Cyclist Captures New Yorkers' Traffic Transgressions, One Photo at a Time

Paul Vogel of Prospect Heights, moved by the death of 3-year-old Alison Liao, put a camera on the front of his bike to become eyes on the street.

Paul Vogel, like most commuters, gets annoyed when people block his way as they're breaking the law. But he handles it a little differently than most of us. 

He takes pictures — lots of them —through a small camera mounted on the front of his bike, which takes time-lapse photos automatically as he rides from his home in Prospect Heights to Midtown Manhattan.

"You can see everything that everyone is doing," he observed. "It's astounding how many people are on their phone. You can see what people are eating. You see people putting on their makeup." 

Vogel, a 43-year-old fundraiser for a nonprofit, has been doing this for about a year. He was motivated by a few things: a Tumblr page dedicated to showing cops parked in the bike lanes; a few nasty exchanges with angry drivers; and the death of 3-year-old Allison Liao as she was crossing a street in Flushing with her grandmother.  

"I know that somebody’s dashcam footage helped resolve that case," he said.

He thought perhaps his images could help a traffic victim or bring someone to justice. 

He began submitting the photos of traffic infractions to city agencies and 311. He said some agencies have taken action, especially the city Taxi and Limousine Commission, which has issued fines to taxi drivers based on the photos. 

In mid-September when WNYC launched its Bike Blockers project on bike lane obstructions, his photos had another use. He became a super-contributor. Out of the more than 3,200 photos WNYC has received, over 700 of them have come from him.

That's a fair amount of vigilance. But doesn't he ever break traffic rules?

Of course. "I jaywalk all the time, like probably every New Yorker," he said. He also acknowledges he bikes through red lights, though he says he comes to a complete stop first. Still, he insists, drivers should be held to a higher standard since their collisions are more likely to be deadly.

But fixating on New Yorkers at their worst is wearing Vogel out.

"It’s not a happy experience," he explained, "I ride my bike because I enjoy riding my bike so focusing on the hazards and the negative aspect of it doesn’t enhance that experience for me."

So a year after he first put a camera on his bike, Vogel's thinking about calling it quits.

He kind of wants to go back to being a regular commuter, just like the rest of us.

 

Below are some of the Bike Blockers photos submitted by Paul Vogel.

To view submissions from all contributors, check out the Bike Blockers map. You can also contribute your own by e-mailing them to bikes@wnyc.org. Please geotag them or note the location in the subject line.

Paul Vogel photos