Cops vs. Clowns for a Bike Ride and Pie Fight

Beware the Ides—scratch that—Pies of March! Tomorrow clowns on bikes will ride around the city to draw attention to the need for better enforcement of traffic laws. The festivities will end with a pie fight in Astor Place.

Cars and trucks in bike lanes—Homey don’t play that. Cyclist safety is no laughing matter. The Bike Clown Brigade will be cycling through Manhattan tomorrow, doling out the parking tickets that they believe the NYPD should be handing out.

NYC traffic law Section 4–08 (e) prohibits standing, stopping, and parking in bike lanes. A violation of this law carries a $115 fine. And yet:

In 2000, motor vehicles injured about 4,000 cyclists and killed between 15 and 20.

In 2005, 24 cyclists were killed.

In 2006, between 11 and 14 cyclists were killed.

In 2007, 27 cyclists and 100 pedestrians were killed.

And these are just the numbers for those killed by motor vehicles in New York.

Times Up! encourages you to help raise awareness by dressing up as a clown or a cop and meeting at the big tree near the 7th Street entrance of Tompkins Square Park at 1:30 pm. The bike ride will begin at 2:30.

At 3:30 the clowns will tumble onto Astor Place for a madcap pie fight!

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