Bike group ends parade flap with a positive spin
BPD to join them on ride
The forgiving founder of a bicycle acrobatics club that was stopped by police during Saturday’s Caribbean Carnival Parade is inviting officers to join New England Bike Life on its back-toschool ride — and the cops say, it’s a date.
“We think that would be a great opportunity,” Boston police spokes- man Lt. Detective Michael McCarthy said yesterday. “We don’t blame the kids. As a matter of fact, we would love to join them for a bike ride.”
City Councilor Tito Jackson, who invited the gravity-defying group to accompany his mayoral campaign march on the parade route, wanted the city to apologize to the kids for stopping their ride. Bicycles are banned from taking part in the parade for safety reasons, McCarthy explained.
Jackson said yesterday, “Bikes and young people on them is what we need more of on our streets, not less.”
Maurice Thomas is a Boston disc jockey who created New England Bike Life last year and now oversees 450 pedal-bike stunt riders ages 14 to 25 from Lynn to Philadelphia. He told the Herald yesterday no apology is necessary and stressed that police have an open invitation to take part in the club’s next ride, which will begin at Malcolm X Park in Roxbury Sept. 10.
“My appeal to the police would be, give us a chance. Understand we’re still learning the rules of the road. We’re trying to do the best we can,” Thomas said. “All we ask for is a fair chance, and please do not judge us for what motorbikes are doing. And if they can, come ride with us. Show the unity that we’re trying to have with everybody. It’s all love.”
Thomas said police stopped the riders twice once they passed Grove Hall on Blue Hill Avenue, but eventually let them complete the route to Franklin Park. He said the kids “were puzzled more than anything else” because they were guests of a sitting city councilor and mayoral candidate.”
Asked what trick riders have in common with politics, Thomas said, “I think it’s more or less the fact that he (Jackson) sees we’re trying to build something positive and have the kids stay healthy and out of trouble. Tito and his staff did a fantastic job of curbing the tension. I told my kids, take a deep breath and keep riding. That was my focus. There’s always going to be bumps in the road. We don’t have a problem with police. We don’t want to get chased; we want to ride.”
McCarthy, meanwhile, hailed the historically violence-vexed festival a success, noting there were only two arrests: one for illegal firearm possession and one for assault with a knife.
“We had no shootings,” he said. “From our perspective, it was a very peaceful and successful event. It was a nice day for us, as well. We don’t apologize for enforcing the rules. We do everything in the interest of public safety.”
‘Bikes and young people on them is what we need more of on our streets, not less.’ — TITO JACKSON, mayoral candidate