2008-12-15 Bicycle Clown Defend Kent Street Lane

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts: Benjamin Shepard – 917 586 7952
                  Barbara Ross – 917 494 8164, press@times-up.org

TIME’S UP! BICYCLE CLOWNS DEFEND KENT STREET BIKE LANE AGAINST THREATS FROM MEMBERS OF THE HASIDIC COMMUNITY

Cyclists dressed as clowns will theatrically clear vehicles illegally parked in the bike lanes and educate residents about the benefits of city-wide bike lanes

When: Wednesday, December 17th, 8:30 to 10:00 AM
Where: 8:30 AM, starting at the Brooklyn side entrance of the Williamsburg Bridge
Route: South on the new Kent Ave bike lane, followed by a loop through Williamsburg
**Exact location available by calling 917-494-8164

Brooklyn, NY (December 14, 2008)
— On Wednesday, December 17th, the Time’s Up! Bicycle Clowns will ride to defend the new bike lane and future greenway connector in Williamsburg. The Bicycle Clowns will also be kicking off their year-long “Love Your Lanes” campaign to keep the focus on protecting and celebrating bike lanes.

A small but vocal group is spreading anti-bike sentiment in Brooklyn at a time when non-polluting transportation is on the rise in NYC and is recognized as essential to a sustainable future. Bike lane opponents, including some members of the Hasidic community who protest cyclists’ “immodesty,” along with Council Members Diana Reyna and David Yassky and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, are trying to remove the newly installed Kent Street bike lane. Some opponents have even publicly threatened to illegally block the bike lanes with their private-school buses, which will force cyclists into traffic to avoid crashing into the obstructing vehicle and risk being struck and even killed.

“An injury to one bike lane, is an injury to all bike lanes,” declares bike lane clown Benjamin Shepard. “Enforced, protected bike lanes save cyclists lives, improve the landscape and make better use of public space for most of the community.”

The Bike Clowns will ride on Kent Street and clear the bike lane of motor vehicles so that the bike lane is safe for cyclists commuting to work. The Bicycle Clowns will use theater to comically draw attention to the serious danger faced by cyclists without safe, protected bike lanes. They will educate bike lane opponents that removing bike lanes only encourages more people to drive, which further clogs our city’s streets and taxes our country’s oil resources.

“Safe, accessible bike lanes help us re-imagine our city’s future with far less dependence on motorized travel,” bike lane clown Madeline Nelson said.

 For more information on the Time’s Up! Bicycle Clowns click here

For photos of past Bike Lane Liberation rides with the Time’s Up! Bicycle Clowns click here

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TIME’S UP! is a non-profit environmental group that has been using educational outreach and direct action for the last 20 years to promote a more sustainable, less toxic city.

 

 

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