"Moving Beyond Bikelash!" Presented by Doug Gordon & Aaron Naparstek at the 2014 National Bike Summit in Washington D.C., March 4, 2014

1. Moving Beyond Bikelash! Doug Gordon | Aaron Naparstek National Bike Summit Tuesday, March 3, 2014 @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
2. Dr. Naparstek Advocate Journalist Cyclist Dr. Gordon Advocate Journalist Cyclist @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
3. BIKELASH! Know how to identify and treat it. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
4. PATIENT ZERO Prospect Park West Bike Lane @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
5. Prospect Park West: Lay of the Land You are here. New York City @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
6. Prospect Park West: Lay of the Land Prospect Park West @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
7. For $1.8 million you can have a 3-bedroom on PPW. It's an "exclusive" address! @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
8. A PPW townhouse sold for $8.45 million in 2010! @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
9. The address of Brooklyn's stars. Political stars! Governor Hugh Carey U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer & NYC DOT's Iris Weinshall Movie stars! Paul Bettany & Jennifer Connelly @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash Literary stars! Jonathan Safran Foer & Nicole Krauss
10. The pedestrian safety problem has been around for a while. Death-o-Meter at Grand Army Plaza, 1927. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
11. June 2010, DOT redesigns Prospect Park West. Before: Intimidating three-lane speedway. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash After: Two-way protected bike lane.
12. Transformed overnight into a fantastic street for biking. Photo by Dmitry Gudkov @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
15. The impact of the redesign is dramatic:  Surge in the number of people biking on PPW.  Speeding went way down: From 74% of cars to 20%.  Sidewalk cycling disappeared: From 46% of cyclists to 3%.  Car traffic volumes and travel times stayed the same.  Crashes resulting in injuries went down 63%.  And it's popular. 70%+ approval. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash Photo by Dmitry Gudkov
16. Surprise, surprise. Not everyone is happy about it. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
17. This is not your typical group of NIMBY bikelashers. Former Deputy Mayor & Sanitation Commissioner Former DOT Commissioner Norman Steisel Iris Weinshall @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
18. Did we mention Iris Weinshall's all-powerful husband? Sorry… Wrong slide. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
19. Did we mention Iris Weinshall's all-powerful husband? U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
20. Also atypical: These bikelashers are mobilizing online. 291 members! @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
21. It's OK. We can play that game… 291 members! 1,969 members!!! @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
22. A major litigation firm takes NBBL's case "pro bono." "As a former federal prosecutor I've never seen something like this." -- March 9, 2011 @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
23. Sometimes a bike lane is more than just a bike lane. "When I become mayor, you know what I'm going to spend my first year doing?" Mr. Weiner said to Mr. Bloomberg, as tablemates listened. "I'm going to have a bunch of ribbon-cuttings tearing out your f*#king bike lanes." -- March 4, 2011 Rep. Anthony Weiner Remember this guy? @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
24. They launch a smear campaign attacking NYC DOT and advocates. Video camera in the window of the mansion at 14 PPW @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
25. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
26. Chuck + Marcia: BFF's CBS 2 Chief Political Correspondent Marcia Kramer @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
27. They're willing to hit the streets too. Big rally on October 21, 2010 @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
28. This stuff can get… emotional. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
29. Zombies for Better Bike Lanes? Note to self: Try to be gracious toward your opponents. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
30. What it's really all about… The rallying cry of the aptly named Lois Carswell @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
31. We staged a counter-demonstration. Transportation Alternatives' Director Paul Steely White @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
32. As on Facebook, supporters outnumber opponents 300 to 50. We are also a much more generationally diverse crowd. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
33. August 2011: It takes more than a year, but we win in court. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
34. BIKELASH SYMPTOMS @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
35. “This isn‟t Amsterdam!” @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
37. “What is our objective in this city? To stigmatize the use of cars? Do we want Brooklyn to replicate Amsterdam?” – Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Borough President @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
38. "One political consultant said the idea of expanding the use of bicycles was foolhardy. Hank Sheinkopf told me: 'This isn’t Amsterdam. We have many narrow streets and a great number of cars and trucks.'” @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
