The Post Versus Reality

It’s almost the end of week one of the NYPD’s “Operation Safe Cycle” and the New York Post is very concerned about the efficacy of such a limited crackdown.

Our only problem with Operation Safe Cycle is that it’s a two-week pilot program. So at the end of the month, cyclists will feel free to go back to breaking the law — riding recklessly and endangering themselves and others.

Would Bratton do the same with other quality-of-life initiatives? We doubt it.

Lawless bikers require permanent reminders. Otherwise, the problem will just keep going round and round.

Emphasis mine.

So, would Commissioner Bratton do the same with other quality-of-life initiatives? You will not be shocked to learn that the Post’s rhetorical question doesn’t stand up to a basic Google search.

May 13, 2014:

Drivers, think twice before failing to yield to pedestrians or using your cellphone: The NYPD is on day one of a two-day crackdown on drivers who aren’t paying attention to the rules of the road.

May 20, 2014:

…the NYPD is starting a “48-Hour Speeding Enforcement Initiative” starting at midnight Tuesday through Wednesday.

That’s a grand total of four days spent cracking down on driver behavior that is known to cause death and grievous injury. And on just two of those days, the NYPD wrote over 5,000 tickets for failure to yield and cellphone use. Imagine what “permanent reminders” to lawless drivers would yield!

But, you know, bikes.

UPDATE: Jen Chung at Gothamist points me to a seven-day motorist crackdown, also in May of this year, “conducted in 21 selected precincts throughout the five boroughs.”