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And on the Seventh Day, God Sent Snow

Blizzard disrupts nude bike lane protest

by
Marc Tracy
December 21, 2009
A snowed-in New York City street, yesterday.(Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)
A snowed-in New York City street, yesterday.(Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)

The plan was for a “Freedom Ride”: a nude group bicycling session through the heavily Orthodox section of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The cause was for a protest: the cyclists are disputing the recent removal of the Bedford Avenue bike lane due to the Hasids’ complaints of scantily clad hipsters peddling by. The time was to be midday Saturday: right when the neighborhood’s puritanical residents were leaving shul. But HaShem had other plans, as Saturday saw the beginnings of one of the bigger blizzards that this part of the world has ever seen in December, and the ride ultimately featured little nudity (though there were, reportedly, a smattering of fake breasts). Nudity belongs to the bikers, but Shabbat belongs to the observant.

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.