Now we've entered a different era—a neo-Gilded one in which the wealthy scofflaws ride road bikes, and working-class cops are willing to go outside the law to protect the working-class driver's exclusive ownership of the right of way.
This era has been a while in the making, but it found a symbol in late July, when a rookie NYPD officer viciously body-checked a bicyclist to the ground and was caught on video by a Times Square tourist. The incident occurred during the monthly ride of the New York incarnation of Critical Mass, a disorganization that champions the right of cyclists to ride on public streets unmolested. As the video, cited by the New York Times and replayed by MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, clearly shows, rookie cop Patrick Pogan knocked Christopher Long to the ground as the cyclist rolled down Seventh Avenue among a pack of activist pedalers. Worse, Pogan and his partner then arrested and jailed the injured Long, charging him with assault. Were it not for YouTube justice (1.5 million views and counting), they'd likely have gotten away with it.
Critical Mass riders make the news when they come to blows with drivers. But as any cyclist will tell you, the battle for street space is constant, fought daily in small ways by unaffiliated individuals. The dynamic resembles the slow, uneven process of racial integration and the fight for gay rights. Perhaps only when everyone either suffers their commute on a bicycle, or knows someone who does, will things change.
Here's the clip of Officer Pogan's take-down: