All of those "pointless one-way streets" are designed to funnel cars, from downtown New Haven, as quickly as possible, onto the highway. Pedestrians and bicyclists do not even figure into the "traffic engineering".

The use of the "gangs" and "swarm" in this context are off putting. Particularly because these are mostly young African American teenagers.

Have you ever stopped to talk to these young people?

I ride a bike and I drive and whenever I see these kids I just want to pull over and give them helmets.

1) We need a free and safe place in town where young people can go and skate/bike/atv.
Other cyclists with experience can teach them tricks and help them learn to bike safely on city streets. Of course not all young people are going to want to do this, but we need to create a safe place for young people to come and do something they enjoy for a million reasons.

2) We should give free/inexpensive helmets to young people on the street who aren't wearing them. By we, I mean other cyclists (volunteers), police officers, street outreach workers, etc.

3) We should make roads all over town safer for cyclists.

I have had similar experiences with groups of teens on bikes harassing cars and it is not funny at all. This is not a traffic issue. This is a public safety issue. Next time this happens call the police. The police should treat it as aggravated assault (this is probably the correct term as it is their intention for their victims to "apprehend the possibility of violence or physical injury" - i.e. "To scare" - which is a serious crime when the person being scared didn't consent to the experience). We could also call it disturbing the peace, harassment, gang-related activity, you name it - anything but "they were riding their bikes on the sidewalk".

Junebugjune - sorry, but that is simply incorrect. These guys really aren't so nice. They ride into oncoming traffic, harass cars and pedestrians, throw things at people, and more.

My intention was not to say that they were nice, just that they are teenagers. Maybe you're seeing different "gangs" that are made up of adults, but I'm seeing kids, and calling the police on them is problematic. The division between young people (really people of all ages) of color and the rest of the community is a major problem in New Haven and it cannot be solved by having one group call the cops on the other especially when we're talking about adults on bikes calling the cops on kids on bikes. The police cannot solve all of our problems. Young people in New Haven have the cops called on them far too much already. Maybe the street outreach workers can get involved here, but I'm concerned that the adults (I'm assuming) in this thread are not showing a ton of understanding or compassion towards these young people. If I'm misunderstanding I'm happy to admit it, but if you're looking at the same kids I am, your suggested solutions (and choice of words) are troubling.

This issue was recategorized from Public Space, Streets and Drains to Policing Issue.

We are closing this request due to its historic nature. If this concern still requires attention and you still believe SeeClickFix is a viable tool for its resolution the best way for it to be addressed is for you to create a new request including a current description of what is occurring and what solution you hope to see regarding this matter, citing/linking this request in the details. Thank you for your dedication to improving the quality of life in our community.