robin williams busted!

[crownjewelwl]

Even comedian Robin Williams isn't immune from getting stopped by cops when he's riding a bike on a New York sidewalk.
And it was no laughing matter.
During his appearance on the ABC estrogen-filled gabfest "The View" this morning, Williams told a story about how he recently became one of many cyclists stopped by police for riding on the sidewalk.
"I got hit by a bike on a sidewalk!" co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck said.
"Well, it's the law because of her," Williams barked back.
"[I was dressed] like a terrorist or a crack dealer, your call. No one was on the sidewalk, and all of a sudden woop-woop," Williams added.

WIREIMAGE
Robin Williams.
At first, Williams said the cops didn't recognize him -- but once they did, he was promptly let go with a warning.


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/comedian_robin_williams_gets_pulled_XThrgGUNJuggdN Le47fRsJ#ixzz1JzpMlrVp

[goonster]

Here is what happens (http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/04/nypd_arrest_video_nyc_cyclist_bikes.php) if you are:

a) not Robin Williams
b) crazy enough to crack a joke on a public street

[MattTuck]

yeah.... you wonder how these "enforcement crack downs" get started...

Probably a nice donation to the City Councilmen's Office from the "Association for Safe Sidewalks" which was started by some elderly widowed millionaire who was once brushed by a bike while walking on the side walk...

or, more cynical, a donation from the "union to keep bicyclists safe", funded by the auto industry with a mission to keep the world as bicycle free as possible, so as to avoid people getting hurt while riding bicycles.

geesh. I have an extra tinfoil hat, should anyone want one ;)

[Climb01742]

Here is what happens (http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/04/nypd_arrest_video_nyc_cyclist_bikes.php) if you are:

a) not Robin Williams
b) crazy enough to crack a joke on a public street

wow. what do you say?

[BobbyJones]

None of this ever really happened. It's all sensationalist journalism.

[dekindy]

Isn't it illegal to ride bicycles on the sidewalk in most places? Multi-use paths are another matter however.

We have all the rights and privileges of vehicles on the street. You can't have it both ways, ATMO.

[Hawker]

I count eight cops...on a bicycle stop.

I know they are just enforcing the law...but if they can cut Robin Williams some slack they can also be a bit more subjective with other non-celebrities.

[wc1934]

He used to have a garage full of beautiful bikes - my size too.

[Black Dog]

So much for the joke makers rights. That was an abuse of power if there ever was one.

[chuckred]

Isn't it illegal to ride bicycles on the sidewalk in most places? Multi-use paths are another matter however.

We have all the rights and privileges of vehicles on the street. You can't have it both ways, ATMO.
But somehow the car parked on the same sidewalk the guy rode across is ignored!

[crownjewelwl]

Two star-struck cops who are big fans of Robin Williams spotted their beloved comedian illegally biking on a sidewalk and gave him a free pass -- instead of a $100 ticket.

America's most famous cyclist after Lance Armstrong appeared on "The View" on WABC/Channel 7 yesterday and talked about street justice, celebrity-style.

He said he was riding toward a bike path in Manhattan when "all of a sudden, 'WHOOP! WHOOP!' "

Then he said he heard a cop on a bullhorn order: "PULL OVER!"

"I wasn't dressed, like, in bike clothing . . . I had a single-speed track bike, and I had on a bal aclava, which basically makes me look like a terrorist or a crack dealer," he admitted.


Arnaldo Magnani/ Getty Images
Robin Williams
But, he insisted, "No one else -- no one -- was on the sidewalk.

"Then all of a sudden, they're going, 'Can we see some ID?' I had a wallet, luckily."

"They say, 'Hey, Mr. Williams, how are you?' And, 'Mork!' "

Williams, who made his mark playing the alien Mork from Ork in the 1970s sitcom "Mork & Mindy," said the cops told him: "There's a new law. Look, we won't give you a ticket this time."

New York has had a law against biking on the sidewalk for many years. Cyclists who do so without hitting a pedestrian can be fined up to a C-note. It they do hit a walker, they're on the hook for up to $300 and their bicycles can be impounded.

