*Saudi Arabia on the Hudson: NYPD Officer Stopped Cyclist For Wearing Skirt*
by Noah Kazis on June 10, 2011
When Jasmijn Rijcken, the general manager of the VANMOOF bicycle
company, traveled from Amsterdam to New York in late April, she was
excited to see what she'd heard described as a city that had embraced
bicycling. It wasn't NYC's new protected bike lanes that defined her
ride through the city, however, but the New York Police Department,
currently in the midst of a major crackdown against cyclists.
Jasmijn Rijcken was stopped and almost ticketed by an NYPD officer for
biking in this outfit. Her skirt, the officer said, was too distracting
for drivers.
Rijcken was in town for the New Amsterdam Bike Show on April 30. After
she had dismounted on Broadway in SoHo, an NYPD officer stopped,
berated, and threatened to ticket Rijcken for wearing a skirt while
cycling, which, it must be noted, is entirely legal and common. Rijcken
says the officer told her that her skirt was dangerous because she would
distract drivers and potentially cause them to crash.
"I was standing there next to my bike, looking at my map, and then this
police guy stops and starts telling me about my skirt," reported
Rijcken. "At first I thought he was making a joke or maybe even a
compliment, but then I found out he was serious because he got really mad."
The officer got out of his car and threatened to ticket her, said
Rijcken, even though, it bears repeating, there is no law against biking
in a skirt. The justification for a potential ticket was the danger her
exposed skin posed to everyone on the street. "That was the bottom line,
that I was very dangerous," said Rijcken. "I think every woman, even
when walking in a skirt, would be dangerous then."
According to Rijcken, the cop's words were not merely an empty threat.
He took her ID and only began to back down when he saw that she was
Dutch. She hurriedly explained that in Amsterdam, it's common for women
to bike in skirts. In the end, the officer told her she should change
into pants and let her go.
At the time, Rijcken said, she wasn't sure that she hadn't broken the
law. "If you're by yourself in a different country and a police guy
comes really angrily at you, you get scared," she said.
This is not the first time an NYPD officer has stopped cyclists for
completely frivolous non-offenses. In April, a private school
administrator received a ticket for biking with a tote bag on her
handlebars. The police have not responded to a Streetsblog inquiry about
Rijcken's allegations.
Her harassment at the hands of the police has colored Rijcken's
perception of not only New York City but the United States. "I was
shocked," she said. "In Holland, people refer to America as the country
of freedom."
--
Freedom is always illegal!
When we ask for freedom, we have already failed. It is only when we
declare freedom for ourselves and refuse to accept any less, that we
have any possibility of being free.
--
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