WNBR New York Today At Sundown In Snowstorm
BeoWolf
Naked cyclists vs. Hassidic Jews: battle of the bike lane
Bicyclists planning a Saturday protest are calling it their "Freedom
Ride" - free of clothing, that is. And they may be pedaling naked in a
fierce snowstorm, if the forecast holds.
The removal of clothing is meant as a protest over the removal of a
bike lane in Williamsburg, an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in
Brooklyn.
The activists want to go topless in front of Hasidic residents who
"can't handle scantily clad women" on wheels, bike messenger Heather
Loop told a local newspaper earlier this week.
The newspaper, The Brooklyn Paper, suggested the scantily clad
protesters might roll into the neighborhood at sundown Saturday - just
as families leave synagogue services on the Sabbath.
Bicycling advocates claim New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg erased
the bike lane because conservative residents don't like seeing women
in skimpy clothing riding by every day.
Members of the Satmar branch of Judaism "don't want to see women in
shorts," says Baruch Herzfeld, who runs a bike-sharing program in a
community where Jewish women wear hefty skirts and blouses with long
sleeves and men heavy coats and hats, even in summer.
"The rabbis want to keep their people in the 18th century, and they
don't want the world to intrude into their enclave," says Herzfeld.
Not entirely true, says Leo Moskowitz, a resident with five children.
He insists the main issue is safety.
"Kids can be knocked over because school buses are not allowed to stop
in the bike lane - it's dangerous," says Moskowitz, a salesman at a
telecommunications company who acknowledges that he feels "very
uncomfortable" seeing women bare their legs in public.
The bike lane battle is pitting Hasids against hipsters and, in some
cases, Jew against Jew.
Those who say safety is the main reason for doing away with the lane
"are lying," says Herzfeld, who was born a Satmar but says certain
practices should be abolished.
"The mayor made a deal with religious fanatics trying to enforce old
traditions that don't belong in the 21st century," he said.
Marc LaVorgna, a Bloomberg spokesman, says the city always consults
members of a community when making changes that affect them. In this
case, he said, city officials want riders to use a much safer lane
nearby that he called "the Cadillac of bike paths" - a two-way path
separated from car traffic. That bike lane also drew the wrath of some
Satmars last year, but it stayed.
The now-vanished bike lane, on Bedford Avenue, has been the subject of
two recent protests.
On Sunday, activists staged a "funeral procession" for the departed
path.
Two weeks ago, under the watchful eye of police, they painted back the
stripe. City workers scraped it off and two bikers were charged with
criminal mischief and defacing the street.
The organizers of Saturday's naked ride have been keeping a low
profile.
Since she spoke to The Brooklyn Paper earlier this week, Loop has been
mum. She didn't return a call to her cell phone or answer a Facebook
message.
The participants in the ride do not have the support of Transportation
Alternatives, a major cycling advocacy group.
"A ride with people in provocative undress doesn't make Bedford any
safer, and it undermines efforts to bring the neighborhood together to
solve the problem," says Wiley Norvell, a group spokesman.
The biggest challenge for the topless riders, however, might not be
the law - it's legal to go topless in New York in public - but the
weather: Forecasters are predicting as much as 10 inches of snow and
brisk winds
BeoWolf
Too cold for nude protest, NYC bikers switch gears
After bike lane closed in Orthodox New York neighborhood,
Williamsburg, because of Satmar distaste for cyclists' attire, bikers
plan to go topless through neighborhood in protest. Snowstorm keeps
their clothes on as bikers opt to pin plastic breasts to their coats
instead
Bicyclists who planned to go topless to protest the removal of a
Brooklyn bike lane switched gears Saturday, pinning plastic breasts to
their jackets as they rolled into a snowstorm.
Dozens of bikers joined a protest called the "Freedom Ride" to oppose
the removal of a bike path in Williamsburg, an Orthodox Jewish
neighborhood.
But the fierce snowstorm in New York kept them from pedaling topless
as planned.
The cyclists blame Mayor Michael Bloomberg for the loss of the lane
because Williamsburg's Hasidic Jewish residents "can't handle scantily
clad women" on wheels, said bike messenger Heather Loop, who organized
the action.
The bikers' tactics did not amuse some faithful Hasids leaving
synagogue services with their families on the Sabbath. They rushed
home.
Bloomberg had removed the bike path because members of the Satmar
branch of Judaism "don't want to see women in shorts," said Baruch
Herzfeld, who runs a bike-sharing program in a community where Jewish
women wear hefty skirts and long-sleeved blouses and men wear heavy
coats and hats, even in summer.