41. “We will never be Amsterdam; never be Copenhagen. We are never going to be Portland.” – Louise Hainline, President, Neighbors for Better Bike Lanes @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
42. “Beijing is looking more like New York City and New York City is moving towards Beijing of the 1960s & '50s.” – Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Borough President @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
43. Beijing, 1960s @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
44. Beijing, 2013 @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
45. “We keep hearing that St. Paul wants to be like Portland, and I always ask, „How long does the snow last in Portland?‟” – Clare Malloy Bluhm, Local Taxpayers for a Livable Community, St. Paul, MN @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
46. "This is a city made for people who want to go from point A to point B. This is not some Seattle coffee, grunge, pothead experiment. This is Chicago." – John Kass, Chicago Tribune @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
48. But… @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
49. "…But a lot of people are not particularly calm about bicyclists, and we are deeply sympathetic." @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
50. "Some of my best friends are cyclists." @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
51. "We’re not opposed to bike lanes. We‟re opposed to this one and the way it was done. You have to be concerned about all who use it, and that includes drivers, pedestrians, and the bicyclists." - Norman Steisel, former Deputy Mayor, NBBL member. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
52. “This is consistent with DOT‟s decision to enlist an individual (the „Blogger‟) to wage a viral campaign against critics of the PPW configuration, many of whom support bike lanes generally, including on Prospect Park West.” – Jim Walden, NBBL attorney @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
53. "I'm not against cycling. I think it‟s environmentally friendly. But they share the roads with drivers and pedestrians and they have a responsibility to follow the same laws." – Eric Ulrich, New York City Councilman, Queens @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
54. "Listen. First off, I’m not against bicycles. My wife and I have a bicycle. But I have an absolute right to raise a question as to whether or not bicycle lanes should be emphasized as a viable alternative transportation mode." – Marty Markowitz Brooklyn Borough President @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
56.  Pre-exemptive self-exoneration.  Invocation of humorless cycling advocates.  Invocation of personal cycling bona fides.  Reference to America‟s love affair with cars.  Invocation of damnable scofflaw cyclists. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
57. Additional bikelash symptoms:  Concern trolling.  Nobody bikes, so we don‟t need bike lanes.  There are too many cyclists, so bike lanes are dangerous. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
59. CITI BIKE Virulent, Rapid-Onset Bikelash @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
60. April 7, 2013 The invasion… @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
61. NOMB: Not On My Block! @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
66. Citi Bike: Lawsuits @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
68. May 27, 2013 The day we‟ve all been waiting for! @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
70. “The bike lobby is an all-powerful enterprise.” @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
71. "They're just f*cking bikes!” @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
74. Citibike: A pleasant way for wayward pols to pay penance. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
75. TREATMENT You CAN Fight Bikelash @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
76. Strong local advocacy organizations are key! Apologies to the many great bike advocacy groups not recognized here! @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
77. In NYC T.A. has been working since the 1970's. New York Times, November 15, 1980 @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
78. Even on PPW we had a long-running community process. Park Slope Civic Council Forum on Traffic and Transportation March 2006 @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
79. We brought together every stakeholder we could think of. Grand Army Plaza Coalition Visioning Workshops Summer 2006. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
80. Highlight the problem. Generate demand for change. Super-Advocate Eric McClure speed-gunning on Prospect Park West 65 mph! @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
81. Fast, inexpensive, incremental design improvements. Test out ideas. Circumvent fear-mongering. Create "wins." @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
82. Fast, inexpensive, incremental design improvements. Test out ideas. Circumvent fear-mongering. Create "wins." @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
83. Show what it's all about: Safe streets for kids, seniors, families. April 10, 2011: We Ride the Lanes. 700 participants. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
84. Be organized, vocal and VISIBLE. Outstanding community meeting tactic: Hand out Day-Glo stickers. Take a photo of supporters. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
85. Build your own media channels! @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
