Motorcycle Event Q: “Chaos” Or “Joy”?

The organizers seem to be responsible and forthright, unlike Elicker. They changed the event date at the city request, only to be stabbed in the back.

If this was a BLM rally, which would destroy businesses, injure people, and cause disruption, everyone would be calling for the police to stand down and allow the event to proceed.

rolling endo ≠ free speech

Additional state police should be requested for enforcing laws on the
CT highways and state roads
in Greater new haven on Saturday.. New Haven police should enforce quality of life and safety for new haven residents every day and yes especially Saturday. Permits should not be granted for any motorized vehicle racing within city limits unless a safe track is built and noise and safety controls are in place. Many large lots of land and closed buildings are available all across the state.

Has anyone asked NHPD if the city has reached out to the State Police for assistance or support?  Controlling this situation seems like a heavy lift for a modest and understaffed city police force.

Great call by the City of New Haven not to tolerate this kind of activity.

Regarding MOTP’s repeated BLM comments…

MOTP implies BLM violence but this never happened at NHV’s peaceful BLM rallies nor the majority of BLM rallies across the US.

This is exactly the kind of racist BS which has driven anyone except for middle age white guys away from the Harley Davidson brand….just sayin….bro.

“Motorcycles bring a lot of joy.”  As long as that’s the case, these types of events will occur.  This is a a whole subculture.

These guys have a lot of nerve and a lot of white privilege. They knew full well what it would take to get the event “legit” and knew that they wanted to keep it “illegitimate”. They probably talked to a few cops they like but never did anything formal.

5 years is long enough for this “tradition”.

Maybe if they had played ball last year I’d feel differently. They turned last year into some weird protest against Covid.

“New Haven is a place where people deserve to feel safe. They deserve to have a high quality of life. We are telling people: Do not come to this event. Do not come to this event if you care about New Haven’s public safety. Do not come to this event if you care about the fact that we’re devoting police resources to this event [that could be directed elsewhere.] Do not come to this event if you respect our city.”

I hope the NHPD brings its decibel reader to Forbes Ave. In the meantime, all our streets can e
xpect increased noise and disruption.

“The organizers seem to be responsible and forthright”

(LOL)

Yeah they are forthright about wanting to continue to do something illegal, unsafe and annoying to the entire rest of the population of the city regardless of whether they get permission to do so. Making the case that if you deny us we will just do the same illegal, unsafe and annoying thing anyway is laughably idiotic. Overgrown self proclaimed BMX hooligans (not my description check their website) with zero regard for the impact their actions have on the surrounding community. Why is this even a debate? Shut it all down. Arrest anyone riding like an idiot on public roads 24/7/365. Not just on Saturday.

Get out the popcorn

Inciting a Riot. A little more complicated then having a unsanctioned motorcycle event, the Nations Capital was attacked and person who incited the crowd escaped without any charges. In situations like this , the Mayor should be in the background not leading the charge. The Chief of the Police Department should always be the lead person in charge. His constant interference undermines the Department. The Mayor has kept the Chief as acting knowing that hasn’t the courage to make a permanent appointment and offending some of his voting base prior to election. Since he has interest elsewhere ha will not do if afterwards. At least have a search committee or a plan , he is being outrageously unfair to Chief Dominguez and the Department. Experience shows that you have to know when to pick your battles, this battle is one that cannot be won without damaging the Departments integrity. Speaking of chaos has the Mayor been to College Street at bar closing time or tried to drive any street in the City without fearing for you life.

I appreciate the joy that these young people get from riding fast, making a lot of noise, showing off their skills, and taking risks. I wish they could be more responsible to their families and to society, though. This activity leads to brain death, the threat of death and injuries to them and others, huge medical bills paid by society, and environment- and life-destroying use of fossil fuels. It’s a massive failure of themselves as human beings, of parenting, of the media, and of the public education that these people do this crazy and monstrously destructive stuff. Hopefully, the people who are alive 30 or 50 years from now will look back and scratch their heads at the thought that humans, with all of our advantages and privileges, were so profoundly stupid way back then—and will be grateful that this sort of stuff will have been relegated to the history books.

More great photos courtesy of Mr. Breen.

The residents and taxpayers are clearly on the side of the NHPD here.

I expect, and hope, to see an overwhelming police presence from other departments from towns and cities across the state as they come out to support the NHPD.

This is an opportunity for the City, NHPD, and Residents to make a statement that the lawlessness will no long be tolerated in New Haven.

Our forefathers did not build this county so that weak-minded officials could take away our God-given right to go *vroom vroom*

I understand no one likes these guys, but as long as they stay on the other side of the river, and there’s a police presence, I don’t see what the big deal is. Let them have their little fun for a day.

manofthepeople- we have had plenty of peaceful BLM rallies and marches all around the East Coast with no violence or property destruction. Get your facts straight.
MamaBear- “ Permits should not be granted for any motorized vehicle racing within city limits unless a safe track is built and noise and safety controls are in place. Many large lots of land and closed buildings are available all across the state.” -Yes, exactly my thoughts, the organizers need to work with the State and the city to find a more appropriate venue where it won’t disturb the public and people who like this sort of thing can enjoy themselves safely.
YancyC- “Motorcycles bring a lot of joy.”  As long as that’s the case, these types of events will occur.  This is a whole subculture.“- Yes, as long as we allow the sale of these vehicles we have to have spaces where people can ride these vehicles. It is a whole subculture and it needs a safe, appropriate venue to locate this activity.
stevehamm-“ I appreciate the joy that these young people get from riding fast, making a lot of noise, showing off their skills, and taking risks. I wish they could be more responsible to their families and to society, though.”- I agree, that’s why the organizers need to find a more appropriate venue. There is a way that a venue could be profitable for the operators and could allow enthusiasts to enjoy these vehicles in a safe space. Much like monster truck events, demolition derbies, track car racing, motorcycle rallies or other motorized vehicle events there is an audience for this type of thing for riders and spectators. Of course with global warming fossil fuel vehicles will soon have to be outlawed and turned into quiet electric vehicles which won’t be as much fun for this crowd. But until that happens and the culture changes, there needs to be an alternative venue to city streets and a less adversarial relationship with the public. There are plenty of enthusiasts that aren’t hooligans.

Donaldo404 – if you lived on the east shore you’d know this event is a major problem. We’re still a part of New Haven—we pay the same taxes you do, so why is it okay for us to have such a disruption but not the rest of the city? I nearly got hit by motorcycles when I was walking my dog last year when this event was on.  These people do not respect the road or others around them. 

These people did not want to make their event legal. Even giving them the benefit of the doubt w/r/t New Haven being wishy washy about what the group needed to do to get a permit, this group would have reached out to every town in the surrounding area to see who would play ball with such an event after New Haven wasn’t.  There’s no d
iscussion of this because that they didn’t try, or if they did, they were shut down so fast that they were embarrassed to share and lose their boogeyman of the City of New Haven.  These people just want to have a big show and make trouble in front of a captive audience in a dense neighborhood.

Newsflash to everyone who says that this should be permitted—no municipality wants people tearing up their roads or fairgrounds on dangerous vehicles to do tricks, even in a controlled way. This isn’t a charity ride for cancer, or a legitimate sporting event. We should only inconvenience our citizens by shutting down roads and disrupting the peaceful enjoyment of one’s property for activities of social value that don’t cause life-threatening injuries regularly.

Well said, Dennis.

I sure hope you’re right.  NOW is the time for the NHPD and Mayor’s office to line up law enforcement help with this.  Not during or after the fact.  I hope Mayor Elicker realizes how closely some of us are watching his response to events such as this.  There need to be boundaries drawn and no compromise with organizers of an event cancelled by NHPD.

Once again the “old” and typical New Haven rears it’s head. Does anyone working in city hall know about things like Sturgis, or the Key West biker runs? Or are they stuck in the 50’s saying “I say, these ruffians and the motorbikes and clad in their leather apparel are not welcomed here!! I may drop my martini glass at the mere sight of such unruliness! Worse yet, they may frighten the Yalies who may refuse to sing Bula Bula at the next athletic event!”.

Memo to Eastcoastin:

Get the greenies involved, and then everyone will be happy.  Lay out a diagram that will show where each recycling station will be located.  Glass bottles in this bin, scrap metal from crashes in that bin, and so on and so forth. Oh….and don’t forget….. tell everyone not to adjust their mufflers before arriving.  Some of us are shift workers who sleep during the afternoon. 

If you give us Boy Scouts honor, it will be a piece of cake.  (In your case, a piece of donut, like the donut circles you’ll be creating on the asphalt.)

@manofthewhitepeople…they can go to Sturgis to be with their people.

One might think that the bikers’ rights are being taken away from them! They are not!

If you break the laws, you might get arrested!

Screw these people who cannot seem to find another way to amuse themselves.  It’s just pathetic!

It’s NOT the same as BLM protests!  But, with any protest(s), people need to keep their heads on straight, and not make a mess of people’s lives/neighborhoods.

Aggressive actions in public streets, like illegal motor-cycle events – are just ridiculous!

Find a big vacant lot or field to run around in, and stay the hell out of my city!

By the way, the event happened last year under this same administration and in prior years,  and when you allow this type of behavior to go unchecked it proliferates.

In many ways its not unlike the rest of the lawlessness in the city. There is a very obvious reason why this sort of activity takes place in New Haven.

If the city proceeds with a full force deployment to stop this rally will they also do the same thing with the dirt bike riders that have been terrorizing the city for years now?

Mamabear – This has nothing to do with quality of life. If u want to ensure quality of life then stop the clients coming from methadone clinics to the New Haven Green selling prescription drugs and clogging up the buses. This is a once a year gathering. Get a grip.

jms – You know nothing about what you speak of. Come down Saturday and wear jms on your shirt in large letters. I will show you around. In the meantime, say nothing.

Forget Sturgis. Connecticut used to have a rather sizable motorcycle gathering each Sunday.

In its heyday, the crowds at the old Marcus Dairy (and for miles around Danbury) were regularly in the thousands and could number as many as 25,000 on Super Sundays (or so the News-Times says). Despite the sheer number of riders, I remember the gatherings as being pretty tame and not too controversial. There was mutual understanding between the venue, the organizers, and local law enforcement to keep everybody on their best behavior, and for the most part, it prevailed. When some riders began breaking away to the mall and nearby streets to perform stunts, burnouts and trick rides, the whole affair got shut down for a bit and the organizers took the heat from the City government for causing the trouble.

In contrast, the EastCoastin event does not have organizers so much as instigators. They are happy to post on social media and profit from the merch, but they want none of the responsibility. The lack of ticket sales, concessions, portable restroom facilities, aid stations, paramedics, traffic control, security, insurance policies, and a legitimate venue is not an accident. Properly planning for these contingencies takes serious time and money, and the Hole n the Wall club has been allowed to foist it off on taxpayers for the past several years.

I disagree with the premise that this is a joyful celebration of motorcycle culture: it’s puerile self-aggrandizement. The club needs to be held accountable for the anti-social and unsafe behavior that this event draws to city. We’ve tried doing it the “hands off” way previously.
Maybe citations (or arrests) for trespass, criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, unlawful assembly, and/or rioting will send a clearer message?