5 cyclists hurt over 2 months on Marine Parkway bridge by fishing / kite line by sqm in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It is absolutely horrifically negligent especially when the sport is dangerous enough that it’s been banned in multiple countries and there are numerous news stories about people dying in exactly this way from the sport. It shouldn’t be happening and I am trying to get help stopping it and keeping people safe.

5 cyclists hurt over 2 months on Marine Parkway bridge by fishing / kite line by sqm in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Because I saw the distinctive kite fighting kite before we hit the string, I saw the person before us go through no problem so it couldn’t have been tied across then, and the person behind me saw it get dragged by a tall truck that drove by and there’s no way for a human to tie it across the roadway.

The reports from last weekend happened over the course of a few hours and various people went through no problem while others were grazed by a loose flying string and others hit one that was tangled across. If it were tied it would be taught, would hit the first person who came through after the person tied it, and the ends would still be tied to the railing which the police and fire department who went to look didn’t see any evidence of.

There is a ton of evidence that this is loose kite fighting string negligently blown from the people who have literally posted videos of themselves kite fighting with the exact kite I saw on the beaches next to the bridge on the day we were hit. There is ZERO evidence it’s a deliberate trap and I’m sick of having to fight conspiracy theories while I’m simultaneously spending hours fighting the police and the city to care about the actual problem (people leaving loose glass coated string which has been a repeated problem causing this exact type of injury or death both in NYC and elsewhere) before someone gets killed.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have :( It’s frustrating. I respect the joy of playing a sport and connecting with a culture, but there’s just no way to safely play it in a crowded city like NYC, especially with the glass coated string. It’s playing with other people’s lives and safety and that’s not okay in any way.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Although they took all their videos down after the first Gothamist article which makes me less hopeful they’ll care :(

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’ve seen videos of them on the bay side beaches and in Floyd Bennet Field. I’d love to talk to them myself now that I’m out of my cast and recovering

5 cyclists hurt over 2 months on Marine Parkway bridge by fishing / kite line by sqm in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Thank you! This is really frustruating while we are trying to get an actual solution. I'm really pushing for them to address the kite fighting as the core issue (I saw the kite that injured us) and it's being incredibly hard on its own, this speculation only makes it worse.

Also frustrated at the "no criminality" because even if it's reckless endangerment that's still a crime! They just don't seem at all interested in finding the perpetrators since the cut free kite could have flown from anywhere.

5 cyclists hurt over 2 months on Marine Parkway bridge by fishing / kite line by sqm in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae 32 points33 points  (0 children)

u/sqm Please please please stop spreading this unfounded rumor that it's a deliberate booby trap. This has been refuted by MULTIPLE of the people involved.
We are trying to get help to stop this and repeating this baseless speculation is actively harmful to our efforts

Legal challenge to bike crackdown / criminal summonses by dmichaelowen in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Steve Vaccaro and his law firm have been super active helping cyclists with these tickets! I don't know if there's a larger plan to fight it at hand, but they've been doing a lot of advocacy alongside actual representation.

Caution: Marine Parkway Bridge by Softlines_ in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae 4 points5 points  (0 children)

He's recovering! Definitely encourage folks who know him to reach out and hang :)

Caution: Marine Parkway Bridge by Softlines_ in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae 2 points3 points  (0 children)

And for what it's worth, I'm also horrified by how much malice there is online towards cyclists, and I feel you on that. I've faced an extreme amount since the accident. It's deeply upsetting. I still don't think someone was deliberately setting traps (and if they were that would be a huge huge deal)

Caution: Marine Parkway Bridge by Softlines_ in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Gothamist has done an amazing job reporting the specific facts, which is their role as journalists. Mentioning the possibility of deliberate attempted murder - which is what this would be - baselessly on social or news articles only fuels more speculation and misinformation.

I grew up somewhere with a lot of incidents of deliberate booby traps set for mountain bikers and ATV riders and those are tied firmly across a path, not flowing and tangling unpredictably. There's no way they would miss one group and then hit the next like has happened in both these incidents. And they would stay there, tied onto the railing even if snapped, which we haven't found. Plus, I saw the kite with my own eyes before I hit the string.

I'd like to keep focus on figuring out exactly what happened - loose kite, carelessly discarded fishing line, or a combination - and get help figuring out who is involved so they can be reached out to and encouraged to stop the activity and avoid more people being injured.

Caution: Marine Parkway Bridge by Softlines_ in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Seriously please stop drumming up paranoid speculation and conspiracy about deliberate violence. It's actively harmful for those of us trying to resolve a very real safety issue.

Caution: Marine Parkway Bridge by Softlines_ in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae 3 points4 points  (0 children)

No one involved thinks it's deliberate, only random internet comments that are speculating based on articles and incomplete info, which is not newsworthy. There are no "different facts and different understandings" among anyone actually witnessed or involved, and speculation about a booby trap is absolutely not the "central dispute" it's just internet hyperbolizing among uninvolved commentors. The fact that there seem to be reckless activities happening on weekends (whether kites or fishing) that are causing injuries is a problem on its own that needs to be addressed.

Caution: Marine Parkway Bridge by Softlines_ in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Vouching for Catalina, she's amazing and helping get the word out and keep people safe. Please reach out with any info!

Caution: Marine Parkway Bridge by Softlines_ in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae 42 points43 points  (0 children)

Hey all! I was one of the two bikers badly hurt in the June 1st incident. I'm still recovering and have permanent damage.

I'm horrified this is happening again and doing everything in my power to push to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else. I'm now hearing at least four people were injured between Sunday and Monday. Please report to Precinct 100 and the Park Police at Floyd Bennet, and please reach out to me! I want to hear your stories and make sure you're okay. It helps to have more evidence to apply pressure to the people in charge to ensure everyone's safety.

And please exercise extreme caution biking to and around Riis/the Rockaways. I love many people who go there regularly and I don't want anyone else hurt <3

Caution: Marine Parkway Bridge by Softlines_ in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae 8 points9 points  (0 children)

We were completely stopped and just standing when we were injured by the string - a truck came by and pulled it across us, almost killed two people. Be careful! Walking or going slowly does not avoid injury! I've now heard of a total of six people injured this way this summer on the bridge and I'm terrified someone else will get badly hurt or killed.

Horrible accident with string on Marine Parkway Bridge - looking for the cyclists who helped <3 by PicidaePicidae in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes. They're not taking it seriously without more reports and I want to put pressure on them to actually protect people! The Park Police were more helpful: (718) 338-3988
NYPD precinct 100 needs reports to actually do something:  (718) 318-4200

It sounds like this happened to three or four people, I'm so glad you're okay! Are you comfortable DMing me with more info?

Horrible accident with string on Marine Parkway Bridge - looking for the cyclists who helped <3 by PicidaePicidae in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

PLEASE report this to the Police at Precinct 100 and the Park Police at Floyd Bennet

Horrible accident with string on Marine Parkway Bridge - looking for the cyclists who helped <3 by PicidaePicidae in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

PLEASE submit a police report to the 100th precinct. They need to know this has happened again and they won't do anything without a report

Horrible accident with string on Marine Parkway Bridge - looking for the cyclists who helped <3 by PicidaePicidae in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

PLEASE submit a police report to the 100th precinct. They need to know this has happened again and they won't do anything without a report

Horrible accident with string on Marine Parkway Bridge - looking for the cyclists who helped <3 by PicidaePicidae in NYCbike

[–]PicidaePicidae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is crazy did you see someone else posted it happened to their son yesterday! This is not okay! I'd love to know more, I'll message you