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news
Woody Allen (CC licensed by Raffi Asdourian via Flickr).jpgWoody Allen gets in touch with his Nimby side as he leads campaign against New York cycle path
Woody Allen has written to his local community association about plans to create a cycle path in front of his house. He’s not happy about it. He’s not happy about cyclists in general.
The Telegraph reports that the 80-year-old director has lived on New York’s Upper East Side since 2006 and has issues with the proposed cycle path on East 70th Street. He says the road’s too narrow for a bike lane and already busy with school and hospital traffic.
“It is home to many elderly people who comprise most of the residents, and a bike lane for these people is definitely an accident waiting at some point,” he said.
The plan to use East 70th Street only came about after a proposal to add three pairs of bike lanes on one-way streets between Central Park and the East River Esplanade was abandoned following pressure from local residents.
Channelling Nimbies the world over, Allen says that the extension of the city’s cycle paths is “out of control,” and seems to be of the opinion that cyclists don’t deserve them.
“The great amount of cyclists do not obey any safety laws and ride freely at varying speeds on the sidewalks, through stop lights, the wrong way on one-way streets, sometimes lethally.”
Allen has history when it comes to his distaste for those who opt for two wheels. Speaking to Interviewer Magazine in 2011, he said:
“New York has changed for the better in some obvious ways, like the dropping of the crime rate and people don't squeegee my windshield when I come to a stoplight. On the other hand, uncontrolled bike riders are a great hazard, and the wonderful idea of more and more people having bikes in New York will turn sour as people become alienated because so much of it is out of control. That will be a pity.”
At a recent meeting of his local community association, Allen described the proposed bike lane as "unacceptable," adding: "None of the streets can accommodate a bike lane in a graceful way. Every street has a good argument why it shouldn't have a lane."
Cycling has been on the rise in New York in recent years. Neverthless, 75 per cent of residents say they never ride a bike.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
Latest Comments
- lesterama 2 min 54 sec ago
Encouraging words. Now she needs to add, "replace the cycle lanes that aren't fit for purpose", "criminalise hate speech about people on bikes" and...
- hawkinspeter 14 min 3 sec ago
I'd mostly choose the road over the path at night-time . There's a few blind corners and there's plenty of places that bad'uns can run away to....
- quiff 17 min 46 sec ago
"The child and her mum wish to remain anonymous because they are fearful of the man who they believe lives locally" says the Beeb. So we have just...
- hawkinspeter 20 min 44 sec ago
And this is his sofa, is it?
- hawkinspeter 1 hour 23 min ago
I've broken a few over the years, but mainly on factory built wheels. Even managed to break a front wheel spoke just by braking (disk brake...
- hawkinspeter 1 hour 45 min ago
Certainly can't be as bad as those carbon monoxide alarms - I always get a headache from their loud beeping
- chrisonabike 3 hours 19 min ago
Citation needed - or could it be that it's actually because they are regularly associating with criminals (the ones you point out - perhaps at the...
- PRSboy 3 hours 23 min ago
Indeed. Its a virtual cycling platform at the end of the day, so there is a limit to what can be done without losing the 'game' feel. As it...
- Another_MAMIL 4 hours 32 min ago
Could Polartec please provide more clarity on the differences between these new materials? Which is more breathable? Which is more water resistant?...
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20 comments
When your reaction time is down to zero and you can't walk or see you can still drive around in Mr. Ford's nightmare while you drool so long as two things happen:
1) The state continues to license unfit drivers.
2) Those damn cyclists and pedestrians don't get in your way and cause you to lose your license by committing suicide being on the same road with you.
Hey woody! Can you hear me? It's time to use your money to hire a driver! Hey Woody! Woody!
Forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but if more people cycle (or walk), then there is less congestion from cars, therefore the roads will be less busy. I appreciate that hospital traffic is a bit different, but anything, making the roads less busy will also benefit the hospital traffic.
What an idiot...
That Midnight in Paris film was good fun. Not much more to be said on Woody vs cycle lanes, really.
The guy's a bag of shit! So how come suddenly we listen to opinions from bags of shit?
Theres a difference between listening to and reporting of shitbags opinions.
Because he's a rich and famous bag of shit.
and people don't squeegee my windshield when I come to a stoplight
This is the line that betrays Allen. He plainly always travels by car, and thinks of that as the 'right' way to travel. People on bikes are people who are not like me, so it's fine to spout a lot of prejudice dressed up as facts.
It's funny really. You'd think he might have a bit more insight into human character and motivation, given his job, and that he could be able to apply that insight to himself. But obviously not.
living in the UES, we dont really need more cyclelanes, just drivers that can drive and pederstrians that look before stepping out in the the street. Most of the "bad" cyclists are the posh tw@ts on citi bikes and the delivery guy's
He's just looking for publicity for his new movie.
"Honey, I f**ked the kids"
So bike lanes are an accident waiting to happen, but huge NY roads full of huge NY motor traffic is just fine and dandy. Hmm...
Woody, time you gave up the comedy, you're not funny any more.
he hasn't been funny for a long time now...
He'd be all right with it if cyclists were mostly lyric clad jailbait.
"The road is too narrow for a bike lane".
It's wide enough for fucking cars!
Come on, I think some people here are being a little unfair. Still, Woody should think about the consequences if his campaign were to succeed. If there aren't any cycle lanes in his neighbourhood, how is he going to teach his future wife how to ride her bike? You know, the one with the My Little Pony decals, pink tassels and stabilizers.
that is what is all about fellas, the fucking wife beater and his fucking windshield. people like this do not care about bicycles, forests, spring and summer. they only care about their fucking windshield, thats it.
Isn't he a pedo?
Only factually and legally
well he's not a pedalist
What an Allen key...