Mayor orders police to crack down on wild-riding bicycle deliverers.Anger flares after collision kills a 68-year-old businessman.
by J. Goldman
Los Angeles Times, November 22, 1997
NEW YORK--The messenger who calls himself Kamakizee stood next to hismountain bike on Park Avenue on Friday, contemplating another day joustingwith the police.
"I'm one of the crazies," he admitted. "I'm one of theradical riders out here who doesn't give a damn.
"A year ago I had static with the cops. They maced me and I didn'tgo down. I clocked one of the cops on the head. I tackled the other. Igot 81 days in jail for it."
Wearing elbow pads and baseball shin guards along with his helmet, Kamakizee,42, is one of the thousands of deliverers and messengers who whip throughManhattan traffic jams on bicycles, helping keep this congested city hummingdespite itself.
"We're just doing our basic living, just like everybody else,"Kamakizee said.
But fewer New Yorkers see it that way, especially this week after a68-year-old businessman was struck and killed by an fast-food deliverymanillegally pedaling on the sidewalk.
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani ordered police to more vigorously pursue cyclistswho run red lights, fly down crowded sidewalks or who lack such essentialsas a bell on the handlebar to signal a change in direction.
"Bicycles are a very big quality-of-life problem," the mayorsaid. "It may be the thing that was most mentioned to me when I wascampaigning [for reelection], particularly in Manhattan."
On Tuesday, Arthur Kaye of Fort Lee, N.J., was struck on the sidewalkby a deliveryman for Chirping Chicken, a Manhattan fast-food restaurant.
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Kaye, who had a heart condition, hit his head on the pavement and diedan hour later at St. Luke's Hospital on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
Eduardo Delossantos, 24, was given a summons at the scene for ridingwithout commercial identification. Police said it was likely he also wouldreceive a summons for illegally riding his bicycle on the sidewalk andperhaps face more serious charges.
Kaye was the second person to be killed by a bicycle in the city thisyear.
Many New Yorkers applaud the crackdown as long overdue.
"In theory, you should only have to look one way when you crossa one-way street," said Daniel E. Cohen, a Manhattan marketing andcommunications consultant. "I don't know how many times I've lookedcarefully and out of the blue the other way comes some guy delivering apizza or a fax or some clams.
"After the guy almost kills you coming from the blind side, helooks back over his shoulder and swears at you."
Others see the debate as a two-way street.
Bicycle messengers complain they are being harassed and say little hasbeen done to keep legal bike lanes open.
"I know one biker who got four tickets for running one red light,"said Chris Kim, a bike messenger. "Meanwhile, the bike lane has threecars double-parked in it."
Cooler heads argue that responsible cyclists have always avoided ridingon sidewalks.
"We believe bicyclists should follow the law like everyone else,"said Elizabeth Ernish, an official of Transportation Alternatives, an organizationlobbying for greater bicycle use to reduce traffic and pollution. "Themayor talks a lot about quality of life, but if you really want to talkabout quality of life, talk about the traffic volume. We need to have morebike lanes."
Her group says about 100,000 people ride bicycles in New York. Lastyear, 3,500 were injured and 16 cyclists were killed.
In New York, bicyclists are required to follow the same rules as motorists--yieldingto pedestrians, obeying traffic lights and carrying mandated safety equipment,such as reflectors and a signaling device. Summonses can run as high as$100 for certain moving violations.
The crackdown threatens the bike industry, said Larry Zogby, presidentof RDS Delivery Service Co., noting that "bikers can earn $300 to$500 a week, depending on how well they know the city and how fast theyare."
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But for Zogby, hiring cyclists is a practice of the past. He now usesonly messengers who walk.
With bicyclists, Zogby said, he was paying close to $80,000 a year inworker's compensation because of accidents and other claims.
"We had to make a decision. Do we stay in business or pay workmen'scompensation?"
Times special correspondents Lisa Meyer and Lynette Ferdinand contributedto this story.
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