The ubiquitous metal barriers used by the NYPD for crowd control are sometimes referred to by activists as “bike-rack barricades,” but it turns out that they’re also known as “French barriers,” in reference to their origin in France in the 1950s.
This article (“Portable Boundaries” by Carl Alviani in Works That Work, 2014) describes their European history and their proliferation in New York City after 9/11.
They’re manufactured in lengths from 6.5 to 8.5 feet, and retail for just over $100 plus shipping.
NYPD has tens of thousand of them, some deployed around the city and most in a warehouse for use at major events.
