Hipster cyclists versus a Jewish community. That's a gordian knot of political correctness to make a liberal's head explode.

Hurrah for the Hipsters. The Hasidic Jews in this case are acting like a Jewish Taliban. Since when does a religious cult get to dictate what clothes people wear in their neighborhood?

If the bicycling young ladies could learn to improve their posture a bit, this could be amicably resolved. But the rest of New York would be sadly disappointed.

A city government taking out bike lanes, wow, what a concept. Portland should take out the bike lanes on SE Holgate and SW Oak. A good reason would be criminal under utilization.

The gem comment in the coveraged states,
"A source close to Mayor Bloomberg said removing the lanes was an effort to appease the Hasidic community just before last month's election."

Hmmmm...
Can one even imagine a mayor taking such an action "just before...[an] election," perhaps to win votes?

Hard to believe!

___ora et labora___

-ob (with tongue firmly implanted in cheek)

Oops! (muffled sound of bear blushing)

I meant to type: in the coverage states,

Sorry!

-ob

I have always felt there is nobility in respecting the traditions and norms of a community when you move there...apparently the cycling community in NYC is as polite and respectfull as the cycling community in PDX...

Portland's cycling community polite and respectful? You have to be fairly new in town and unaware of Portland's history of fight-picking cylclists.

I am glad you are talking about repspecting traditions, though, because Portland is very much resting on traditions, agreeable and not so agreeable, more than it is progressive in the sense that there is rigorous and respectful debate on the issues that affect people's lives.

Hey, Jack. Too bad you went with a sensational story instead of looking for the facts...

http://www.streetsblog.org/2009/12/07/hasidic-cyclists-joined-up-with-secular-riders-in-bedford-ave-re-striping/

I only spent a little while working for the NY Post, but I never even had to walk in the front door to know they're a waste of ink.

I know of which you speak, Cynthia, but in this case, I'm fairly sure it is the Hasidic community (or, to be more accurate, the 'traditionalist' portion thereof) which has acted with outright bigotry here.

Hasids are obviously not the entire community...nor even the majority community. Making the entire community bend to their dictates is to acquiesce to cultural arrogance. Next, they shall demand that public buses not operate in that neighborhood and, should you happen to drive your car through the locale on a Friday night or Saturday, the locals will throw rocks at you...like they do in Jerusalem. That's the logical next step.

Hey, Jack. Too bad you went with a sensational story instead of looking for the facts..

Funny, that story you linked to had a sum total of one source, which it quoted at length--and who mainly stated their opinion, and what they read on "text messages". The source? A bike shop employee and bike club manager.

The story Jack linked to? It reported verifiable facts, and had five sources, from at least three perspectives, including the bike shop guy quoted in your link.

So I'm curious--which reporting effort is more "sensational"? And, which is more a genuine act of reporting?

Nice try at being dismissive, man.

Oy yoy yoy, yoy yoy yoy yoy

'Hipsters' don't ride bikes. Nudniks do.