"There's a lot of lights leading up to the bridge [on Delancey] where no cars can actually pass to get through, so no one ever stops unless there is a pedestrian. But there was no one there. This describes how the intersection's traffic light serves no practical purpose for vehicle traffic, making enforcement against cyclists appear arbitrary and unfair."
"I don't think [criminal summonses against cyclists] is a good idea. Most of us are immigrants with cases at immigration court. If you keep getting those kind of criminal summonses, it may affect your ability to be able to get your papers in this country. We are living in this city, helping moving this city, we shouldn't get criminal summonses. And also, I see some cars doing the same things and the bikes, and I don't hear about drivers getting criminal summonses, so it's not fair."
Police officers issued criminal summonses to e-bikers at Delancey Street and Suffolk Street near the Williamsburg Bridge for running red lights at an intersection redesigned to eliminate vehicle traffic. The traffic light at this location functions ineffectively since no cars can pass through, causing cyclists to treat it as a yield sign. This creates an enforcement trap where officers can issue citations to cyclists who proceed through the light when no pedestrians are present. Mayor Mamdani promised to end this enforcement policy created under former Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, but retained Tisch as police commissioner and failed to halt the practice. Delivery workers, many of whom are immigrants facing immigration court cases, express concern that criminal summonses jeopardize their legal status while similar violations by drivers go unpunished.
Read at Streetsblog
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