The document describes a couple's bike ride from Queens to Brooklyn that resulted in them receiving criminal summonses for riding their bikes on the sidewalk. They were forced to ride on the sidewalk due to unsafe street conditions, with no pedestrians present. When stopped by police, the officers said they would receive summonses but would face no penalties if they showed up in court. At their court hearing, over 100 people were present for minor offenses. The couple was surprised to see a sign reading "In God We Trust" in the courtroom.

1. In
God
We
Trust
We
love
biking.
In
the
Labor
Day
weekend,
my
wife
and
I
decided
to
bike
to
the
Prospect
Park
in
Brooklyn
from
our
home
in
Queens
through
the
Brooklyn-­‐Queens
Greenway,
a
bicycle
and
pedestrian
pathway
linking
many
parks.
Putting
on
our
helmets
and
taking
out
water,
we
were
on
our
way.
The
only
problem
we
had
on
our
way
to
Brooklyn
was
the
section
of
the
Greenway
around
Ridgewood
Reservoir
was
closed
and
we
were
forced
to
ride
on
Cypress
Avenue,
a
street
along
some
cemeteries
and
with
few
people
walking.
I
was
leading
the
way
on
the
street
and
cars
were
passing
by
my
side
with
high
speed.
My
lovely
wife
called
me
from
behind.
She
was
worried
and
wanted
us
to
ride
on
the
sidewalk.
I
know
from
reading
the
rules
on
the
NYC
Bicycle
Map
that
we
should
not
ride
bikes
on
sidewalks,
but
my
wife
did
not
know
that.
She
has
seen
people
biking
on
sidewalks
all
the
time
and
felt
it
was
ok
to
ride
sidewalks
as
long
as
the
bicyclist
does
not
put
any
pedestrian
in
danger.
Her
suggestion
at
that
moment
seems
more
reasonable.
There
were
no
one
on
the
sidewalk
and
if
a
car
hit
us
we
would
fly
over
the
sidewalk
and
go
straight
into
the
cemetery.
Soon
we
found
our
missing
Greenway
again
and
finally
arrived
at
the
Prospect
Park.
On
our
way
back,
the
Greenway
on
the
East
New
York
Avenue
disappeared
abruptly
and
we
were
riding
on
a
street
competing
with
speeding
cars
again.
I
knew
this
area
was
not
safe
and
decided
to
ride
behind
my
wife
to
keep
an
eye
on
her.
The
lane
on
the
street
became
narrower
and
the
speed
of
cars
higher.
My
wife
escaped
from
the
street
and
rode
on
to
the
sidewalk.
I
followed
her
on
to
the
sidewalk
too.
There

2. were
no
pedestrian
there.
A
police
car
passed
by
and
stopped
in
front
of
us.
Two
police
officers
came
out
of
the
car
and
signaled
my
wife
to
go
over.
One
officer
asked
my
wife
if
she
knew
this
neighborhood
and
told
her
it
was
not
safe.
Then
he
told
my
wife
that
we
could
not
ride
on
sidewalk
and
asked
for
her
ID.
He
called
me
over
and
took
my
ID
too.
Back
to
the
car
he
started
to
make
phone
calls
while
the
other
officer
we
were
chatting
with
us.
He
told
us
that
his
colleague
would
give
us
summonses
but
we
did
not
need
worry.
He
said
that
we
just
needed
to
go
to
the
court
and
nothing
would
happen
to
us,
no
fine,
nothing;
but
if
we
did
not
go
something
very
bad
would
happen.
Finally
the
officer
in
the
car
got
out
and
handed
each
of
us
a
pink
summons.
They
left
and
we
continued
our
bike
trip
home,
still
smiling
but
somehow
in
a
different
mode.
The
pink
summons
is
a
criminal
summons.
A
leisure
bike
ride
to
a
park
turned
us,
two
law-­‐abiding
citizens,
to
criminals.
We
needed
to
appear
in
NYC
criminal
court
a
few
months
later.
