For Immediate Release
February 23, 2006
TIME’S UP! CALLS ON THE POLICE TO END THEIR DANGEROUS ATTACK ON CRITICAL MASS AND ADHERE TO THE RULING OF THE STATE SUPREME COURT
Supreme Court judge denies the city’s request for an injunction to stop Critical Mass bike ride.
What: Critical Mass Bike Ride
When: Friday, February 24, 2006 at 7:00 pm
Where: Union Square Park South
New York City — On February 23, 2006, On February 14, 2006, Justice Michael D. Stallman of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York denied New York City’s motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the critical mass bicycle ride without a permit. The Judge concluded that New York City had “not met the three part test for a preliminary injunction with respect to the pre-ride gatherings for the Critical Mass rides, advertising of the rides, or the rides themselves.”
Bill DiPaola, Executive Director of defendant Time’s Up! and one of the named defendants expressed his appreciation for the Judge’s decision and stated “This is not only a big victory for free-expression and the right to assemble but it also supports bicyclists’ right to continue riding in groups for safety.”
There is a question of why the city continues to ignore judicial rulings on the Critical Mass rides. “After Judge Pauley of the Federal Court rejected the city’s request for an injunction to stop the October 2004 Critical Mass ride the Bloomberg administration completely disregarded the judge’s ruling and continued their attempts to stop the ride.” said Barbara Ross, volunteer for Time’s Up!
The NYPD has continued to make arrests on each month’s ride and has been escalating their aggressive behavior toward bike riders each month. Police have been documented opening car doors and driving recklessly into groups of bicyclists as well as pulling people off their bicycles while they are riding. Despite the evident dangers of such behavior, police continued to use hazardous tactics in their attempts to prevent cyclists from riding their bicycles. Since the RNC in August 2004, there have nearly been nearly 600 arrests of Critical Mass riders.
The determined bicyclists have continued to come to the Critical Mass ride each month. The legality of riding a bicycle on NYC streets has also been proven in the repeated “Not Guilty” verdicts in the cases of cyclists who are tried for riding without a permit.
A copy of the 24-page decision is available upon request:
http://www.times-up.org/pdf/2006-02-14-decision.pdf
A follow-up report and photos will be available as soon possible following the ride on Friday evening.
End Attack Police Attack on CM
