Anti-bicycle bias of the NY Post!

It never ceases to amaze me how far the NY Post will exaggerate a story for its propaganda value.  On March 18, 2010, the day after St. Patrick’s day,  they choose to give this dubious story almost a full-page of space.  As you can see from the headline, the Post implied that NYPD police commissioner Kelly bravely, and with much danger to his own safety, saved some poor woman from a vicious assault by a renegade biker.

However, when you actually read the story more closely, a different tale emerges:  “Kelly jumped from the car(his limo presumably)at around 8:23AM near East 84th Street and rushed to Kinuko Hoffman’s aid, pressing her scarf against her head wound to stem the bleeding until she could get medical attention…”  Sounds to me like he was doing what anyone else in that situation would have done.  Meanwhile, the vicious miscreant, “A bicycle deliveryman, Jose Segarra Pacheco, stayed at the scene after allegedly hitting Hoffman–but cops threw the book at him anyway.”   Assault?  Attempted murder?  Not even.  “The Harlem man was slapped with three summonses–one for improper brakes, one for not having any reflectors, and another for not having lights.”   This despite the fact that it was morning.  It doesn’t say if  he was riding a fixed gear or what.  Apparently, “Hoffman, 55, was crossing Fifth Avenue at the corner of East 84th street in the cross walk.  Pacheco, 24, was speeding downtown and hit the woman, though its unclear who had the right of way, police said.”  Pacheco immediately got off his bike.  It sounds like he did exactly the right thing.  It also seems likely that this woman might have jaywalked at the time or else things would have gotten much worse for Mr. Pacheco.  Fortunately the poor woman wasn’t killed and it didn’t deter Kelly from going to his “pre-parade Mass” and then on to the parade itself, where he was the grand marshal.

This post, also in the same edition, is misleading in its quality of understatement.  Where was Ray Kelly when this happened?  Undoubtedly, no one could have saved the life of Megan Charlop, devoted foster-mother, “avid bicyclist”, and community organizer, who never had a chance. Min Kyung Kwan, 66 years old, according to the more in-depth article written in The Gothamist, was breathalyzed and also issued a summons for “interfering with a bicyclist”.  Certainly this was an accident, a dreadful one.  But didn’t it merit more than this little mention in the Post?  From all accounts, Megan Charlop was an extraordinary woman who selflessly took refugee children from Africa and Haiti into her house.  She deserved a follow-up story in the Post.