NYPD Chief: It's 'Absolutely Insensitive' To Ticket Cyclists After Deadly Crashes

An NYPD officer tickets a cyclist on 6th Avenue just north of West 24th Street, where bike messenger Robyn Hightman was killed by a hit and run truck driver last month.

An NYPD leader acknowledged on Thursday that the department's longstanding practice of ticketing cyclists at the site of deadly crashes involving cyclists is "absolutely insensitive"—while at the same time seemingly calling on New Yorkers to accept that city streets would remain dangerous.

"Moving forward, the enforcement is not going to be on bicyclists," said Chief of Department Terence Monahan during a We The Commuters panel hosted by Gothamist and WNYC on Thursday night. "We may do education for bicyclists—if we see one doing something dangerous, they'll be stopped and educated—but it'd be insensitive to give summonses. The enforcement for 72 hours [after a cyclist is killed] will be strictly on vehicles."

For years, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD have brushed aside criticism of the department's consistent ticketing of cyclists near locations where cyclists have been recently killed by drivers. But frustration with the enforcement strategy has grown especially intense in recent weeks, following the police response to a string of cyclist fatalities.

During a ticketing blitz the day after the hit-and-run killing of 20-year-old Robyn Hightman, Officer Carlos Negron accused the cyclist of causing their own death for not riding in a bike lane, before saying he was uninterested in enforcing writing summonses to drivers.

Shortly after, Monahan told reporters the policy was something "we're looking to adjust."

Last night's comments represent the NYPD's most forceful disavowal to date of an approach long reviled by the city's bike community. But they also came amid some less reassuring comments for cyclists and pedestrians from the high-ranking police chief.

Asked what could be done about the disproportionate threat to street safety caused by heavy trucks, Monahan essentially threw up his hands: "Obviously, there's a thousand trucks out there... these are dangerous streets, dangerous for cars, dangerous for pedestrians, and dangerous for bikes. Everyone has to take some sort of responsibility."

Chief Monahan also seemed to equate reckless drivers with cyclists who violate traffic laws, asserting that if you stood on any street corner in New York City, "you’re going to see a ton of cars doing things wrong, and you’re going to see just as many bicycles doing things dangerously."

Shabazz Stuart, a bike advocate and founder of the bike parking company Oonee, interjected: "Look, no. The answer is no because bikes are not the same things as cars."

Stuart went on to condemn the "double standard" of NYPD enforcement, pointing to the department's crackdown on young cyclists riding without bells, as well as his own experience of spending a night in jail for riding on the sidewalk.

"When drivers break the rules, their cars are not impounded. They get tickets," he said. "When cyclists break the rules, their bikes get taken away. They often go to jail. We have to get away from the idea today that cars and bikes are treated the same under the law because they certainly are not."

Later in the panel, Monahan was asked how he would change the streetscape of New York City if he had a magic wand. "I'd get rid of all the cars so I could drive around," he said.

You can watch the full event below: