 Both Streetsblog and L Magazine have galling first-hand accounts from the receiving end of the NYPD's mission to ticket bicyclists who don't meticulously obey all traffic laws, including making hand signals for turns. The new crackdown—which police sources say will last "forever"—has already resulted in at least two utterly ridiculous examples of overzealous enforcement. In once instance, a cyclist was given a summons for making a right turn on red into Central Park. [MORE]  | [UPDATE BELOW] Days after a New Jersey Assemblywoman floated (and then quickly walked back) a plan to require bicycle riders to register with the DMV and put license plates on their bikes, City Councilmember Eric Ulrich (R-Queens) is joining the fun. Ulrich is proposing that all adult cyclists in NYC be required to affix an ID tag to their bikes. "There seems to be a double standard when it comes to enforcing the traffic laws," Ulrich tells the Post, explaining that many of his constituents are senior citizens. "People on bicycles scare the hell out of them. Sometimes they can be an intimidating presence on the city streets." Which reminds us how truck and car drivers used to scare the hell out of people, but then they they got licensed and now they're totally harmless!... [ MORE ] |  | Today, in a sad case that gives some perspective into the imperfect nature of pornography laws, a Brooklyn federal judge reluctantly sentenced a Bushwick pizzeria owner to five years in prison for possession of child pornography. ... [ MORE ] |  | After the Tucson, AZ shooting rampage that left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords critically injured, six dead and 13 others injured, the Post suggested that not only the Glock corporation—which made the gun that suspected shooter Jared Lee Loughner used—stop selling to civilians, the newspaper said that NYPD should stop buying weapons from Glock until the company stops selling to civilians. Now, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has voiced his support having the NYPD ban Glock, but Mayor Bloomberg is less enthusiastic. ... [ MORE ] |  | Sarah Palin and the Tea Party have received a lot of criticism in the wake of last weekend's tragic shooting in Tucson, Arizona, prompting Palin to defend herself in a video yesterday, using the antiquated claim of "blood libel." Now, Tucson Tea Party co-founder Trent Humphries has gone one step further, calling the Tea Party victims of the shooting, and arguing that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is partially responsible for having a lack of security. Regarding Palin's controversial gun-target map, he told the Guardian UK: "It's political gamesmanship. The real case is that she [Giffords] had no security whatsoever at this event. So if she lived under a constant fear of being targeted, if she lived under this constant fear of this rhetoric and hatred that was seething, why would she attend an event in full view of the public with no security whatsoever?"... [ MORE ] |  | The Lonely Planet folk are pitting San Francisco against New York City... and we're getting our collective ass kicked right now in their poll. Turns things around! They've taken 15 locations in each city, and want you to pick favorites (the view from the Brooklyn Bridge or Twin Peaks, that sort of thing). They also note that you can get street cred in NYC by not pointing or squealing at the rats (so basically, this guy wins). ... [ MORE ] |  | When you think gourmet lunch, a food cart in the park probably isn't the first thing that springs to mind, but the Parks Department is hoping to change that. Yesterday the department put out a request for proposals from mobile food vendors "that are inventive and interesting, serve a variety of options beyond hot dogs and pretzels, and that incorporate ethnically diverse and/or healthy food choices." As if the poor hot dog stand vendors haven't been through enough already! ... [ MORE ] |  | Cathie Black is not having the most auspicious start as Schools Chancellor. Ignoring the whole waiver-fiasco and her fumbled first non-snow day last night she managed to let fly two tacky cracks that left some lower Manhattan parents unamused. ... [ MORE ] | | |
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