We
were
not
scared
since
the
police
officer
told
us
nothing
would
happen
to
us,
and
we
were
a
little
bit
excited
since
we
never
got
a
chance
to
see
the
criminal
court.
The
court
day
finally
arrived.
We
took
the
time
off
our
work
and
arrived
at
346
Broadway
in
lower
Manhattan
around
1
pm.
We
submitted
our
pink
summonses
to
the
clerk
at
the
window
and
were
asked
to
go
to
Courtroom
3
for
a
hearing.
A
few
people
were
waiting
out
of
the
room
already.
A
sign
on
the
door
said
it
would
be
open
at
2
pm.
More
and
more
people
arrived
and
formed
a
long
line.
Around
2,
the
door
opened
and
we
got
in.
This
is
a
big
room
with
20-­‐30
rows
of
benches.
Caught
my
eye
immediately
is
the
big
sign
on
the
front
wall
-­‐
“In
God
We
Trust”.
Soon
the
room
was
full.
More
than
one
hundred
people
were
sitting
there
quietly
waiting.
A
nice
gentleman
in
his
50s
or
60s
came
out
and
presided
under
the
“In
God”
sign.
He
must
be
the
judge,
actually
a
Judicial
Hearing
Officer.
I
knew
that
from
a
slip
of
paper
the
clerk
at
the
window
asked
me
to
sign,
which
said
I
agreed
that
my
case
be
heard
by
a
Judicial
Hearing
Officer
not
a
criminal
court
judge.
Seems
there
were
too
many
cases
in
this
courtroom
and
a
police
officer
called
some
names
and
asked
them
to
go
to
Courtroom
2.
My
wife
was
one
of
them
and
I
was
left
here
still
wondering
how
the
JHO
could
handle
so
many
cases
in
the
afternoon.
People
were
called
one
by
one
to
the
JHO
and
each
only
took
a
few
minutes.
Suddenly
I
heard
my
name
called.
I
jump
out
of
my
seat
and
walked
toward
the
JHO.
Totally
surprised,
I
heard
only
“50
dollars”
when
I
faced
him.
That
was
not
what
the
police
officer
had
promised
us.
“Why?”
I
responded
without
thinking
and
started
to
tell
my
story.
The
next
thing
I
heard
was
“ECB.
Dismissed”.
I
knew
that
term
from
Internet.
Tickets
for
riding
on
the
sidewalk
fall
under
the
jurisdiction
of
the
Environmental
Control
Board
(ECB)
and
my
summons
in
criminal
court
should
be
thrown
out
for
lack
of
jurisdiction.
My
case
was
over
and
I
was
free
to
leave.
I
went
to
Courtroom
2
to
be
with
my
wife.
Courtroom
2
is
about
the
same
size
as
Courtroom
3.
The
JHO
presiding
there
seemed
more
serious
and
always
looked
sideway
not
on
the
person
in
the
case.
One
by
one
people
were
called
even
faster
then
the
other
room.
My
wife’s
turn
came.
She
walked
toward
the
JHO
with
a

3. flashing
face.
She
must
be
very
nervous.
“20
dollars”,
the
JHO
said
as
soon
as
she
got
there.
My
wife
started
to
tell
her
story,
but
the
JHO
refused
to
hear.
He
ordered
her
to
go
back
to
seat
and
think
about
it:
either
to
pay
$20
or
come
back
another
day
for
a
trial.
No
need
to
think.
Any
normal
mind
would
choose
paying
the
lousy
$20
instead
of
wasting
another
day.
Everyone
in
the
room
got
called
in
the
first
round
and
in
the
second
round
my
wife
got
called
again.
“
I
will
pay
the
fine
but
I
still
want
to
tell
you
what
happened,”
my
wife
said.
Before
she
could
continue,
the
JHO
interrupted
her
and
said,
“I
don’t
need
to
listen.”
Her
case
was
over
too.
She
was
led
by
a
policeman
to
the
cashier
and
paid
her
$20
fine.
We
left
the
court
and
went
back
to
our
life.
