MyBikeLane

To be on the safe side: no pictures, no license plates, no names. Only the people involved know about it. For everyone else it's just a nice example of driver's respect towards cyclists and how they interpret the law.

This is the story of a guy (and his girlfriend with two cops in the family as they several times emphasized) trying to force me to delete the picture I took of his car, standing in the bike lane at the Brooklyn College main entrance.
The final result of all this: At least the police officers and hopefully family and friends of the two will learn about this website. They promised me to check, if I post the picture of his car here. They will see nothing but will learn that he has eight outstanding parking tickets ($420) from July and August. That's what I call following the law!

The Story:
I took the usual picture of a car blocking the bike lane after waiting some while if it's really only a drop-off stop. They did not like it, passed me, and stopped again in the bike lane to confront me to delete the picture because I was violating their privacy. Some more discussions. I called a CUNY police officer, who was standing in front of the building next to us. No solution and the guy finally said: "You know, just leave". One block later he passed me again, double-parking on the bike lane next to the only car within several yards, and stood on the bike lane in front of his trunk. Instead of trying to pass him to end up like the cyclist in the 'famous' critical mass-NYPD incident I stopped. He asked me again to delete the picture or he would call the police. He called 911 and we waited about 45 minutes.
The police officers came, standing half on the bike lane next to the empty parking lane, and 'interviewed' us separately. They called some legal office and told me that I shouldn't put the pictures on the web because of privacy issues.
Regarding blocking the bike lane: The driving officer said that he would stop on a bike lane to drop off his girlfriend (which could take a minute or so). So, why having bike lanes at all if even the police does not care about the law. Passing a car, standing in a bike lane, is dangerous every second she/he is standing there. To avoid hitting the trunk we have to use the car lane into the normal traffic. One second is enough to get caught by a car. But I also had cars slowing down to let me pass safely.
A little side-note: Four weeks ago I was sliding over the street after a car used the bike lane to pass some cars in the traffic jam ahead of him. He got my handle with his trunk and turned immediately into the next street to disappear. I know, I can't change the world (and certainly not the windshield-blurred mind of drivers) but would like to use the only four feet for cyclists going North-South in Brooklyn safely.

End result:
The police took our personal information, wrote a short report, and drove off. The guy and his girlfriend (she joined us shortly before the police came) looked in disbelief that they did not force me to delete the picture and threatened me to sue me if they see the picture of his car on the web site.

Did they learn anything? NO! Will they do it again? YES. Will he accumulate more traffic tickets to impress the police officers in his girlfriend's family? Probably yes.