Friday, August 20, 2010

Baruch Herzfeld and Bike Crusader Battle Over North Brooklyn Bike Blight in Brooklyn Paper Op-Eds

Posted by on Fri, Aug 20, 2010 at 12:41 PM

Bedford Bike Locks
Today, the Brooklyn Paper has point-counterpoint op-eds from the now-infamous Krazy-gluing "Bike Crusader" and Southside bike wars peacekeeper Baruch Herzfeld in which each blames the city for letting abandoned bikes pile up on Bedford Avenue poles and offer predictably opposite solutions. Crusader claims we should have bike depots (one on Kent, one in McCarren) where cyclists lock up for a buck, to which Herzfeld responds that the city should make it as convenient as possible to bike because "Bicycles are good for the city. They make the city safer. They slow the city down and make people more friendly."

Seems like the solutions to this argument—which has a very legit issue at its core, wrapped up in all kinds of resentment and NIMBY-ness, namely the piling up of old bikes on structures other than official bike racks—are the installation of more city-operated bike racks and a better system for removing abandoned bikes. Herzfeld, always aiming to appease, makes this plea to the righteous vandal: "Why don’t you try it instead of fighting it? If you come by my shop, I will lend you a bike." Aww...

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