Moving targets

A bike messenger crashes into a prominent citizen, and a city is outraged. Are Boston's couriers out of control, misunderstood -- or both?

by Jason Gay

You can't blame Jim Majorowski for feeling a tad edgy. Yesterday was Boston's first snowstorm of the year, and it delivered several inches of snow, sleet, and freezing rain -- making the workday miserable for bicycle messengers like the bleached-blond 29-year-old. Conditions couldn't have been more treacherous, he says. High winds ripped through the Financial District, slush collected in potholes, and automobiles ricocheted around intersections like pinballs.

But it's not slippery roads that are stressing Majorowski the most. An October 30 collision between a unlicensed bike messenger and a prominent pedestrian -- William Spring, a school committee member and a vice-president with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston -- has triggered a wave of public outrage against Boston's bike messengers. Long-time professional couriers like Majorowski are finding themselves on the defensive.

"It's terrible," he says. "I've never seen anything like this."

For years, there has been an uneasy, sometimes combative relationship between Boston's bike messengers and the surrounding community. Accidents have always happened from time to time, but last month's crash, in the early evening at the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Clarendon Street, was particularly alarming. The messenger, Jonathan Gladstone, escaped with minor injuries. But the well-known Spring, who suffered severe head trauma, remains in stable condition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he recently emerged from a coma, a family spokesperson says.

The accident has prompted renewed scrutiny of Boston's bike messengers. Business leaders are pushing for tougher restrictions on couriers, especially unlicensed ones. City police agree that a crackdown is warranted. Local media outlets have mobilized against messengers, too. A November 8 editorial in the Globe warned that without reform of the courier business, Boston's streets could descend into "anarchy."

But there's no obvious villain in this dispute. Stung by the recent criticism, messengers feel they've been unfairly demonized as a group. Couriers say they recognize the importance of safety; they, too, were rattled by the Spring incident. No group is more aware of the trouble caused when cyclists, cars, and pedestrians intermingle downtown -- messengers see it every day.

"I'll be the first to say that there are a lot of idiots out there riding bikes," says veteran messenger Rick Page, 28. "There are people doing stupid shit for no other reason other than trying to look tough."

The problem is, the idiots make people scared. Though messengers perform a valuable service, many people consider them an urban menace. Over the next few weeks, the battle over Boston's streets is expected to intensify. In all likelihood, it's going to pit the city's messengers against the very hands that feed them.

"You know," says Jim Majorowski, "a lot of the people who are criticizing us right now are the same people who want a package delivered in 20 minutes."

On to part 2

Jason Gay can be reached at jgay[a]phx.com.