My friend (who hasn't had a hearing yet, so I will keep her anonymous) and I were stopped on 3rd Avenue just past 23rd St. We were on the far right of the Avenue toward the back of a pack of about 100 riders. I can't remember if we were walking our bikes at that point. We may have dismounted, having seen the cops coming in for the kill.

The officer, Jacelon, was primarily engaged with my riding companion, who didn't want to give her ID until she was told why we'd been stopped. Jacelon first said it was because we weren't in the bike lane. We pointed at that on that stretch of 3rd Avenue there is no bike lane. We had been riding where the bike lane would have been had there been one.

He then said we were riding the wrong way on 21st St. between 2nd and 3rd. We pointed out that 21st goes west, the direction we had been riding. He said he meant 22nd St. We were not riding on 22nd St. We were with a pack of 100 cyclists that had ridden noisily past the police precinct on 21st. (I knew the ride would pay for that unplanned moment of exuberance!)

My friend continued to refuse to give up her ID until she got a satisfactory response, as did I, in solidarity. They even called a paddy wagon in for us. The NLG recommended we give our IDs, and the legal observer tried her best to keep things cool. For her trouble, the officer told her to move away. My friend Pete, a videographer, was also asked to move away. He got most of the exchange on tape.

To prepare for the case I went through video provided by Pete and Times-Up that showed the cop changing his story. I also submitted a FOIL request for police video of the ride going by the precinct. My request was rejected.

My hearing was on 11/16/06 in South Brooklyn (one stop from Coney Island!). Officer Jacelon showed up, but was unprepared to make his case, so all I had to say was "Not guilty," and the judge dismissed the case.

UPDATE
My companion's ticket was dismissed on March 22.