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He’s arrested for riding on sidewalk!

By Mike McLaughlin
The Brooklyn Paper
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The Brooklyn Paper / Tom Callan
Uneasy rider: Steven Wolcott, with 10-month-old son Cole, was given a ticket for riding on the sidewalk — and then spent the night in jail when it turned out that he’d done it before.

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Is this Clinton Hill biker an unrepentant menace or a cautious father protecting his child from maniac drivers?

Well, on the mean streets of Brooklyn, he’s both.

Steven Walcott spent a night in jail last Friday after an officer ticketed him for cycling on the sidewalk near the corner of Classon and Greene avenues — and then discovered that the two-wheeling dad had an outstanding warrant for the same offense dating back several years.

“I told the officer I have to ride on the sidewalk because people drive like animals in the streets. They’re going to kill me or my son,” Walcott told The Brooklyn Paper.

At the time of his arrest, Walcott was alone on his bike and en route to pick up his son from school.

According to his account, Walcott spent several hours at the 88th Precinct stationhouse before spending the night in the infamous Tombs.

Walcott said a judge dismissed both citations against him as long as he doesn’t run afoul of the law in the next 60 days.

All Car Rent-A-Car

He said he would do just that.

“I’m not going to stop,” the recalcitrant cyclist said. “What am I supposed to do? Duel it out with those maniacs and the trucks?”

His experience puts him in the crosshairs in the battle for the control of the city’s streets and sidewalks. It’s common to see scofflaws like Walcott pedaling illegally on sidewalks with children strapped into kid seats.

Even though the first ticket did not discourage him from biking on walkways. Walcott could have spared himself the ordeal of a night in the slammer by simply paying the fine, an option that didn’t appeal to him either.

“I know you’re supposed to go to court, but you get scheduled for a whole day. I didn’t have the time,” he groused.

“Besides, people shouldn’t get summonses for this.”

©2009 The Brooklyn Paper

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