critical mass

Eric NG's Memorial Ride

Jacob Redding — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:33:22 +0000

On Saturday December 9th a memorial ride was held for Eric NG. Eric NG was killed on the westside greeway, a car protected bike/run/jog path. He was hit by a overly intoxicated driver whom had no idea that he was driving on a bike path. The driver hit Eric NG head-on at about 30 miles per hour killing Eric instantly.

This an example of an incident that could have been prevented extremely easily thru the use of a simple barrier(s) that prevent cars from driving on the greenway.

The memorial ride was held to honor Eric NG while also bringing about awareness that something as simple as a 3 foot high concrete pillar (blocking vehicle access to the path) could have saved the life of this man. I shot a lot of video on the ride and then created this short video a few weeks later.

I don't like to create videos like this... but these "incidents" must stop.

Handschu and TARU

Jacob Redding — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 06:13:43 +0000

About one week before the February Critical Mass ride the NYPD was found to be in violation of court order to stop aggresive video taping of innocent civilians.

To catch you up after the 2004 Republican National Convention (RNC) the NYPD has used incredibly aggressive spy-like tactics to videotape innocent civilians, protesters and demonstrators. Tactics included using a blimp and high powered lenses to peer down into the city, hidden cameras in shirts and baseball caps and using plainclothes officers to pose as video capturing tourists. In the past TARU has been know for "sweeping" crowds of people to capture as many faces as possible as well as directly pointing videocameras in people's faces to intimidate them.

Well no more.. at least for now. Its seems as though the NYPD's has turned over a new leaf. At the February CM TARU was out in force with bright shiny new jackets and upon being challenged they were cordial, displayed their video camera and acknowledged the Handschu agreement.

I have to say that I'm impressed and also embarrassed by my own actions that night. I challenged and they responded politely. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised.

I tip my e-hat to you NYPD... please keep it up!

Now everyone else go read more at I-Witness Video

February's Critical Mass Ride

Jacob Redding — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 21:11:29 +0000

This past Friday was potentially one of the most historic rides in New York City's Critical Mass history. The ride took place two days before new parade rules go into effect in NYC. The new rules stipulate that 50 pedestrians, bicyclists, or motor vehicles proceeding for more than two blocks as an organized group are considered a "parade" and as such must obtain a permit. Without a permit the group is subject to arrest at the discretion of the NYPD.

This rule is directly targeted at Critical mass which the NYPD has been attempting to squelch since the 2004 Republican National Convention. If this rule remains unchallenged March's ride will the first Critical Mass ride in 15 years that could be technically illegal.

All other Critical Mass rides have been legal. A stance upheld by the courts.

This video is a raw, quickly edited looked at the ride as narrated by myself.

Critical Mass Jan, 2007

Jacob Redding — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 08:34:14 +0000

The last friday in January came with two big events.

1) It was the coldest day in NYC in the past two years. A chilly <10 degrees (I think it was 7 or so)

2) The NYPD officially entered the new parade rules into the rule books. The new rules state that 50 cyclists, pedestrians, motor vehicles or other vehicles gathered in a group proceeding down any public passageway (street, sidewalk, etc.) requires a parade permit issued by the NYPD. Any group without a parade permit is subject to arrest.

This is, of course, a direct attempt at stopping critical mass in New York City.

This is nothing new and was somewhat expected. Here is the quick rundown.

2004 RNC (Republican National Convention) 5,000 people showed up for the Critical Mass ride which coincided with a protest against the RNC

Critical Mass is NOT, and never has been, a protest. At best it is a demonstration but really it just a bunch of cyclists.

The NYPD did not like 5,000 bicycles on the road so they did mass arrests on the premise of "Parading without a permit"
NYPD taken to court over the arrests and they were found to be wrong. The Judge order the NYPD to clarify what a parade is
It took over a year but in early 2006 the NYPD declared

2 or more pedestrians or cyclists violating a traffic signal is a parade
10 or more pedestrians just kicking back is a parade

They were laughed at by the City Council and most of the city.. they had to revise their rules; again
Several months later the revised it to read

10 or more cyclists violation a traffic signal for two or more blocks is a parade
30 or more cyclists, pedestrians, etc. obeying the law is a parade

Again they were yelled at by the citizens and asked to revise.
They did... and they put them into the rule books WITHOUT holding another public hearing

Two public hearings were held and both times there was unanimous opposition to the rules but the NYPD still put them into the rule books.

Read More at
AssembleForRightsNYC
OnNyTurf Article

The clock is now ticking if these rules go unopposed in the city council or in the court rooms they will become an official rule in 30 days and the NYPD will use them to stop otherwise lawful gatherings.

I'm not sure what happened to "Freedom of Assembly" but it is about to die in New York City. We all must take action NOW! Even if you do not live in this city you need to take action many cities (and police departments) use NYPD as a test bed and follow their actions. If it works here I'll guarantee it will be implemented elsewhere.

Take Notice then Take Action.

On TV for the wrong reasons

Jacob Redding — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 05:58:49 +0000

This piece aired on WCBS, the local CBS affiliate of New York, New York. Unfortunately I was at my parent's house in Florida when it aired so I wasn't able to see it on TV but I was able to watch it on CBS' website afterwards. You can read the transcript and watch it on their website here. I did a screengrab to capture the footage so that I could post it on my site without linking to them. I love flash on the web but it does have its limitations.

Context

This occurred during the August, 2006 Critical Mass ride. A ride that is a celebration of cycling or even demonstration; if you will. It is NOT a protest. Critical mass has never been a protest and should never be a protest. When we ride in the "mass" we are not asking for anything more than to be noticed but on that day and every day thereafter. Its to bring about awareness of cycling more than simply protesting.

