Hipsters repaint bike lanes in brush off to Hasids - Brooklyn, NY

Groups of bicycle-riding vigilantes have been repainting 14 blocks of Williamsburg roadways ever since the city sandblasted their bike lanes away last week at the request of the Hasidic community.

The Hasids, who have long had a huge enclave in the now-artist-haven neighborhood, had complained that the Bedford Avenue bike paths posed both a safety and religious hazard.

Scantily clad hipster cyclists attracted to the Brooklyn neighborhood made it difficult, the Hasids said, to obey religious laws forbidding them from staring at members of the opposite sex in various states of undress. These riders also were disobeying the traffic laws, they complained.

Two cycling advocates were apprehended by the Shomrim Patrol, a Hasidic neighborhood watch group, as they repainted a section of bike lane at 3:30 a.m. yesterday, but when cops arrived, no one was arrested and no summonses were issued, police said.

"These people should apply for a job at the DOT," neighborhood activist Isaac Abraham said of the repainting. "You put it on, they take it off -- and they will probably do this again."

A Department of Transportation spokesman said: "We will continue to work with any community on ways we can make changes to our streets without compromising safety."

A source close to Mayor Bloomberg said removing the lanes was an effort to appease the Hasidic community just before last month's election.
Abraham contends the bike lanes put children at risk of getting hit by cars or bicycles as they exited school buses.

But Baruch Herzfeld, who has tried to bridge the gap between hipsters and Hasids with a bike-rental program, said safety is not the issue so much as xenophobia.

"They don't want the hipsters in their neighborhood," he said. "It's like in Howard Beach back in the day when they didn't want black people in the neighborhood."

The cycling advocacy group Transportation Alternatives has not taken sides in the dispute.

But bike lane or not, "cyclists have a right to be on Bedford Avenue," said Wiley Norvell, a group spokesman.

Crazy. Religion strikes again.

I wish they'd come over here and tarmac over the cobbled rumble strips the workmen have been installing on the main bike path across Hyde Park...

I'dridewithmycockoutjusttopiss'emoff

The answer's obvious isn't it? Jew lanes ftw.

Where can I get one of those stupid chandeliers they wear on their head?

Seriously though, what selfish fucking bellends.

Scantily clad hipster cyclists attracted to the Brooklyn neighborhood made it difficult, the Hasids said, to obey religious laws forbidding them from staring at members of the opposite sex in various states of undress.

Assuming these people aren't cycling naked, couldn't they just ... I dunno, look away?

Seriously though, what selfish fucking bellends.

I know, they could at least cover up when they know they're riding though a historically culturally conservative area.

The Hasidics have been there a really long time though, and they're not a people that could be descibed as 'encouraging change'. They do that thing where they turn all the power off cos god forbids them to use any electrical objects on a friday night.*

*someone told me this in brooklyn a looong time ago while i was drunk so some (or all) my be factually incorrect. But the sirens that go off on a friday night to let them know its time to turn everything off are eerie....

Assuming these people aren't cycling naked, couldn't they just ... I dunno, look away?

The wonders of flesh are way too tempting, even for the Hasidic

I know, they could at least cover up when they know they're riding though a historically culturally conservative area.

:)

I'm glad you spotted the ambiguity.

I'dridewithmycockoutjusttopiss'emoff

Riding fixed, you need to be especially careful to tuck it into your sock.

it's called Sabbath (Shabbat) Mode :

[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabbat_mode[/ame]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbath_elevator

The Hasidics have been there a really long time though, and they're not a people that could be descibed as 'encouraging change'. They do that thing where they turn all the power off cos god forbids them to use any electrical objects on a friday night.*

*someone told me this in brooklyn a looong time ago while i was drunk so some (or all) my be factually incorrect. But the sirens that go off on a friday night to let them know its time to turn everything off are eerie....

I often while away long Saturday afternoons riding round Golder's Green dressed as a giant pork pie.

Sabbath/Shabbat = dumb fucking idea.

Fucking GREAT hats though.

Sabbath/Shabbat = dumb fucking idea.

I observe Sabbath and Im not even Jewish!

I dont recall leaving the couch on a Sunday in many, many months....

Sabbath/Shabbat = The most boring 24 hours of your life.

fixed.

I observe Sabbath and Im not even Jewish!

I dont recall leaving the couch on a Sunday in many, many months....

Sabbath is a Saturday - Sunday Friday to Sundown Saturday. They (catholics I think) moved the week one day so that the 7th day was Sunday to please the pagans or something like that.

Sabbath/Shabbat = dumb fucking idea.

Nope. Great idea. A day when people rest, and can't shop, and meditate? How on earth can millenia of human activity just be 'wrong' cos IKEA and Tesco want to sell more stuff to us? How is it that a rest day has just disappeared in the last 20 years due to 'pressure' from retailers?

Shame on us.

Riding fixed, you need to be especially careful to tuck it into your sock.

Not that long. Anyways, I DON'T FUCKING ROLL ON A Saturday(I think)!

Oh... its saturday?

In this case, its retarded.

"They don't want the hipsters in their neighborhood," he said. "It's like in Howard Beach back in the day when they didn't want black people in the neighborhood."

No, it's not. Is it?

Cunts.

Nope. Great idea. A day when people rest, and can't shop, and meditate? How on earth can millenia of human activity just be 'wrong' cos IKEA and Tesco want to sell more stuff to us? How is it that a rest day has just disappeared in the last 20 years due to 'pressure' from retailers?

Shame on us.

Are you my dad in disguise?

isn't the day of rest just some bullshit excuse to get people into church? i'd rather work on a sunday, its a shit day. then i could have wednesday off!