FREEwilliamsburg: D Day: Clowns To Take On Hasids

Picture via Flickr

The Williamsburg Bike Wars are coming to a head tomorrow morning when The Bicycle Clowns take to the streets at 8:30 for a defensive ride down Kent Avenue. I don't think they're headed that way to tell jokes. Here's the release, via Gowanus Lounge:

TIME’S UP! BICYCLE CLOWNS DEFEND KENT STREET BIKE LANE AGAINST THREATS FROM MEMBERS OF THE HASIDIC COMMUNITY
Cyclists dressed as clowns will theatrically clear vehicles illegally parked in the bike lanes and educate residents about the benefits of city-wide bike lanes

When: Wednesday, December 17th, 8:30 to 10:00 AM; Where: 8:30 AM, starting at the Brooklyn side of the Williamsburg Bridge; Route: South on the new Kent Ave bike lane, followed by a loop through
Williamsburg. **Exact location available by calling 917-494-8164

Brooklyn, NY (December 14, 2008) — On Wednesday, December 17th, the Time’s Up! Bicycle Clowns will ride to defend the new bike lane and future greenway connector in Williamsburg. The Bicycle Clowns will also be kicking off their year-long “Love Your Lanes” campaign to keep the focus on protecting and celebrating bike lanes.

A small but vocal group is spreading anti-bike sentiment in Brooklyn at a time when non-polluting transportation is on the rise in NYC and is recognized as essential to a sustainable future. Bike lane opponents, including some members of the Hasidic community who protest cyclists’ “immodesty,” along with Council Members Diana Reyna and David Yassky and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, are trying to remove the newly installed Kent Street bike lane. Some opponents have even publicly
threatened to illegally block the bike lanes with their private-school buses, which will force cyclists into traffic to avoid crashing into the obstructing vehicle and risk being struck and even killed.

“An injury to one bike lane, is an injury to all bike lanes,” declares bike lane clown Benjamin Shepard. “Enforced, protected bike lanes save cyclists lives, improve the landscape and make better use of public space for most of the community.”

Are you gonna be there? Please, send pictures!

Update: The Village Voice was there! Hooray! Here's a picture, or visit indegrow on Flickr for a whole bunch more: