[*BCM*] About That Boston Bike Messenger Ordinance ...

[Jym Dyer]

=v= Way back in 1998, following some media-fueled hysteria,
Boston passed an onerous bike messenger ordinance (Chapter 302).
It required that messengers, amongst other things, display a
metal plate on their bike.  (The plate was supposed to go under
the seat, but it was too wide, and many messengers cut up their
legs.)  The ordinance was used as a pretext for stopping and
harassing any biker who looked like a messenger.

=v= A web search (including the massbike.org and these list
archives) doesn't show a whole lot about this ordinance after
the year 1999.  Does anyone know whether it's still in place,
or has been modified?  Or continues to be enforced?  What's
the dealio?

=v= I ask because a politician in New York City is proposing
that all NYC bikers register and display a license:

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/nyc-bike1118,0,2976740.story

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/253898p-217382c.html

The proposed bill, I'm happy to say, doesn't have a whole
lot of support.

=v= As with most states complying with the Universal Vehicle
Code, New York only allows localities to require their own
residents to register bikes, but there's no way for the cop
on the beat to know whether a biker is a resident of New York
City.  So this can be onerous for the many tourists who come
to NYC and ride a bike.

=v= If you want to fax the foolish councilwoman to oppose
the proposed bill, there's a web form here:

http://www.transalt.org/press/askta/041119.html

You can edit the form letter to mention that you visit NYC
with your bike and, if this is passed, you'll spend your
tourist dollars elsewhere.
    <_Jym_>

P.S.:  You might not want to mention the Yankees.  She might
be a little touchy about that ...