A Tale of Two Roadways: The Senator vs. The Cyclist

There are two versions of the events that started on Third Avenue in Brooklyn.

State Sen. Marty Golden, who represents Bay Ridge, says he was returning from an event in Manhattan with his driver. He says his car was in the bike lane because...traffic.

But cyclist Brian Howald has a different story. He was biking in that lane and took issue with all those cars. "I decided to stop in the bike lane and refuse any drivers who came behind me from continuing to drive in the bike lane," he said.

Most cars merged back into traffic, but one became aggressive — and Golden was in it. Howald says the state senator (who he didn't recognize) rolled down the window and flashed a placard, claiming to be a police officer. He threatened to take him to a precinct if he didn't move.

Golden denies that. "There's a placard in my window. Now if he seen the placard and he sees two people in the car and presumes we're cops, that's up to him," he said.

Howald tweeted about the encounter including a photo of the license plate. Then the Twitterverse did its own sleuthing.

Hey look at this, the Senator who helped kill the speed camera expansion has two unpaid school zone speeding violations—in front of P.S. 185 and J.H.S. 227, respectively. pic.twitter.com/tiaeP5OYrA

— Bay🚙Ridge🚗Drivers (@BayRidgeDrivers) December 12, 2017

Golden's response:

"Listen, all those tickets are paid for and a lot of those tickets were excused on. We're going in and out of events and we get placards so we can park in no parking zones and that's what we do."

Ironically, that night Howald was riding to a meeting in Sunset Park because the Department of Transportation was giving a presentation about new safety measures for Fourth Avenue — including a protected bike lane.

Golden is up for re-election next year.