"The rabbis want to keep their people in the 18th century, and they
don't want the world to intrude into their enclave," Herzfeld said.
But Leo Moskowitz, a Williamsburg resident with five children, insists
the main issue is safety.
"Kids can be knocked over because school buses are not allowed to stop
in the bike lane. It's dangerous," said Moskowitz, who acknowledges he
feels "very uncomfortable" seeing women bare their legs in public.
It was too cold to do that Saturday.
Still, the riders made their point, obeying traffic signals as police
watched.
They had gathered earlier Saturday at a Williamsburg bar called the
Wrecked Door.
Lyla Durden took a last puff from her cigarette on the street before
rolling off into the flake-filled night with other protesters who
believe the Bedford Avenue bike path should be restored.
Marc LaVorgna, a Bloomberg spokesman, said the city wants riders to
use a much safer lane nearby a two-way path separated from car
traffic. That bike lane also drew the wrath of some Satmars last year,
but it stayed.
The now-vanished bike lane on Bedford Avenue has been the subject of
two recent protests, including one during which activists painted back
the lane stripe. City workers quickly scraped it off.
Sam Paul uses her bicycle to deliver food and alcohol in Brooklyn for
a service company called Snap.
The 23-year-old native New Yorker said it was snowy and cold, "but
we're used to riding in this kind of weather."
Despite the hundreds of miles of bike lanes the city has created in
recent years, "we need more," Paul said. Bedford Avenue "is congested
that's why a bike lane is necessary."
Terry J. Wood
457f13...@g26g2000yqe.googlegroups.com:
> The biggest challenge for the topless riders, however, might not be
> the law - it's legal to go topless in New York in public - but the
> weather: Forecasters are predicting as much as 10 inches of snow and
> brisk winds
Frostbite!
Terry J. Wood
92bdcb...@k17g2000yqh.googlegroups.com:
> Bicyclists who planned to go topless to protest the removal of a
> Brooklyn bike lane switched gears Saturday, pinning plastic breasts to
> their jackets as they rolled into a snowstorm.
Like THAT will upset their foes!
Casa Blanca Hot Spring
Top free isn't nude.
"BeoWolf" <naturis...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:21f58a2b-396e-47c4...@k17g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
Anna
They were called the National Socialist Workers Party!
From Brown Shirts to no shirts!
Anna
> from:http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1136124.html
>
> Naked cyclists vs. Hassidic Jews: battle of the bike lane
>
> Bicyclists planning a Saturday protest are calling it their "Freedom
> Ride" - free of clothing, that is. And they may be pedaling naked in a
> fierce snowstorm, if the forecast holds.
Maybe at the same time they can protest against Global Warming.
Anna
> BeoWolf <naturistvid...@gmail.com> wrote in news:21f58a2b-396e-47c4-aea4-
> 92bdcba39...@k17g2000yqh.googlegroups.com:
>
> > Bicyclists who planned to go topless to protest the removal of a
> > Brooklyn bike lane switched gears Saturday, pinning plastic breasts to
> > their jackets as they rolled into a snowstorm.
>
> Like THAT will upset their foes!
Don't you love how "Tolerant" these New Yorkers are.
I wonder how they would react if instead of Hassidic Jews they were
Muslims.
James Dale Guckert
> Huh, I remember another group that went after Jews a while back...
Who's going after Jews, exactly?
Please, "Anna"... the adults are talking.
JDG
James Dale Guckert
You, sir, have nothing to contribute here except for some divisive,
unrelated nonsense.
As usual.
I guess you find it fun.
JDG
Terry J. Wood
news:iY2dnc2A6fmUQ7PW...@earthlink.com:
> Top free isn't nude.
It's just a good start.
Is the person half-fool-textile or half-empty-nudist?
Casa Blanca Hot Spring
"Terry J. Wood" <Terry...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9CE9DF8...@216.168.3.30...
> "Casa Blanca Hot Spring" <CasaBlanc...@mindspring.com> wrote in
> news:iY2dnc2A6fmUQ7PW...@earthlink.com:
>
>> Top free isn't nude.
>
> It's just a good start.
That depends on the context. It could be a really bad start in some cases.
> Is the person half-fool-textile or half-empty-nudist?
That depends too on the context.
In some instances, it could be all of the above, none of the above, or a few other things.
NN,
Bill