The above-the-law actor -- now starring on Broadway as the Tiger in "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo" -- was not goodwill hunting.

He showed no sympathy for "View" co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who told him, "I got hit by a bike on a sidewalk."

"Well it's the law because of you," Williams, 59, barked back.

Williams is a bike nut who owns some 60 of them, according to BikeRadar.com.

New York has been cracking down on bikers who flout the law by zooming through red lights, going the wrong way down one-way streets and endangering pedestrians on sidewalks.

Cops were "unfair" to exempt Williams because of his celebrity, said Robert Fader, a Long Island lawyer who represents injured cyclists.

"Strictly speaking, the cops have the right to give these tickets out," he said. "It's a rulebook-slowdown kind of thing, where they're following the letter of the law."

Police declined comment.



Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/nypd_game_of_cops_robin_NF7qnkbn0he0YjOJQhUq0I#ixz z1K3ZmimDr

[khjr]

"I got hit by a bike on a sidewalk!" co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck said.
In no way do I endorse the practice of riding a sidewalk, but if anyone (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0w_duuaYkI) was to be hit...

(c'mon, someone Had to say this...)

[leooooo]

(c'mon, someone Had to say this...)

I defer to you and applaud your efforts :D

[Dave B]

I just want his beard. That is awesome!

[RPS]

In no way do I endorse the practice of riding a sidewalk, but if anyone (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0w_duuaYkI) was to be hit...

(c'mon, someone Had to say this...)
Sure, why not? Sounds like a plan.
Let’s replace stoning with pedal-powered chariots for right extremist.
We can even attach razor blades to the wheels to teach her a real lesson.
The nerve of her criticizing BO and his policies on TV. This is America after all.
That dumb blond needs to learn a lesson or two from Behar and Goldberg.

[jpw]

I was floored by a speeding pavement cyclist a few weeks ago. I never saw him coming, I never heard him coming. He slammed into the back of my shoulder and I went down HARD. Nothing broken, but a badly bruised hip and shoulder, a sprained wrist, and mild concussion. I'd never quite appreciated just how much kinetic energy there is in a cyclist and his/ her bicycle when in motion. Now I do, and it's a lot.
Bad boy Robin!

[flydhest]

In DC it is legal to ride on the sidewalk except in a few blocks designated the "central business district."

[Dlevy05]

wow, that posted video scares me. We live in a crazy policed state.

[Marcusaurelius]

I think riding a bicycle on the sidewalk is a bad idea. I think riding on asphalt makes a lot more sense and makes less of an impact on pedestrians.

Although riding a bicycle on the sidewalk is illegal here, I have yet to see much of an effort at enforcement.

[vqdriver]

I fear that one of these nypd/cyclist threads will take a bad turn.

[rugbysecondrow]

I fear that one of these nypd/cyclist threads will take a bad turn.

It is just a very tired conversation.

[brians647]

You all have missed a pivotal question here:
Why the hell was he wearing a balaclava in April?

[fiamme red]

You all have missed a pivotal question here:
Why the hell was he wearing a balaclava in April?Because he lives in California. New York's April is winter for him. :)

[dd74]

Robin Williams better watch how he speaks to Elisabeth. She could always unleash hubby Tim on "Mork."

[Aaron O]

I'm generally not a fan of the whoa as me whining culture of victimhood some cyclists display, but after riding in Manhattan last weekend, I do have a few opinions:

1. From the limited riding I did, Philly is a far superior city for cyclists, except that Central park was great.

2. Pedestrians in NYC act like outright lunatics. I thought Philly was bad, but these folks all seemed 100% convinced that they had the right of way while jay walking, crossing at reds and while walking in the middle of the MUP on the river. We have some clueless jerk peds in Philly, but these folks were clueless, aggressive and self righteous about it!

3. Cars run reds far more than I'm used to, block the box far more than I'm used to and are generally obnoxious. I almost never have issues with cars in Philly, it's almost always either a pedestrian or an idiot cyclist, but I was afraid for my wife last weekend.

I'll stick to my smaller neck of the woods going forward!

[rugbysecondrow]

If I lived in NYC, I would still be playing rugby and not riding. I don't like riding enough to be an NYC cyclist.