When this incident happened I wasn't actually in the group though, I was well behind attempting to catch up, Unfortunately when I did catch up the police started going crazy and "arresting" people (keep reading). I decided to take action and film the NYPD's actions. My action caused me to be one of those receiving a "summons" (I was never told that I was being arrested).

As you will see in the video while I was being held LT. Albano hit me from behind, said nothing to me and walked on. Unfortunately (fortunately for me) this was all caught on film and there were witnesses on the scene. I have since filed a formal complaint against Lt. Alabano, which is still pending and other things are brewing but I can't talk about that.

Summed up

No arrests
Tickets given to Sarah and I were dismissed in court.

In short the NYPD blocked traffic, threatened to arrest cyclists, ticketed cyclists and caused havoc and none of it stood up in court!

As a result of this night I have since been involved in legal talks, more video pieces AND I created a new website.

CMTickets.com is a site wherein people who have been ticketed by the NYPD at Critical Mass ride can tell their story and make it public that the NYPD is giving out BOGUS tickets. If you have been ticketed by the NYPD at a Critical Mass ride anytime after the 2004 RNC please add your ticket and tell us your story.

Another NYC Critical mass and another video

Jacob Redding — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 16:29:26 +0000

I tried something new this time and I don’t think it turned out well. Forgive me I’m learning Final Cut, Video Production and audio all at the same time. Eventually I will get it down… yes I will and then I will take over the world!

This critical mass was even crazier than the first one back in February. A lot more people showed up, which I’m sure if related to the warm weather. The cops are weird; Although over 400 people were congrated in a single place they issued no warnings about the ride or even tried to deter it from occurring yet less than 8 blocks into the ride they were determined to shut it down.

Of course this caused a bit of chaos and people went everyone. A lot of people peeled off and stopped riding and others, like myself, decided to keep riding somewhat defiantly.

Critical Mass NYC 2006

Jacob Redding — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 19:31:13 +0000

On the last friday of February I decided to ride, for the first time, in New York City's Critical Mass. Of course the ride, like all cities, is not sponsored nor encouraged by the city but New York definitely has a unique approach to Critical Mass.

If you are unsure what Critical Mass is and you either (a) ride a bike, (b) drive a car or (c) breathe you need to learn more. Google Critical Mass, Now!

A "Critical Mass" of updates

Jacob Redding — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 03:16:00 +0000

ya ya... the title is cheesy, so what. As always I've been incredibly busy. I'm still learning Mandarin Chinese, trying to plan my upcoming trip to China and also doing the five zillion other projects I have going on. What is life without projects, huh?

So.. what are these projects? I'll get to that but first a few things to get off my chest that I've been meaning to write about.

First Amex Gift Cards

Ok what the hell? huh? really! The other day I was in a Duane Reade (umm. a drug store for you west coasters) and I noticed that they were selling $25 gift cards for $28.95. Ok simple math.. you are getting ripped off. Who the hell buys these things? huh? Some Executive at Amex is a freakin' genius. pure mad scientist genius. Another way to rip people off and doing it right in front of their faces.

Why? Why? Give me one good reason why? Cash.. still works. Really it does.

Second Banks

Ok this one really deserves a blog entry of its own but I don't have the time, I have chinese to learn. ;) The other day I received an overdraft fee from the bank and they blamed it on me for not keeping a check registrar. Ok, for the record I do not and will not keep a check registrar. Lets review a quick simple history of the check registrar; 1) you write a check 2) the check must be deposited. This doesn't happen on the same day so.. bam you have a difference in time.

Ok.. but I do not write checks. Nope not a single check.. none, zip zero nadda. I use my bank card or online bill pay. I want the money to come out as quickly as possible. So because I use all electronic payments I rely on the bank to have accurate and up-to-date statements.

So this is what happened. I was in Oregon and I swiped my Visa Check card at a gas station. I returned to New York that same day. The next day I went to the bank, got a bank statement that showed I had over $20 in my account. I withdrew the $20. Later that day the Visa Check card (electronic) charge hit my account and it overdrew my account. Also at midnight (that same day) my automatic deposit hit my account and replenished all my funds.

Ok... now the bank contends that I was at fault for not keeping track of my balance. I content that it is their fault for having a crappy system that is not real-time. Of course I work in IT and I know that when I swiped my card my account information went to Visa, whom verified my credit and authorized payment. That look less than 1 second. Next Visa accepted the charge and paid the merchant. Visa then requested funds from the bank; in Oregon. Bank of America, however, BATCHED the jobs at noon almost 24 hours later.

Logically if Bank of America were to not batch theirs jobs I would have noticed that I did not actually have $20 in my account and I would not have overdrawn my account.

I spent an hour explaining this to the account reps at BofA. They didn't get it, they wanted me to take a pen and paper and write down all of my transactions.

Nobody does this anymore.. we rely on the banks and we "eyeball" our accounts every month or so.

Look it is simple. If you use all electronic forms of payments within a single country the transaction should be instantaneous. There is no technological reason that would prevent this. BofA's system analysts and engineers SUCK and need to move into this century.

Ok.. so after explaining the whole technology to them they still wanted to charge me the overdraft fee and I flat-out refused. It took a while but I eventually got them to not-charge me.

I'm sure I have some great notes on my account from that one.

Finally.... moving on..

Another video uploaded.. Whoo Hoo..

I rode in Critical Mass this past Friday. Wow! completely different than Portland or Seattle. Completely different. I shot about 45 minutes of footage and spent 1 1/2 hours with iMovie editting it. It is a little boring at times and the edits could be cleaner but... come'on I only spent an hour on it.