Since
the
court
was
very
close
to
Chinatown,
we
went
there
to
have
a
nice
Chinese
dinner;
and
since
we
were
in
Manhattan,
after
dinner
we
went
to
see
a
funny
off-­‐Broadway
show.
This
was
the
happy
ending
of
our
court
day.
In
that
night,
I
could
not
sleep.
I
thought
a
lot.
The
Law
In
Queens
and
other
districts
of
NYC
there
are
some
streets
with
busy
car
traffics
but
empty
sidewalks.
Common
senses
will
lead
us
not
to
ride
bikes
on
sidewalks
endangering
pedestrians
but
go
on
to
the
empty
sidewalks
to
avoid
competing
with
the
cars
on
the
roads
and
risking
our
own
lives.
But
we
are
human
and
there
are
always
some
people
who
do
not
think
of
others
and
ride
bikes
recklessly
on
crowded
sidewalks.
So
here
comes
the
Law
–
New
York
City
Administrative
Code
§19-­‐176
-­‐
Bicycle
operation
on
sidewalks
prohibited.
The
Law
protests
pedestrians
but
sometimes
forces
bicyclists
into
dangerous
motor
vehicle
traffic
unnecessarily.
The
law
is
clearly
not
perfect
and
up
to
the
people
who
enforce
it.
The
Police
Policemen
can
use
the
law
to
stop
those
reckless
bike
riders
and
leave
other
bikers
alone.
I
guess
that
happens
most
times
and
that
is
why
we
still
see
quite
often
people
riding
happily
on
not
crowded
sidewalks.
But
policemen
are
human
and
for
whatever
reason
they
still
can
give
you
a
summons
when
you
are
riding
on
an
empty
sidewalk.
The
reason
might
be
the
boss’s
requirement
to
issue
more
summonses
or
simply
a
bad
mood
of
that
day.
We
got
the
summonses
when
the
policemen
were
kind
enough
to
warn
us
being
in
a
bad
neighborhood.
Maybe
they
thought
it
would
be
more
efficient
to
issue
two
summonses
since
they
had
already
stopped
us.
They
kept
promising
us
that
nothing
would
happen
to
us
but
they
still
issued
the
summonses.
Maybe
their
performance
is
really
associated
with
the
number
of
summonses.
Anyway
there
is
still
the
court
if
policemen
issue
tickets
recklessly.
The
Court
Judges
are
there
to
hear
people’s
cases
and
make
right
rulings.
But
they
are
human.
For
most
of
them,
it
is
just
their
job.
I
understand
very
well
how
the
court
at
346
Broadway
works
now
and
found
the
Judicial
Hearing
Officer
in
Courtroom
2
especially
creative
and
very
experienced.
He
needed
to
finish
so
many
cases
and

4. designed
a
very
efficient
process
to
handle
this.
The
process
can
be
called
Hearing
without
Hearing.
He
called
each
case
and
announced
right
away
his
ruling,
usually
a
small
fine.
He
bet
one
would
be
better
off
accepting
the
small
fine
instead
of
coming
back
another
day.
If
one
wanted
to
talk
he
would
send
him
back
to
think.
So
all
cases
went
through
this
process
fast
the
first
round.
In
the
second
round,
people
were
still
given
these
two
choices:
accepting
the
fine
or
coming
back
another
day.
A
very
efficient
machine
and
no
hearing
were
really
needed.
With
this,
the
JHO
finished
his
job
magically
and
could
go
home
satisfactorily
with
his
pay.
In
Got
We
Trust,
but
the
judges
are
human.
The
policemen
are
human,
the
laws
were
made
by
human,
and
we
are
all
human.
We,
imperfect
human
living
in
an
imperfect
society,
can
still
choose
to
be
happy
in
an
imperfect
day.
It
turned
out
the
court’s
decisions
were
perfectly
right:
it
was
my
wife
who
urged
me
to
ride
on
the
sidewalk
and
so
she
got
$20
fine
and
I
none.
Anyway,
the
city
might
need
the
money
and
I
definitely
felt
her
love.
With
this
thought,
I
fell
asleep.