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Letters to the editor

Wheel trouble

To The Editor:

When reporter Greg Hanlon writes that all New Yorkers celebrate National Bike to Work Day, it is not humanely possible to be more wrong.

Clearly, if he were to just walk the streets and talk to the many people, who have been hit, or had a near miss, by a 300−pound, 40−year−old “boy” on his toy two−wheel bike his mommy got for him, he might have another point of view.

Indeed, in spite of the public relations hype, Transportation Alternatives (TA) does not care about pedestrians. In fact, to judge by the way most cyclists, recklessly, ride one would come away thinking that the aim of TA is to clear the streets and sidewalks for bike riders, and to heck with everyone else. If someone is hit by a bike, who cares?

When I read, “specifically, respect for the pedestrians is the biggest thing,” said Wiley Norvell, communications director of TA, I had to ask if his nose had grown when he said that.

Look at the record. Try to find one case where TA came to the aid of a pedestrian hit by a bike. You are not going to find it.

In theory, bike riding is still a good idea. But, riders over 15 years of age need to be licensed, and traffic laws must be enforced, something TA could care less about, it would seem.

Why people, such as Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik−Khan and so many others, buy into TA’s unlimited public relations ‘BS’ is beyond me.

Indeed, the best thing it could do is to go out of business.