Casey Neistat became a hero to millions of people when he created a video last June about the dangers of using the bike lanes in New York City, or at least that’s the impression given by his YouTube hit counter. This was not the first video Mr. Neistat had ever made about bikes, though it was by far his biggest hit. Way back in 2005, he made a little film called “Bicycle Thief,” not a nod to De Sica but a call to arms for New Yorkers to look out for each other. (Jodi Applegate was not a fan.) So have things changed over the past seven years, as bike ridership in the city has tripled?
Of course not.
Mr. Neistat reprised his video for The Times today in an Op-Doc, where surprisingly even his black friend gets away with stealing his bike. The five cops who actually show up at the end of the clip all admit they’ve never caught anyone stealing a bike. Compare the Times video to the original below. Unfortunately, they are not that different.
