Updated: Local Unicyclist's $3 Million Dollar Suit Fails

CHS graduate and well-known unicyclist Kyle Petersen's $3 million dollar suit against New York City fell flat yesterday.  Petersen was suing the city for false arrest after he was summoned for riding his unicycle on sidewalks -- though the city's laws don't mention one-wheeled vehicles. 

Petersen appeared on a recent segment of The Colbert Report , which aired on April 14, to defend his mode of transportation vehemently and to explain. 

Petersen, a zealous unicyclist, ran afoul of New York City laws. Thoughcharges against him were dropped in February, according to PRWeb, Petersen remains alert to further troubles and has taken matters into his own hands.

The issue, as he explained on The Colbert Report, is this: Petersen and fellow unicyclists -- and, yes, the movement is growing, he said -- ride on sidewalks at times. Riding bicycles, which are defined as two or three-wheeled vehicles, on sidewalks is illegal in New York City. Though Petersen has just one wheel, he has been cited for riding a bicycle.  As Petersen told The Colbert Report, he plans to take legal action against the City of New York. 

Petersen, known as The Brooklyn Juggler, has worked as the juggling and unicycling peanut vendor for the Brooklyn Cyclones, a minor league baseball team in Coney Island. In addition to performing, Petersen has worked as a circus arts instructor with The Big Apple Circus and The National Circus Project, according to his website.

It’s a long way from the halls of Columbia High School, where Petersen recalls unicycling.

“I wasn’t always on a unicycle then,” he recalls. “But I took a photography class where we had to leave the room to take photos. I rode my unicycle around the front entrance. There are pictures of it somewhere.”

Petersen recalls that the security guards at the high school laughed.

Says Petersen, "I wouldn't want to live in an America without unicycles."