Did mayor Bloomberg bike to work today?

[Ken M]

Just curious with the transit workers on strike, he has been encouraging
others to bicycle to work. And I read last week he purchased a bike for
the impending strike. So did he bike commute this morning? Doubtful.

Ken
--
When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the
human race. ~H.G. Wells

[Steve B.]

"Ken M" > wrote in message
> Just curious with the transit workers on strike, he has been encouraging
> others to bicycle to work. And I read last week he purchased a bike for
> the impending strike. So did he bike commute this morning? Doubtful.

No. Walked over one of the bridges, big security and entourage all around.

SB

[rdclark]

Ken M wrote:
> Just curious with the transit workers on strike, he has been encouraging
> others to bicycle to work. And I read last week he purchased a bike for
> the impending strike. So did he bike commute this morning? Doubtful.

By DESMOND BUTLER, Associated Press Writer
40 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Subways and buses ground to a halt Tuesday morning as
transit workers walked off the job at the height of the holiday
shopping and tourist season, forcing millions of riders to find new
ways to get around.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who had said the strike would cost the city as
much as $400 million a day, joined the throngs of people crossing the
Brooklyn Bridge in the freezing cold as he walked from a Brooklyn
emergency headquarters to City Hall. Other New Yorkers car-pooled or
rode bicycles.

[Bruce Gilbert]

"Ken M" > wrote in message
...
> Just curious with the transit workers on strike, he has been encouraging
> others to bicycle to work. And I read last week he purchased a bike for
> the impending strike. So did he bike commute this morning? Doubtful.
>
> Ken
> --
> When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the
> human race. ~H.G. Wells
>

Saw the mayor on the news this morning walking across the Brooklyn bridge.
My daughter just moved to Brooklyn a couple of weeks ago. She is just
getting over the shock of experiencing real winter, now this...

Bruce

[Ken M]

Bruce Gilbert wrote:

>
> Saw the mayor on the news this morning walking across the Brooklyn bridge.
> My daughter just moved to Brooklyn a couple of weeks ago. She is just
> getting over the shock of experiencing real winter, now this...
>

Just use my favorite line "What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger!"

Ken
--
On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk - unless you act like a jerk
on the internet too. - Quote modified by Ken M.

[andy gee]

Ken M > wrote in news:woedne8fQ5JIkTXeRVn-
:

> And I read last week he purchased a bike for
> the impending strike. So did he bike commute this morning

He bought a bike for the 2002 strike which didn't happen, and he got
laughed at in a major way for some reason. Today he walked. Yup, we are a
separate species.

--ag

[Bruce Gilbert]

"Ken M" > wrote in message
...
> Bruce Gilbert wrote:
>
> >
> > Saw the mayor on the news this morning walking across the Brooklyn
bridge.
> > My daughter just moved to Brooklyn a couple of weeks ago. She is just
> > getting over the shock of experiencing real winter, now this...
> >
>
> Just use my favorite line "What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger!"
>
> Ken
> --
> On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk - unless you act like a jerk
> on the internet too. - Quote modified by Ken M.
>
Yeah, but she moved up there from Houston. It was a frigid 50 degrees out
there when we left for our lunchtime training ride. We force our employees
to ride a bike around here... The only choice they get is campy or shimano.

Bruce

[Ken M]

Bruce Gilbert wrote:

> Yeah, but she moved up there from Houston. It was a frigid 50 degrees out
> there when we left for our lunchtime training ride. We force our employees
> to ride a bike around here... The only choice they get is campy or shimano.
>

Well Houston is on the warm side most of the time. But 50 is not all
that bad once you get warmed up.

Ken
--
On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk - unless you act like a jerk
on the internet too. - Quote modified by Ken M.

[Don Wiss]

On Tue, 20 Dec 2005, andy gee > wrote:

>Ken M > wrote in :
>
>> And I read last week he purchased a bike for
>> the impending strike. So did he bike commute this morning
>
>He bought a bike for the 2002 strike which didn't happen, and he got
>laughed at in a major way for some reason.

I believe it was mostly because he spent over $500 and people that that was
a lot to pay for a bike.

Don <www.donwiss.com> (e-mail link at home page bottom).

[Mike Kruger]

"Don Wiss" > wrote in message
...
>
> I believe it was mostly because he spent over $500 and people that that
> was
> a lot to pay for a bike.
>
The media was going to laugh no matter what way he went. Bloomberg couldn't
win that one. If he'd bought a Magna at Wal-mart they would have said
"What's a billionaire doing buying a $79 bike at Wal-mart?"

[Gary Smiley]

If it's costing the city $400 million a day, then the city should pay
what the union demands. If that's too much of a raise, then fares will
have to increase, and more people will ride bikes. It's a win-win
situation- transit workers will get a raise, the city won't lose
revenue, and more people will ride bikes.

[Nuck 'n Futz]

Gary Smiley wrote:

> If it's costing the city $400 million a day, then the city should pay
> what the union demands. If that's too much of a raise, then fares will
> have to increase, and more people will ride bikes. It's a win-win
> situation- transit workers will get a raise, the city won't lose
> revenue, and more people will ride bikes.

Or maybe they should fire the illegal strikers like Reagan did. Apparently
$63K a year plus benefits isn't enough; they want to retire at age 50 with
half pay (instead of the current age 55) after 25 years on the job.

Screw those ungrateful slack-asses!!!! (D'oh Boy-esque exclamation.)

N&F

[The Wogster]

Gary Smiley wrote:
> If it's costing the city $400 million a day, then the city should pay
> what the union demands. If that's too much of a raise, then fares will
> have to increase, and more people will ride bikes. It's a win-win
> situation- transit workers will get a raise, the city won't lose
> revenue, and more people will ride bikes.
>

Actually the transit workers are the ones who ultimately lose, the city
pays, fares go up, people start using alternatives, you get empty buses,
workers get laid off..... Headways get stretched, still more people
look for alternatives, and more empty buses, more workers get laid off....

W

[dgk]

On Wed, 21 Dec 2005 06:31:58 GMT, "Nuck 'n Futz" >
wrote:

>Gary Smiley wrote:
>
>> If it's costing the city $400 million a day, then the city should pay
>> what the union demands. If that's too much of a raise, then fares will
>> have to increase, and more people will ride bikes. It's a win-win
>> situation- transit workers will get a raise, the city won't lose
>> revenue, and more people will ride bikes.
>
>Or maybe they should fire the illegal strikers like Reagan did. Apparently
>$63K a year plus benefits isn't enough; they want to retire at age 50 with
>half pay (instead of the current age 55) after 25 years on the job.
>
>Screw those ungrateful slack-asses!!!! (D'oh Boy-esque exclamation.)
>
>N&F
>

Not true. They don't want lower retirement ages. What they want is to
keep the same rules for new workers. The MTA are a bunch of
incompetent politcal hacks who get enormous salaries and take our
money and give it to politically connected contractors who contribute
some of it back to the politicians.

I've fought the MTA on the 2nd ave subway plans, the E/F Queens
moronic use of the 63rd Street tunnel, the closing of the token
booths, and the attempt to use single driver trains. Gee, I guess
there must be no plans for anyone to attack a train in New York City.

[Mark Hickey]

"Bruce Gilbert" > wrote:

>We force our employees
>to ride a bike around here... The only choice they get is campy or shimano.

Bruce, Bruce, Bruce... considering this nation's car culture, asking
someone to make a choice like that is just SO close-minded...

.... you left out SRAM!

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

[Robert Uhl]

Ken M > writes:
>
> Well Houston is on the warm side most of the time. But 50 is not all
> that bad once you get warmed up.

Ha! 50 is positively balmy; it was 17 Sunday afternoon...

--
Robert Uhl <http://public.xdi.org/=ruhl>
In Africa, some of the native tribes have a custom of beating the ground
with clubs and uttering spine-chilling cries. Anthropologists call this
a form of primitive self-expression. In the West, we call it golf.

[Tim Nunes]

Perhaps they should take a lesson from what is going on in the Airline
industry.

Airlines are in some trouble, and they are cutting pilots pay and
taking away their pensions, etc. Sure, they bitch and moan, but they
still work. Pilots have to work too hard to get their jobs to go on
strike and risk getting fired.

[gds]

Tim Nunes wrote:
>
> Airlines are in some trouble, and they are cutting pilots pay and
> taking away their pensions, etc. Sure, they bitch and moan, but they
> still work. Pilots have to work too hard to get their jobs to go on
> strike and risk getting fired.

There is the complicating factor of effective competition that makes
this analogy tenuous. In most major airline markets there are
alternatives to any single airline. In the metro NY area the MTA
workers have a large impact that is very difficult to work around.

Does anybody care about the legality, or not, of the strike? Its been a
while since I read the NY law but isn't this supposed to go to
arbitration?

If the court really enforces the fines -
$1 million per day for the union and 2 days pay for every day on strike
for the workers this action may well spell the end of the union.

[SMS]

gds wrote:

> If the court really enforces the fines -
> $1 million per day for the union and 2 days pay for every day on strike
> for the workers this action may well spell the end of the union.

Typically the fines are never paid. When the settlement occurs, part of
the settlement is the dismissal of the fines.

[gds]

SMS wrote:
> gds wrote:
>
> > If the court really enforces the fines -
> > $1 million per day for the union and 2 days pay for every day on strike
> > for the workers this action may well spell the end of the union.
>
> Typically the fines are never paid. When the settlement occurs, part of
> the settlement is the dismissal of the fines.

Right that is the history, which is why I started with "if."

However, history in things like this has a way of evolving. If the
strike winds up "costing" as much as is being estimated and if enough
people are really unhappy then the political climate may well drive
another conclusion to this story..

[Bruce Gilbert]

<<<<<<<<<Emergency Top Post>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The SRAM road group is NOT out yet!

<<<<<<<<<Emergency Top Post>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Mark Hickey" > wrote in message
...
> "Bruce Gilbert" > wrote:
>
> >We force our employees
> >to ride a bike around here... The only choice they get is campy or
shimano.
>
> Bruce, Bruce, Bruce... considering this nation's car culture, asking
> someone to make a choice like that is just SO close-minded...
>
> ... you left out SRAM!
>
> Mark Hickey
> Habanero Cycles
> http://www.habcycles.com
> Home of the $795 ti frame

[Bruce Gilbert]

"Robert Uhl" > wrote in message
...
> Ken M > writes:
> >
> > Well Houston is on the warm side most of the time. But 50 is not all
> > that bad once you get warmed up.
>
> Ha! 50 is positively balmy; it was 17 Sunday afternoon...
>
> --
> Robert Uhl

We had a slow afternoon so I filled a backpack with product and rode
downtown to drop off some product with a few shops. Houston is a great place
to ride in the winter...

Bruce

[Mark Hickey]

"Bruce Gilbert" > wrote:

><<<<<<<<<Emergency Top Post>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>
>The SRAM road group is NOT out yet!
>
><<<<<<<<<Emergency Top Post>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Road?

Mark "choices is choices" Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

>"Mark Hickey" > wrote in message
...
>> "Bruce Gilbert" > wrote:
>>
>> >We force our employees
>> >to ride a bike around here... The only choice they get is campy or
>shimano.
>>
>> Bruce, Bruce, Bruce... considering this nation's car culture, asking
>> someone to make a choice like that is just SO close-minded...
>>
>> ... you left out SRAM!
>>
>> Mark Hickey
>> Habanero Cycles
>> http://www.habcycles.com
>> Home of the $795 ti frame
>

[andy gee]

"Anthony A." > wrote in
ups.com:

> He ended up giving te biek to some low SES kid, didn't he?
> I guess it was a tall kid, a short mayor, or the bike would not fit for
> a few years.
>
>

Short Mayor. Our mayors, unlike American Presidents, are known for being
short and for looking good in a dress. Lindsey and Giuliani were
exceptions to the short rule, but Rudy looked really good in a dress.

--ag

[wvantwiller]

andy gee > wrote in
7.142:

> "Anthony A." > wrote in
> ups.com:
>
>> He ended up giving te biek to some low SES kid, didn't he?
>> I guess it was a tall kid, a short mayor, or the bike would not fit
>> for a few years.
>>
>>
>
> Short Mayor. Our mayors, unlike American Presidents, are known for
> being short and for looking good in a dress. Lindsey and Giuliani
> were exceptions to the short rule, but Rudy looked really good in a
> dress.
>
> --ag
>

Keep that up and you'll be getting a call from the NYC police, wanting to
know 'Just what did you MEAN by that remark?' according to the other thread
hereabouts.

My advice is not to throw up your hands in surrender unless your life
insurance is paid up, or you enjoy sessions with mop handles.