Nobody is disputing that the police had a right and a responsibility to make effective security plans for the RNC. But it seems the NYPD acted recklessly in engaging in widespread spying that failed to make a distinction between legitimate political speech and conspiracy to commit violence - between Billionaires and bombers. As Haberman quotes one Billionaire, New York's authorities may "suffer from a post-9/11 case of 'not knowing when to stop.'"

Haberman puts it into perspective:

It isn’t as if New York hasn’t rethought other policies that were deemed absolutely essential in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks. With municipal blessing, hideous concrete barriers rose in front of one building after another across town. In recent months, most have finally been torn down — recognition that Fortress New York doesn’t cut it.

Similar questions have been raised about the refusal of the National Park Service, in the name of security, to allow tourists to climb to the crown of the Statue of Liberty. Such a restriction at this potent symbol of American freedom has been strongly criticized by the likes of Senator Charles E. Schumer and Representative Anthony D. Weiner, who hardly see themselves as soft-on-terror types.

Likewise, respect for freedom of speech is not a concession to terror. Many New Yorkers would feel more secure if their mayor would acknowledge that.

We still don't know the extent of the spying program and how far it went across the line. We don't know whether the program's defenders have any basis for their arguments. We won't know until the city agrees to release the surveillance records. So: what are you afraid of, Mayor Bloomberg?

Seriously. I know that being a Republican and all, you are predisposed to both extra-legal surveillance and lying about said activities, but please, for the love of Fiorello LaGuardia, please stop bullshitting me. It's unseemly and it makes you look like an even bigger ass. Today I read in the New York Times that you had to unleash the NYPD on all those "potential terrorist" and "anarchist" groups that may have been "planning to cause or take advantage of any disruptions", but that "We were not keeping track of political activities" and "We have no interest in doing that.”

Bullshit. You know it and so do I.

“We had a fundamental responsibility to learn whether groups might include any potential terrorists or anarchists planning to cause or take advantage of any disruptions,” Mr. Bloomberg told reporters at a news conference. Toward that end, he said, the Police Department monitored those who said they intended vandalism or disruptions and, he added, “in a few instances, we did keep track of groups or individuals who did plan to come to New York for the R.N.C. convention and who might have been planning violent acts.”

I am proud and pleased to announce that my cyclists group, The Five Borough Bicycle Club went to Federal Court in Manhattan today and sued NYC's Police Department to halt the implementation of rules which effectively require cyclists to get impossible-to-get parade permits for otherwise lawful group bicycle rides.

Update: The case has been assigned to District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan and a hearing has been scheduled for Thursday, March 28, 2:30 PM, at United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl St, Room 12D, New York, NY. The argument on Plaintiffs' Motion for a Preliminary Injunction was heard today before the Honorable Lewis A. Kaplan of the Southern District of New York. Judge Kaplan stated that he did not have sufficient time to review the parties' submissions in order to decide Plaintiffs' motion by Friday March 30, as Plaintiffs had requested. The Court ruled that it would hear additional evidence next week and then decide in the near future (and not later than April 27 when the next Critical Mass ride in Manhattan is expected to take place) whether or not to preliminarily enjoin the enforcement of the City's parade rules.

As a result, NYPD was free to enforce its new rule on Friday during the Critical Mass Ride. 40 got tickets and 3 were arrested. As an uneven enforcement note, permit-less groups of riders far in excess of 50 rode all over Manhattan on Saturday. Only the critical-mass group was the subject of enforcement pressure.

5BBC, represented by litigation powerhouse Debevoise & Plimpton, LLP, seeks to restrain the NYPD from enforcement of those rules while their action is pending. The new rules are aimed at the Critical Mass bike ride, a leaderless group ride which continues to face massive NYPD enforcement action. Critical Mass riders were subject to some of the harsher enforcement at the Republican National Convention. Did NYPD undercover infiltrate the 5BBC? Stay tuned.

Because those enforcement actions have routinely led to mass arrests followed by mass acquittals, Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly decided to try to change rules. Those changes will effectively prohibit recreational group rides like the one from City Hall to the Bronx Zoo last week.
Review the 5BBC press release here which has hot links to the legal documents and to much more about this. In any case, Spring has sprung, come ride your bike without a permit.

The thing is, to the New York Post, you're all just a bunch of dirty hippies - and potential terrorists. Oh, you may say you're just an ordinary American citizen and New Yorker, who wanted to demonstrate your disapproval of the Republican machine that chose to exploit 9/11 once again by flaunting itself at Madison Square Garden. Your nefarious plans may involve little more than wearing satirical costumes, helping poor folks with AIDS get housing, or even, say, being black and on the City Council.

But, according to the Post's editorial board, there's every reason to believe you're a terrorist like the ones who attacked the World Trade Center. As Oliver Koppel so insightfully noted, "vigorous advocacy can turn into violent acts." So try to keep your advocacy as tepid as possible.