86. The Internet is our competitive advantage. “Digital networks have acted as a massive positive supply shock to the cost and spread of information, to the ease and range of public speech by citizens, and to the speed and scale of group coordination.” - Clay Shirky @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
87. Four things that advocates and organizers need most:  Access to Information  Group communication  Group coordination  Public documentation and distribution of information. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
88. Livable streets advocacy in the "old days." @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
89. #BikeNYC Today we can do so much more at a fraction of the cost. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
90. #WinterBiker A social media campaign by the Boston Cyclists Union after a state agency refused to clear riverfront bike paths. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
91. #WinterBiker spreads to Buffalo, New York @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
92. How I learned to stop worrying and love the bikelash. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
93. “…a cyclist has an increased heart rate and respiration. That means that the act of riding a bike results in greater emissions of carbon dioxide from the rider. Since CO2 is a greenhouse gas and a pollutant, bicyclists are actually polluting when the ride.” – Rep. Ed Orcutt Kalama, Washington @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
94. Del Close, the father of improv comedy… …and your guru for beating the bikelash. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
95. The Upright Citizens Brigade TV stars, comedians, and experts in dealing with crazy situations. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
96. Fundamentals of improv: 1. “Yes, and…” 2. The Game of the Scene. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
98. What if they had a War on Cars and nobody showed up? @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
99. The Game of the Scene. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
101. "Imagine if the man on the bike was a terrorist!" @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
103. PPW protest: lots to disagree with here...but should you? @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
104. Neighbors for Better Judgment @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
105. Infiltrating enemy lines…with humor! @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
106. How do you play “The Game”? • Many editors, writers, and TV producers have a narrative in mind. • They will not deviate from it even when the facts work against them. • Your job: recognize their game, call it out… …and then heighten it. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
111. What is The Brooklyn Paper‟s “Game”? @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
119. Create your own game: • People who bike are regular people. • It‟s not “funny” by itself, but that‟s the point. • In comparison, arguments against cycling. seem ridiculous without need for arguing. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
127. Prevent Bikelash in Your Community:  Build and support a healthy advocacy eco-system.  Develop your own media channels.  Change the conversation through agreement. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash
128. There is a cure. @naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash

Notas do Editor

Introduce the medical analogy…- Your city has new bike infrastructure and that's great but…- People are complaining about lost parking spots.- Letters to the editor about rogue, scofflaw, entitled cyclists hogging up the street.- Local pol who never cared about bike safety is suddenly proposing a helmet law.- Or licensing cyclists. - Your oldest, stodgiest print columnist suddenly has opinions about bike lanes. If you have these symptoms, then very likely you and your city are suffering from a bad case of…
Bikelash! Bikelash is a completely natural part of an American city's 21st century maturation process. It's normal and healthy.Left un-treated, bikelash can ruin a city. It can delay and prevent needed bike infrastructure from being built. And it can be a huge pain in the ass. It is absolutely vital that you know how to both identify bikelash and treat it. And that is why we are here today...Doug is… Aaron is…
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION.WHAT ARE THE THINGS YOU HEAR IN YOUR COMMUNITY ABOUT CYCLISTS AND BIKE LANES. WHAT ARE THE COMPLAINTS.
Bike lane opponents often define their city by what it is not and what it can never become.Look at this horrific scene. What responsible civic leader or community member would want his or her city to turn into this?
There’s another trope of anti-bike criticism that you see over and over again. Here’s one notable example.In 2010, as the PPW bike lane controversy was heating up, the New York Times editorial board published this story, that started well enough. “Let’s be clear. We like bicycles.”It then goes on to list all the great things that we all know and love about bikes. They’re good for the environment, they’re healthy, they can ease congestion and make streets safer.
This editorial then went on to list all of the things that are wrong with cyclists: red light running, salmoning – might have actually been the first time “salmoning” appeared in the NYT – and essentially said that until cyclists clean up their acts, perhaps the city should slow down on all of the bike lanes.
These criticisms were repeated so frequently, that a writer for the New York Times magazine, Adam Sternbergh, categorized them into what he called a “blueprint” for the “rhetorical tactics” of bike lane opponents.
