"establishing a pecking order, with pedestrians on top, followed by cyclists, followed by motor vehicles"

This makes me laugh - I think the motor vehicles think they are on top, then the pedestrians and us cyclists are on the bottom. I've had pedestrians walk so as to prevent me from cycling down my bike lane and then yell at me telling me it was fault that I had to go around them. Baffling. The BS that you have to put up with as a cyclist (I'm speaking as a commuter here) in NYC is ridiculous. I do believe that there is a very specific order to the traffic here, and one can tell when someone not from here is trying to drive (a car/suv/etc) in the city. On the whole, cabs are pretty good though they break more laws than I think all the cyclists combined and then some.

Yeah, I break traffic laws, I do it so I don't end up getting hurt or run over by someone driving a car and not paying attention, or someone trying to prove that they are bigger and badder than I am on my little teal bike.