How to be an Anti-Bikelane Pundit

In response to a New York Times magazine hit piece against bikelanes, one writer deconstructs the quintessential elements of anti bike arguments.

1 minute read

March 14, 2011, 2:00 PM PDT

By Michael Dudley

Adam Sternberg, writing for the 6th floor column of the NYT magazine, notes how a recent article typifies anti-bike lane punditry.

"[John] Cassidy's post - which has already been called 'a seminal document of New York City's bike lane backlash era'- helpfully includes all the requisite rhetorical tactics, thus providing an excellent blueprint. (You might even say 'boilerplate.') These include:

Pre-emptive self-exoneration; Invocation of humorlessness of cycling advocates, preferably with ironic comparison to homicidal political faction; Reference to ominous encroachment of cycling-based anti-Americanism; Invocation of personal cycling bona fides; and invocation of obviously repellent stereotype[s]."

FULL STORY: I Was A Teenage Cyclist,’ or How Anti-Bike-Lane Arguments Echo the Tea Party

Wednesday, March 9, 2011 in New York Times Magazine

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