Hipsters vs. Hasids: The Battle Over Brooklyn's Bike Lanes

Are the Hasdics the people with pig tailed side burns? Like the clowns father on the Simpsons? They are defiantly in the woods with their style

@markbt116 - Your assertion that I may be racist is amusing at best. I just find it incredibly infantile and stupid that a devoutly religious sect would expend so much time and energy attempting to change a place as large and diverse as NYC in their own favor at every turn.

The analogy used in reference to black folks and gay people was very poor as well, as being a Hassidic Jew is a CHOICE in life. Being black or gay is not.

Secondly, the only reason I brought up their taking action similar to that of the Amish and moving to the country is that they themselves are so separatist, but yet they choose to live in one of the most populous cities on the planet. How silly is that? I didn't say they should move back to ISRAEL, did I??? Use your head.

"Scantily clad hipster cyclists attracted to the Brooklyn neighborhood made it difficult, the Hasids said, to obey religious laws forbidding them from staring at members of the opposite sex in various states of undress."

Wow, if you can't help but stare at a pretty girl flying past you on a bike, you might need to pray harder.

"religious hazard"???! WTF.. seriously.. I can not image how people operate in the modern world with such dated and frankly dangerous ideas floating around in their heads.

I mean if they don't want to see hot chicks riding bikes then they are more than welcome to put on their religious uniforms and stay in their houses. Girls on bikes has to be one of the best things about summer in the city.

My comments might seem a bit out of line and even a little hateful but I am not religious for a reason and I do not want my environment to be effected by the religion of others. The modification of an environment for religious reasons is an affront to common sense.

ebruce2,

Disagree with removing the bike lanes - fine, but suggesting that an entire ethnic community move out to the woods is very suspicious of a deeper seated hatred and even racism.

A community ASKED their government to make changes to their road laws, and they did, and you hate them for it? Why don't you ASK the local government to put them back instead of ranting against an entire ethnic group?

If an African American community asked their local government to turn a parking lot you use into a basketball court, would you suggest they move to Africa?

When gays shutdown a road for a gay pride parade, do you suggest they move to San Francisco?

I also disagree with removing bike lanes, but jeez, can't you be a little more polite? It might even be a net positive result by waking bikers up to some bad habits they have of their own. I personally have been hit by bikers in NYC who have little regard for the rules they are supposed to follow like: stopping at red lights, riding in the same direction as car traffic, giving pedestrians the right of way. This argument is not so one sided, especially when you consider the entire Hasidic community becomes pedestrians during the sabbath each week.

I gotta go with the cyclists on this one...

Thats the ticket do for yourself what the Goverment will not. We need more people to take on the local goverment. Demand your rights.

Cyclists and Pedestrians should always be deferred to. There are too many cars in the world already. WE didn't go to WAR so that GAS GUZZLERS could have the RIGHT OF WAY!

repaint t hos damn line :D

this sort of shit is y religion sucks

I want to play devil's advocate/troll you guys, but I honestly can't think of anything that supports the Hasidic's side.

We already pay an effing rabinical excise tax on just about EVERY item in our grocery stores that goes to their bullshit religion as it is. Tell these backward thinkers to make like the Amish and move to the country where nobody will have to deal with them directly.

For once I'm on the side of the cyclists...

Power to the Pedals!

I'm so glad that they're appealing to their religion. Because now I can post it as another example of people skirting reason or rationality in the name of their phony baloney religion.

The Hasidics always want it their way in NYC, be it it Williamsburg or Crown Heights. You know a couple of years ago they wanted to get rid of the West Indian Day Parade for similar reasons? Of course the reason behind both is two fold. The Hasidic community in these neighborhoods don't want to integrate with the neighborhood at large, and biking and dancing in the parade usually meant that one would be on the streets in skimpier than average clothing. Since the Hasidics are attempting to purify themselves, they don't want ANYONE to dress in a sexually arousing manner, except their definition of arousing is a woman showing a bit of leg. Doesn't stop some of the men in the community from secretly going to the strip clubs, but hey, I guess they don't count because they aren't Hasidic women, IE the girl they would marry.

I wonder what's on your mind........"chick on the link". LOL I like the bike hotties myself.