“Criminal mischief”: The cyclist on a mission to un-deface bad drivers’ number plates, plus BMX legend Ken Floyde on the road.cc Podcast

It’s the first road.cc podcast of 2023, and we're talking un-defacing naughty NYC drivers' defaced number plates with a public-spirited cyclist and BMX with a very deserved new recipient of the British Empire Medal! 

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(British Cycling)

First up, George and I talk to Ken Floyde, the legendary founder of Brixton BMX Club, who has rightly been recognised with a British Empire Medal for his decades of tireless voluntary service to the South London BMX scene.

Ken started the club almost by chance way back in 1981 in the midst of the Brixton riots, when he realised disenfranchised young people in the area didn't exactly identify with any kind of cyclesport as it was then. The vision to provide a place for those youngsters in the early 80s to ride their BMX bikes and feel part of a community is still paying dividends today, with Ken nurturing the talents of elite BMX riders such as Charlie Reynolds, and helping countless people to discover cycling through the sport of BMX. As you’ll find out in the podcast, Ken’s influence has stretched far beyond South London and he’s not planning to stop any time soon. 

I caught another cop on Baxter Street near the courthouses and the Manhattan DA's office on Friday. At some point, you'd think the NYPD would crack down on this, no? Until then, there's me committing CRIMINAL MISCHIEF with a blue paint pen! pic.twitter.com/TgzfOl99kA

— Gersh Kuntzman (@GershKuntzman) January 9, 2023

In part 2 Simon catches up with Gersh Kuntzman of Streetsblog NYC, who is proving to be a real nuisance for naughty New York drivers obscuring their number plates, predominantly to avoid picking up fines for indiscretions.

Find out why Gersh is on a mission to make the streets of the Big Apple safer for cyclists and pedestrians with “criminal mischief”, a term coined when the NYPD remarkably decided to arrest a friend of Gersh’s for un-defacing an offending vehicle. As you can see from the tweet above he's still going, and despite the publicity, the NYPD are still yet to fully crack down on the problem by the looks of things...

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