The following is from the Brooklyn Paper: After a demonstration last weekend drew more police officers than protesters, cycling activists will rally again to show their support for the Bedford Avenue bike lane – but this time they’ll do it in less clothing.
On Saturday, upwards of 50 immodestly -clad cyclists will ride on Bedford Avenue between Flushing and Division Avenues to protest the recent removal of 14 blocks of bike lanes from South Williamsburg’s Hasidic community, The Brooklyn Paper reports. “If you can’t handle scantily clad women…live in a place where you can have your own sanctuary, like upstate,” said Organizer Heather Loop , 27.
The so-called “freedom ride” comes after a tumultuous few weeks in South Williamsburg, starting when the city removed the Bedford Avenue bike lane, only for cycling activists to repaint it themselves a few days later. Some of the bike activists were charged for the act, and the city again removed the bike lane.
South Williamsburg resident Leo Moskowitz told Gothamist that the Hasidic community’s opposition to bike lanes has nothing to do with cyclists’ clothing, or lack thereof. “There are people who are trying to play that the nudity is the issue, but it’s not,” he said. “The main concern is the safety of our kids. There are lot of institutions and families on that Bedford Avenue stretch, and we are always really concerned about the kids being picked up and dropped off. There are sometimes small accidents where the cyclists are violating the law because they don’t stop for flashing school buses.”
(Source: Brooklyn Paper)
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34 Responses
Does anyone know if there are any hotels in Willy? If not, does anyone want company for Shabbos?
The story sounds fishy. It will be cold enough to snow on Shabbos. Perhaps they plan to be naked under their coats?
I do not think that very much good will come out of publicizing this.
Saturday
Partly sunny in the morning…then becoming mostly cloudy. Highs in the upper 30s.
Saturday Night
Cloudy with a 30 percent chance of snow. Breezy with lows in the upper 20s.
Isn’t going out in public nude illegal?
At the moment the forecast for Shabbos is a low of 28 and a high of 37. I refer to this as Litvishe weather – brisk! 🙂
Such temperatures are a challenge for a bike rider dressed very warmly when you also consider the wind. I wonder how many people will be willing to do what is being proposed in this kind of weather.
TAKE DOWN THIS POST IMMEDIATELY!! UNLESS YOU ARE TRYING TO WARN RESIDENTS OF WILLIAMSBURG TO ARRANGE TO BE ELSEWHERE DURING THE PROTEST, I DONT WANT TO HEAR ABOUT NUDITY FROM YOU!!! REGARDLESS OF WHAT CONTEXT IT IS BEING OFFERED!!!
In 35 degree weather, sounds like the polar bears.
There’s no way this comes out good.
Best solution: let the police arrest those who are nude for indecent exposure. Everyone else should be ignored.
The Wolf
it will be too cold for them to do that!
I’m not really familiar with this whole situation but I just hate when frum jews get into fights over nothing… like a bike lane.
On the other hand, can’t the cyclist be arrested for Indecent Exposure if they are riding naked in the streets (just an idea)
…nothing a splash of cold water can’t help. Imagine cold water on barely clad people in the cold weather. So bring out the bucket brigade.
;
“… they don’t stop for flashing school buses. ”
So now if there were a schoolbus running on Shabbos they’d flash the schoolbus without stopping?
What are the Saturday traffic patterns like? Are bike lanes needed for those who bicycle for enjoyment on Saturdays?
Or is perhaps so much of the community pedestrian that it would be worth it to have it become completely car-free just like Boston / Cambridge where along the river no cars are allowed all day on weekends? Only in this case it might need to be bicycle-free as well?
response to #11. everyone hates it. But everyone hates not having where to park
response to #11. everyone hates it. But everyone hates not having where to park
The YWN moderator is on holiday…
It is now just World News…
The way some of these people dress,going naked is more tzniusdig than being ‘dressed’.Bike lanes take away from the passing lane,so traffic gets stuck.
Shame on Yeshiva World for posting this. Just because it is news it does not need to be posted. It would be approprate for Yeshiva World to change it name. A new name without Yeshiva or Jewish included. Enough of these Chillul Hashem YWN postings.
I mea sharim these people won’t come out alive…or even in 1 piece.I love how that guy says “let them go upstate”…
This is clearly a bluff for publicity. they couldn’t get protestors to show up fully clothed! How are they goining to muster people to come out nude in that weather?
As for the law, it is highly unlikely that anyone who DID show up nude would get convicted of indecent exposure. If you’re interested in how this law never gets applied (to conviction).
And just by the by, I wonder why the nude cyclists bunch haven’t poured blood on the shtreimlach in their neighborhood as a protest against the chasidim killing animals for fur. Could it be that overall and in truth, they know they’re outnumbered???
To number 18.. News is News!! If your so embaressed about this , you shouldn’t be reading it!! You only want to read the good stuff? Open your eyes. And to everyone else who is having a fit. GET OVER IT!! If you don’t want to see it DON’T GO!!
Its a Shanda and a Busha for this article to be posted her. A Big Issur of Lifnei Eeveir Loi Seetein Michshol!!
This is slum!
The Yeshiva World site is sinking and
Getting pulled in to the filth!
For anyone who knows how to read, it did not say anything in the article about people going without clothing. It said “scantily clad”, which is unfortunately typicle NY summer clothing. They of course doing to tease the chasidim, probably nothing illegal. But I still doubt the neighborhood will let them through easily.
To #21. Even the NY Times says they only write what is fit to print. This article is not fit to print for us religious Jews. Let Yeshiva World live up to its name.
There they go again, YWN with their lack of consideration of tznius issues, along with those awful sheitel ads they’ve been putting up again.
Isn’t this exactly what the Yevonim did to us?
and to #1 Ephraim, because of posts like yours, the Ribbono Shel Olam says הבן יקיר לי אפרים (בתמיה) (is Ephraim a beloved child to Me?)
The world’s garbage people will never rest until they have banned keeping the Torah.
We must be strong and insist on our rights to live in clean, modest neighborhoods and keep the holy Torah.
What a sick world. Ucchhhhh. We need the geula.
I don’t get it – why are people upset about this article?
It doesn’t say anywhere they’re planning to be nude.
It says IMMODEST.
While that’s not ok, it’s not the same.
I don’t see any problems with this article.
#29 YWN seems to have edited it somewhat. It was more vulgar before.
23, you can go back to the source article in the Brooklyn Paper. While I’m glad that YWN rewrote their original article (and would support what I assumed was creativity for future articles) I don’t get why they even wrote the original, based on the source, which I just read.
The point here is that the bikers do not need to do more than simply protest, and ride their bikes there to show that the lanes are needed. That is their ultimate goal.
So why the blatant pritzus? To thumb their noses at the Charedim there. It’s really totally irrelevant to the protest.
And that is a tremendous chutzpah. That is religious intolerance — which of course is the only intolerance permitted (and actually encouraged) by liberals.
To #21, gk — I think you missed the point. We try to protect ourselves from even thoughts of such things, because that’s what Halachah says to do. If you don’t get it, you’ve missed the entire point of Judaism. (Sadly, you’re not alone.) KLKWD is CORRECT.
I just don’t get it. Why are people genuinely angry and bothered about this being reported? Wouldn’t you like to know about this so you can avoid it? I imagine if you were surprised by this morally repugnant protest on Shabbos you would wonder why you had not been told by anyone, so it would not have influenced you. We have to be concerned for the tzibur over the yichidim who might use this information for inappropriate ends.