You may recognize some of these rhetorical flourishes. We’ve already covered the first one, pre-exemptive self-exoneration. That’s “Some of my best friends are cyclists.”But the rest should also be familiar:Humorless cycling advocates: cyclists are sanctimonious, self-righteous, entitled…all for wanting to ride safely!Personal cycling bona fides: Lots of critics of bike lanes will tell you about how they have an old Schwinn in the basement which they used to ride around the neighborhood as kids or in their college days when they were young and fearlessLove affair with cars. This speaks to the status quo bias that infects so much of our reporting on every social issue. America has always been one way, so there’s no point in changing it now. If Corvettes and Thunderbirds were good enough for George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, then you can’t very well expect Joe Six-pack to get on a bike.Scofflaw cyclists. Cyclists don’t deserve bike lanes because they don’t follow the rules, which is obviously a standard to which operators of every type of vehicle are held.
Marcia Kramer, bike lane terrorist interview: Ask the audience to note the common symptoms in this video.
Citi Bike stations were placed on Brooklyn sidewalks in April 2013.There were no bikes – those wouldn’t come until over a month later – and that gap between the docks being laid down and the system being launched created a vacuum into which all NIMBY fears and bikelash drama was sucked.This created what I called a bikelash in fast-forward. Every single thing that happened in the bikelash over the course of three years, happened in three months.
First, there was the typical claims that people liked bike share, but just didn’t want the stations on their blocks.
I’m not against bike lanes…
Then came the illogical complaints that bike share docks blocked access to apartment buildings and the sidewalk, making it hard for people to get to waiting cars or to cross the street.I want to stop here to make an important point. In countering claims like this, your “enemy” is not the woman pictured here. It’s the reporter and the paper.
Then came the illogical complaints that bike share docks blocked access to apartment buildings and the sidewalk, making it hard for people to get to waiting cars or to cross the street.I want to stop here to make an important point. In countering claims like this, your “enemy” is not the woman pictured here. It’s the reporter and the paper.
Then we started seeing a bikeshare version of “This isn’t Amsterdam…”Since bike share systems already existed in Paris, London, here in DC, and elsewhere, we heard a lot of reasons why, even if bike share had been successful in these cities, it would never work in the Big Apple.
Then, the lawsuits.Note the appearance of Jim Walden, the same attorney who represented the opponents of the PPW bike lane, at this rally to protest the location of a bike share station on a public park.
Then, the depiction of cyclists as hipsters, as “other.”The Daily News, sent what they called their “Bike Snob,” to test out the bikes before the launch. Suddenly, a city as tough as New York was too weak to pedal a 40-pound bicycle across town. Again, even though this worked elsewhere, in order to preserve the status quo, the city’s tabloids had to create the impression that this would never work here.
Citi Bike launched on Memorial Day, 2013. There was tons of press, a big launch event with the mayor and DOT Commissioner Sadik-Khan, and tons of people instantly rolled away from City Hall plaza.
But the press was waiting.This is actually a picture of me, riding away from the press conference with Ben Fried, the editor of Streetsblog. We were only a block from City Hall and a New York Post photographer was sitting on the sidewalk, just waiting to take the first pictures of “scofflaw” cyclists.So, again, framing these Citi Bike riders as “other” is a crucial ingredient to the bikelash.
May 31st, 2013. A day which will live in bikelash infamy.This is when we hit what I call peak bikelash.Four days after Citi Bike launches, Dorothy Rabinowitz goes online and delivers her rant about the “totalitarian” Bloomberg regime “begriming” New York City with its blue bicycles. This video, which most of you have probably seen, racked up millions. It launched what until that point had been neighborhood squabbles and local tabloid stories into the national consciousness, exposing bike lane opposition as detached from reality.
Jon Stewart expertly skewered Rabinowitz, and in a way, the bikelash in general.
But not long after bike share launched, the Post, faced with Citi Bike’s growing success and rising membership numbers, started to have to change its narrative.No longer was it that no one would use the system or that they weren’t wanted by regular New York City commuters, it was that they were so popular you couldn’t get one when you wanted it. To be fair, there were technical problems with Citi Bike out of the gate such as software malfunctions, but almost overnight the story about Citi Bike shifted from “No one will use it” to the more Yogi Berra-like “No one will use it because it’s so popular.”
Finally, Citi Bike reached what you might call the final stage of a sort of Kubler-Ross like spectrum: acceptance.Once you have Leonardo Di Caprio riding a Citi Bike, the images trump the narrative.
It’s about engagement, creating an eco-system of old and new advocacy.
One of the overall things I learned after experiencing these bikelash moments, is that if you’re not having fun you’re doing it wrong.There’s a temptation to take all of this very seriously, and that’s understandable. We’re talking about safety, economic justice, equity, the environment. These are all very serious issues.
But there’s a problem: the opposition’s arguments aren’t always serious. Even when they are, they don’t always make sense. And that’s where improv comedy comes in.Ask the audience for their most batshit crazy bikelash experiences and criticism claims.
This is Del Close, considered the father of improv comedy.
His teachings influenced the Upright Citizens Brigade, founded by Amy Poehler.
First part is the “yes”: agree. Whatever your “scene partner” throws at you, you agree. If you don’t say yes to the information, you’re arguing. And arguing kills comedy, just as it kills conversation, politics, and community relations. So acknowledgement is key. It also gives the cameras and headline writers what they want: a war.You know the old saying, what if they gave a See bike lane opponents as your scene partners. In a way, they are. You are both sharing the same stage: your city, neighborhood, or block. And just like two improv scene partners have the same interest – making their scene as funny as possible – you and your neighbors have the same interest – making your neighborhood as good as possible.You know the old saying, what if they gave a war and nobody showed up?
Well, what if they had a war on cars and nobody showed up?See bike lane opponents as your improv scene partners. In a way, they are. You are both sharing the same stage: your city, neighborhood, or block. And just like two scene partners have the same interest – making their scene as funny as possible – you and your neighbors have the same interest – making your neighborhood as good as possible.
The Game of the Scene What is the Game of the Scene? It is what is unusual or funny about your scene.Much of the bikelash is ridiculous. This isn’t Amsterdam, some of my best friends are bike lanes, bike lanes cause congestion, and my personal favorite…Bike lanes aren’t necessary because no one rides a bike but they’re also dangerous because of all the people whizzing by on their bikes!Sometimes saying “Yes, and…” and finding common ground with bike lane opponents can feel impossible. But that doesn’t mean that you stop listening.
Remember this video about the First Ave bike lane?What is the game of this scene?
Remember the 2010 PPW protest?You can’t really argue with someone who “feels” that a bike lane is dangerous. But you can still “yes, and…” them even if you don’t agree but getting to the heart of what their argument is really about.What is the game of NBBL?
This was an actual sign that didn’t make it into the hands of one of the bike lane opponents. My guess is that someone wised up and said, “Put that away! You’re going to make us look bad.”But it exposes the NBBL’s “game,” which is that their opposition to the bike lane is rooted in a fear of change, and, more specifically, a fear of automobiles losing their supremacy on Prospect Park West.So how would you play NBBL’s game? How can you agree with them?
Remember this guy?This is Jeff Prant. He’s actually a very active Transportation Alternatives member, Park Slope advocate, and bike lane supporter.He inserted himself into the bike lane opponents’ demonstration with this sign.When this picture was included on a few local blogs, it helped readers “call out the game” and identify the root causes of the opposition to the bike lane.
The Brooklyn Paper has the feel of a small-town newspaper. Yet its focus on bikes and bike lanes made it a focal point of the bikelash, a place where no bike-related issue was too trivial to ignore. Often played minor bike stories for OUTRAGE. And any time they did a story on bikes, the token cyclists who was chosen to speak on behalf of all people who ride bikes was portrayed as:
Defiant and entitled. We all see this guy as standing up for his right to cycle safely in a painted bike lane, but to the average reader he’s one asshole who’s blocking a UPS truck filled with packages for hundreds of people.
Sad and pathetic. Ostensibly this story was about one guy’s bad experience riding a bike, but the Brooklyn Paper, which never really cared about cyclist safety, used him as a cautionary tale: cycling is dangerous.
Hipsters. Cyclists are children who play with their toys on the street. They are not “real” New Yorkers. They are transplants who come to the city to open artisanal businesses and raise your rent. I live a bike and use this very bike lane every day and I can’t relate to this woman in the slightest. Imagine if you’re inclined to not care about or even hate bikes.
ASK THE AUDIENCE: So what’s The Brooklyn Paper’s “game”? ANSWER: Make cyclists look like “other.” So, once you’ve recognized their game, what do you do?
