[*BCM*] NYC tries to sue "Critical Mass"

[Jym Dyer]

> 1) Who exactly are they trying to sue?

=v= Their attempt at an injunction named five Critical Mass
participants whose bikes had been stolen by the cops at the
September Critical Mass, plus they were trying to add all
"similarly-situated parties" by which they meant anyone who
would ride a bike in Critical Mass.

> 2) Injunction on what grounds?

=v= A tangle of legalese is involved, so in an attempt to
make things injunction-worthy, they took some unsubstantiated
assertions from two cops and puffed them up into an immediate
threat of irreparable damage to public safety.  The judge did
not buy it.  For example, the claim was made that we block
emergency vehicles, but in fact we get out of their way much
faster than normal traffic.

=v= Another claim was made that the ride has suddenly gotten too
big when in fact its size varies with the seasons, and we've had
rides this big before and the city didn't even notice.  (There
was an entertaining part of Wednesday's hearing in which the
judge had to point out this fact to the city from one of the
exhibits the city had attached to its brief.)
    <_Jym_>