The New York Police Department plans to step up enforcement of bicycle safety in parts of the city that have seen a disproportionately higher rate of collisions involving bicyclists, city officials said Thursday, according to an article in yesterday's edition of The New York Times by Michael M. Grynbaum.

The initiative is aimed at common cycling infractions like running red lights or riding on the sidewalk, comes after numerous complaints about two-wheeled scofflaws and recent protests against new bicycle lanes added to streets in Brooklyn and downtown Manhattan.

The article said that Janette Sadik-Khan, the city's transportation commission, said that the city has "installed 250 miles of lane over the last four years and thousands of new bike racks," and that "We have been friendly to cyclists. Now it's time for cyclists to be friendlier to the city."

"Ms. Sadik-Khan, a cyclist herself, has led the Bloomberg administration's efforts to siphon off city road space from automobiles in favor of pedestrians and bicyclists," the article said, "an effort that officials say creates a more balanced use of the city's streets. Critics charge that City Hall has placed a stigma on car ownership and unilaterally removed traffic lanes for the use of a small minority of residents."

The article said that Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the Police Department, said that "the city has issued 26,000 moving violations against cyclists so far this year, still a fraction of the 800,000 violations issued against motor vehicles," adding, however, that on the Upper East Side, Mr. Browne said, the most frequent complaints heard from residents had to do with bicyclists.

He said there are more incidents where pedestrians are seriously injured, "or close calls, even if it's in a bike lane," he said, adding that "It is probably increasing because bicycle use is increasing."

Running red lights is a frequent problems, Mr. Browne said, and Raymond W. Kelly, the police commissoner who joined Ms. Sadik-Khan to announce the initiative, said it can be difficult to enforce the rules: "Bicyclists move along at a very good clip. Particularly when a police officer is by himself or herself, it's difficult to do."

In an article in this week's edition of The Villager, Lincoln Anderson wrote that "more supporters of bike lanes than critics of them turned up last Friday afternoon at an East Village rally intended to decry the new, protected pathways along First and Second Aves."

"Leslie Sicklick, an unemployed teacher and lifelong Lower East Sider, and a couple of other bike-lane opponents were far outnumbered by about 15 cyclists and advocates at the demo, at the northeast corner of 14th St. and First Ave. Sicklick claimed the bike lanes have made the streets more dangerous, and that pedestrians are being injured. She said she was told this by a Ninth Precinct detective, though declined to provide his or her name. She said the bike lanes, furthermore, are a waste of money - pointing to the small, concrete traffic islands that have been added near intersections on First Ave., and even the paint marking the lane. 'Green paint is very expensive,' she said," the article continued.

"Brandishing a summary of bicycle rules and regulations, Deborah Harkins said police should enforce all cycling violations," the article said, "such as failing to use a white headlight and red taillight from dusk till dawn or riding on sidewalks, both $130 tickets, adding that "the city could rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines....But Detta Awl said cyclists are being singled out. 'Pedestrians cross on the red light when they see an opening. They jaywalk,' she said. 'Motorists go through the tail end of red lights. If there's going to be enforcement, it should be across the board.'"