Critical Common Sense
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
A federal judge in Manhattan, Lewis Kaplan, issued a ruling will serve as a mild decongestant to at least some of Manhattan’s traffic jams. He refused to strike down a new NYPD rule requiring groups of more than 50 bicyclists to plan a route ahead of time and obtain a parade permit.
The need for this regulation is plain to every New Yorker who has followed city efforts to enforce traffic regulations against the pedalers who call themselves “Critical Mass.” On the last Friday of each month these bicyclists convene in Manhattan and ride en mass along a route that is decided upon as red lights are run, intersections blocked, and the lawful orders of police officers ignored.
The bicyclists of Critical Mass say the aim of their rides is to demonstrate the virtues of cycling to the very drivers they help bring to gridlock. Judge Kaplan is considerate of the First Amendment rights of these riders. He observes that “bicycle riding can combine speech and non-speech elements.” But requiring that riders first secure a parade permit, Judge Kaplan concluded, did not violate the Constitution.
The requirement is fairly applied across the board. One plaintiff challenging the rule is a historian, Kenneth Jackson, whose annual bicycle tours have attracted a crowd interested city history. The parade permit rules apply also to groups of pedestrians and to caravans of motorists.
“Life in this great city involves infinite conflicts between the desires of some to act and express themselves whenever, wherever, and however they wish and the desires of others for freedom from such behavior,” Judge Kaplan wrote. “The inescapable fact is that one person’s freedom can be another person’s burden or annoyance, often even where each is acting in entire good faith.”
“The permitting scheme enables the NYPD to orchestrate the movements of various groups of different sizes and ensure that they proceed at times and places where their impact on each other, other users of the roadways, and the City as a whole is kept to a minimum,” Judge Kaplan wrote.
