Editor's Note

Before this story went to press, Boston bike activist Peter Cheung took to Reddit to dismiss Mass Daily News as “MAGA trash.” We’ll let readers decide what to call us — but when an activist attacks this newsroom, we think it’s only fair to take a closer look at who’s really steering the conversation in Boston.

BOSTON — Behind every new lane divider is Peter Cheung, cheering in the shadows.

He’s not on the city payroll, but you’d be forgiven for thinking otherwise. Boston’s most notorious cyclist has spent years turning his obsession into a citywide crusade — pushing politicians, especially Mayor Michelle Wu, to cover Boston’s streets in endless green paint while neighborhoods buckle under crime, chaos, and open-air drug use.

Cheung, who sits on the board of the Boston Cyclists Union and founded the macabre “Ghost Bikes” memorial project, has become the loudest megaphone for a movement that would rather measure bike lanes than murder rates. For him, every inch of asphalt is a battleground, every car driver a villain, and every pothole a personal insult.

Wu’s Lycra Loyalist

Cheung isn’t officially on Wu’s staff, but he might as well be. He’s been spotted pedaling alongside her on photo-op rides, snapping pictures of her at “Bike to Work Day,” and cheerleading her push for more lanes.

Wu doesn’t need a transportation department — she’s got Peter Cheung. Whenever the Mayor rolls out another plan to choke traffic, shrink parking, or cut into first responder access, there’s Cheung, clapping in neon spandex.

Pedals Over People

Boston’s problems are everywhere — families dealing with break-ins, addicts camped on sidewalks, migrants crammed into shelters, and a revolving door of criminals walking free.

But Cheung isn’t showing up to deal with crime or public safety. He’s at City Hall begging for another plastic post and a stripe of paint.

Boston could be burning to the ground and Cheung would still be whining about bike racks.

The Cult of the Cycle

Cheung likes to present himself as a community organizer. In reality, he’s more like the cult leader of Boston’s bike-lane brigade. He organizes “Boston Bike Party” rides, leads “Ride for Black Lives,” and floods social media whenever a cyclist is hit.

It’s less about community and more about theatrics. Ghost bikes chained to poles, social media stunts, endless hashtags — it’s street politics in its purest form. And Wu eats it up.

Cars, Cops, and Common Sense Be Damned

Cheung represents the most extreme wing of Boston’s activist class — the kind that sees cars as evil, drivers as enemies, and anyone questioning the bike agenda as a backwards Neanderthal.

Boston has real problems: an addiction crisis in the South End, a revolving door criminal justice system, and a housing crunch so bad families are leaving the city. But you won’t hear Peter Cheung talk about that. He’s too busy calculating how to turn every two-lane road into one.

Wu’s Unpaid Lobbyist

Cheung has no official title, no city paycheck, and no accountability. Yet his fingerprints are all over Boston’s streets. He’s the unpaid lobbyist, the activist-in-chief, the man whispering (or shouting) for more paint while the rest of the city drowns in dysfunction.

Boston drivers may not know his name, but they live with the consequences. Fewer lanes. Tighter streets. Slower commutes. And a Mayor who’d rather pose on a bike than deal with the chaos at Mass & Cass.

The Bottom Line

Peter Cheung isn’t just a cyclist. He’s the city’s most notorious bike crusader, the Lycra-clad zealot who is cheering Wu into a full-blown war on cars.

The question is simple: how did Boston let a man with handlebars for blinders dictate the future of its streets while drivers stay stuck in traffic?