When a cyclist in New York tried to correct an NYPD officer who was about to illegally park his police car, he ended up with a ticket. The whole incident was caught on camera and is raising concerns about standards at the NYPD. It’s also bringing light to questionable tactics by the cyclist in question.
While it might sound trivial to those outside of New York, police officers illegally parking police cars on the sidewalk is a rampant issue in the Big Apple. A recent study by a Berkeley professor claims that out of 77 NYPD precincts, 70 had police cars illegally parked on the sidewalk.
In the video below, the cyclist in question, a man named Louis M. according to Hell Gate who first reported the incident, rides up behind an NYPD officer. That officer stops in the process of backing into what looks like a pseudo-parking spot halfway on the sidewalk. “Sir, it’s police parking,” we can hear one of the officers in the SUV say over the loudspeaker.
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A verbal argument between Louis and the two officers continues for several minutes before one issues him a summons for riding his bike on the sidewalk. In response to the article, Hell Gate received the following statement from the NYPD: “Parking around precincts is a persistent challenge due to our thriving, complex city and the limited space we all must share. But the NYPD strives each day to achieve balance as we continue to work toward common-sense solutions.”
That sort of non-committal answer appears to be the same attitude that led Louis to his action. He described his position as one of bold defiance in the face of wrongdoing. “I can’t make the cops move, but if they are doing something I can put my body in the way of, and stop them from doing something wrong, that’s sort of the only power that I have,” Louis said.
“I’m also a white guy. I recognize that I can get away with yelling at the cops in a way that a lot of other people can’t, so this feels like a relatively safe way for me to do it.”