An example: With all of the talk about dangerous driving in New York City and Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero plan, the 78 th Precinct recently began a crackdown on driver who fail to yield to pedestrians. This provoked cries of “No fair” from many Park Slope drivers, and some of them – perhaps the same people who protested the PPW bike lane – contacted the Brooklyn Paper. Their pitch: if drivers are going to face this crackdown,cyclists should, too. The Brooklyn Paper, sensing a good “War on Cars” conflict story, decided to run with this and contacted me. What was my reaction? Did I think it was fair or right? Etc. And then they asked to take my picture. That’s when I panicked. Knowing what the Brooklyn Paper wanted – what their “game” was – I contacted Aaron and our friend Eric McClure and asked what I should do. Aaron suggested I just not do it. But Eric had some sage advice: bring your daughter.
So when the photographer contacted me to make arrangements, I told him that I was on dad duty that weekend and had to bring her with me. Even when we took the picture, I told him that I didn’t want her too far away and asked him if he’d mind if we posed together. *The result, in a story about cracking down on scofflaw cyclists, was this picture. *With this caption. So not only did I get a great souvenir, but by identifying the Brooklyn Paper’s “game” I was able to make a choice about how to play it.
*The result, in a story about cracking down on scofflaw cyclists, was this picture. *With this caption. So not only did I get a great souvenir, but by identifying the Brooklyn Paper’s “game” I was able to make a choice about how to play it.
*With this caption. So not only did I get a great souvenir, but by identifying the Brooklyn Paper’s “game” I was able to make a choice about how to play it.
So not only did I get a great souvenir, but by identifying the Brooklyn Paper’s “game” I was able to make a choice about how to play it.There’s another term for this in journalism: know your audience.
There’s a theory in comedy: doesn’t show up well on blue.What that means is that two crazy characters can’t possibly create a funny scene. You almost always need one funny character playing against a straight man to make comedy work.
Your job: be the straight man. Don’t play one half of the war on cars. Just be yourself.That way, if a reporter or TV producer chooses to portray cyclists as scofflaws, he’s going to have a much harder time.It will help you move past the conversation very quickly.
In the spring of 2011, the bikelash in NYC was kicking up again now that cyclists were taking to the road in greater numbers. To counter some of those stories and to reflect the diversity of people who who get around by bike, Streetsblog began this “Why I Ride” series, with photos by Dmitry Gudkov, a Brooklyn photographer.Just normal people, caught on their commutes.This is John, and EMS with the New York City Fire Department.
Wilson, who works with the International AIDS vaccine initiative.
Gloria, a housekeeper in Brooklyn.
Cynthia, a paralegal, and her son Adam.
Isaac, a cleaner, on the so-called “controversial” Prospect Park West Bike lane.So once we had a steady supply of these pictures, we could use them to illustrate blog posts, send to reporters, distribute with advocacy materials for Transportation Alternatives, etc.Any time a politician or journalist would complain about hipsters going to their hipster jobs on their hipster bikes, I’d just tweet them a link to one of Dmitry’s pictures.
When Citi Bike launched, Streetsblog and Dmitry partnered up again and caught Citi Bike members picking up bikes at Grand Central Terminal. So now you had not only Brooklyn and Manhattan cyclists, you had commuters from outside the city who were “the face” of cycling.
Werner, age 87.
It’s about engagement, building an eco-system of old and new advocacy that connects neighbor to neighbor.Recognize that this is all bout change. Listen, agree, work together and you too can fight bikelash.
It’s about engagement, building an eco-system of old and new advocacy that connects neighbor to neighbor.Recognize that this is all bout change. Listen, agree, work together and you too can fight bikelash.

"Moving Beyond Bikelash!" Presented by Doug Gordon & Aaron Naparstek at the 2014 National Bike Summit in Washington D.C., March 4, 2014

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"Moving Beyond Bikelash!" Presented by Doug Gordon & Aaron Naparstek at the 2014 National Bike Summit in Washington D.C., March 4, 2014

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"Moving Beyond Bikelash!" Presented by Doug Gordon & Aaron Naparstek at the 2014 National Bike Summit in Washington D.C., March 4, 2014

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