Critical Mass April 29, 2005

Radical Reference staffed the communications headquarters in New York City. We don't know how many were arrested, but we believe we prevented a number of detensions by letting riders know where cops were massing.

The arrests were mostly on the west side, especially near Union Square. The other three rides originating at other parks were relatively unscathed until a melee erupted at 6th St. and Avenue A. We had a report that a NY Times reporter was arrested after asking a police officer for his badge number.

Cops broke locks and stole bikes near Tompkins Square and in the 40s at Park Ave.

It's 9:20pm right now. They've call in the "aviation unit," but the cops are still chasing riders around in frustration. They haven't made their monthly quota, I guess.

The best quote of the night was a cop heard to have said, "They're leaving in twosies and threesies and heading to the party."