In response to yesterday's revelations in the Times about the extent of the NYPD's pre-RNC domestic spying program, the Post has launched a typical right-wing broadside, once again ditching common sense for fluttery hysteria. Accusing the Times of "smearing the NYPD," the editorial breathlessly asks:

What will it take to make The New York Times wake up? Another 9/11? Madrid-like bombings? Violence like that of the '99 World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle?

(More...)

Credit:Indymedia.org

The NYPD's Chief Smolka is retiring after a 32 year career, finishing as the top cop in Manhattan south of 59th St. The position was a sweet one and now he is giving it up for a nice big pension and apparently wants to work for Revlon (Now that is a story on its own merits).

Well that would sound like something from a press release. The facts of the matter are much different. Smolka's past includes supervising the now-closed Street Crimes Unit that was responsible for the death of Amadou Diallo and the piece of news below.

From I-Witness:

Does the timing of Chief Smolka's exit from NYPD have anything to do with his upcoming civil trial for using excessive force against another woman activist? A deeply disturbing video that will be introduced as evidence in the trial shows Chief Smolka kneeing Cynthia Greenberg in the head while she is engaged in passive civil disobedience.

As naive as it may seem, I still tend to assume that "the system" works more than it does not. So, as naive as it may seem, I was recently shaken by the words of several well-respected Black leaders and activists who condemned the New York City Police Department as being pretty much rotten to the core.

As a gay man who was damaged and corrupted by 40 years in the closet, I have no difficulty understanding the symptoms and manifestations of self-hatred, not to mention the pathetic and often-times frightening maneuvers used by self-haters to gain acceptance and invisibility among the so-called majority.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has challenged allegations of racism in the horrific Sean Bell shooting. Perhaps his most intriguing response has been to explain that the majority of police officers involved in the incident were in fact Black themselves. Kelly implies that it is illogical to accuse the NYPD of racism under such circumstances.

Some Black leaders have bitterly refuted this defense pointing out that the vast majority of "victims" of police shootings in this city are young African-American men. They contend that once an African-American puts on the NYPD uniform he ceases to be Black and in fact becomes Blue.

I get this from Chris Owens' website. It is a message from Kevin Powell about the 50-day vigil for Sean Bell. The issue of excessive use of force by police towards black men has to be one that is discussed on liberal blogs like this one. And vigils like this deserve the attention of progressive groups, particularly if those progressive groups want to be of relevence to the black community. Here's Kevin Powell's message:

Good day, everyone!

This is Kevin Powell, Brooklyn, New York based writer and community activist. I was just out at the 50-day Sean Bell Vigil in Jamaica, Queens, New York, last night, across from the 103rd precinct. In spite of the rain, the Bell family, friends, and folks looking for basic justice were there. It was incredibly moving, and it made me think of Rosa Parks in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955, as well as those four college students in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1960. In both instances, it was just a few dedicated individuals and their very simple acts of civil disobedience which brought attention to very serious human and civil rights violations. They made sacrifices to their own comfort and their own safety, and changes did happen, as manifested in the Civil Rights Movement.

Continued...

I am quite pro-police. In fact, coming from California, I tend to think the cops should in general be more rigorous in enforcing laws. I have railed against Bloomberg for dicking around our cops during contract disputes and, as far as I am aware, the cops still don't have a current contract. During some protests I have carried a sign urging Bloomberg to give the NYPD and FDNY better pay. I was never raised anti-cop.

But when an unarmed man gets shot 50 times by the police, something is wrong.

Today was the March for Justice against excessive use of force by the NYPD against black men, most particularly Sean Bell.

Joy and I had aimed to join up with either the Democracy for NYC or the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats contingents, but arrived somewhat late and never met up with either. Instead we moved in at 59th St. and 5th Ave. where we could muscle our way in. We wound up just in front of the NAACP contingent.

Protesting with a small child is completely different than doing so alone. Most of my experience of the march was doing my best to avoid running into the people in front of me, preventing others from bumping into the stroller, feeding Jacob lunch and happily noticing when he fell asleep and how long he napped. So my experience was not typical.

Noel of RoosCampNYC and and Will of OnNYTurf have been on the ball with the latest from Herr Kelly ---an unfortunate holdover from New York's years of Guilianiship.

PRESS RELEASE: PRESS CONF NOVEMBER 27 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 21, 2006

NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly has again proposed undue and
constitutionally questionable limits on political speech in New York City. The proposal represents a narrow retreat from a similar proposition that NYPD withdrew two months ago after vociferous opposition from members of the City Council and the public.

The current proposal, which would prohibit public gatherings of as few as ten people who do not first apply for and obtain a permit from the police, will be the subject of public hearings at Police Headquarters on November 27th from 11am to 2pm.

Opposition to the proposal is lead by Assemble for Rights NYC, a coalition joined in this quest by City Council members Rose Mendez, Charles Barron, Letitia James, and Alan Gerson. Assemble for Rights represents a diversity of groups which support free speech or which directly use peaceful assembly either for political speech or recreation. The Center for Constitutional Rights, the National Lawyers Guild, United for Peace and Justice, Housing Works, the Five Boro Bike Club, the New York City Bicycle Coalition, and the Birth Control Project are among the members of the coalition.