I was riding down Broadway, heading to the Union Square
farmers market there (not even part of the Critical Mass gathering that was going to be held later in the evening.)
The place was teeming with police and I figured that it
was because of the heightened state of alert that the
city was in due to the truck bombing at the Scotland
Airport earlier that day.

Little did I know that the city's heightened state of
alert was because I was riding my bicycle outside of the
bike lane!

As I rode down Broadway on the bike lane (which was
blocked), I veered off to the right to enter the park
at the curb-dip. I dismounted and walked 10 feet
towards 2 police officers who held their hands out and
asked for my drivers license. I had no idea what was
going on.

They told me that I was riding outside of the bike lane
and I should remain here. They took my license and went
off. After 20 minutes, a different officer returned,
with a smile and handed me a ticket. We joked about it
and I thought I would just get a warning, but he said
his supervisor is making him do this. I was handed
an official looking traffic violation ticket.

I sent off my not-guilty plea to Albany. There was no
information on the ticket to find out the penalty or
to request a supporting deposition.

The return letter eventually came back from Albany stating
that my hearing would be on 10/4/07 in STATEN ISLAND!
What the hell? I called the local networks about the
absurdity of the situation and was just told "tell us
something we don't already know!". Apparently it's old
news.. except when it happens to you!

Side note:
I recently had my wallet stolen at a restaurant and when
I went to the police station in Chelsea, the only piece
of identification that I had was my traffic ticket for
'Biking off Lane' (which had my drivers license number
on it). When the police asked for my ID, I showed them
the ticket and asked them if this was actually a law that
I had violated for biking outside of the bike lane. The
uniformed officer said "I didn't know that was a law,
but if you got a ticket for it, then it must be!"
I guess I had this ticket to be thankful for, since
what criminal would bring in a biking ticket to prove
their identity!

So my trial is scheduled for 10/4/07, and I decided to
see how far away the Staten Island court is.. and it's
way past the Goethal's Bridge! I have no idea how to get
there. So, in anger again, I called the NYC traffic
violations bureau who told me that they could only
reschedule the hearing for Staten Island because that's
where the officer who wrote the ticket was based. WHAT?
I reiterated that I got the ticket in Manhattan! She
was then nice enough to call someone in Albany who
miraculously rescheduled my hearing for Decemeber 6, 2007
in Manhattan on 19 Rector Street. Just a day before
the anniversary of another tragic event in our country's
history.

So at this point, I've been detained by 2 NYC police
officers, spent time talking to 2 DMV workers in NYC
and 1 in Albany, and I'm looking forward to taking up
the judges time, the court time and some officer's time.
Not to mention my time.

Isn't it time something was done to stop this
ridiculousness?
I've tried talking to Christine Quinn's (city councilwoman) office regarding this. I'll keep you posted.