Articles and Actions
Events and Appeals
|
|||
| In Honor of a Fallen Cyclist, Take Action for a Better Bike Plan | |||
One year ago, 28-year-old Elizabeth Padilla was hit by a truck and killed while riding to her new job at the Brooklyn Bar Association. To honor Elizabeth, dozens of cyclists biked from the Park Slope crash site last Friday to the New York City Department of Transportation, where flowers, a letter from Elizabeth's family (PDF) and written pleas for safe streets were delivered to DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall.
Elizabeth was one of 21 cyclists who died on NYC streets last year. T.A., in concert with other city bicycle groups took action to address these untimely deaths and to prevent future tragedies by drafting and advocating for the New York City Bike Safety Action Plan. To the credit of the City government, many portions of the plan are being implemented, including a comprehensive Department of Health-led study of all NYC bicyclist fatalities from the past decade and a multi-agency safety awareness campaign directed at both motorists and cyclists. What the City has not yet agreed to do, however, is a much-needed update of the City's antiquated, inadequate and too often ignored "Bicycle Master Plan." The existing plan, adopted almost ten years ago, is only about 20% complete. Moreover, it has no timetable for completion, benchmarks for increasing cycling, or modern bike lane and path design standards--all hallmarks of exemplary plans recently put forth by cities like London and Chicago.
Read London's Cycling Design Standards Read Chicago's Bike Lane Design Guide (PDF) |
|||
| Uncivil Servants II: This Time It's Citywide | |||
The NYPD seldom tickets and tows the personal cars of police and other government workers, even when they are parked on sidewalks, in bike lanes and in front of fire hydrants. For years, residents, business owners and advocates have decried this selective parking enforcement for its obvious endangerment of pedestrians, cyclists and public safety, and for its bald inducement for City workers to drive rather than take transit. And for years, the City has done nothing.
In April, T.A. shamed the City into action with the release of "Uncivil Servants: A Survey of Illegal Government Parking in Chinatown and City Center" (PDF). Encouraged by this success, fed-up residents from throughout the five boroughs called our office to ask for our help to reclaim their streets from uncivil parkers. Answering the call, Transportation Alternatives will soon begin research for "Uncivil Servants II: A citywide survey of illegal government parking." Dozens of volunteer researchers will walk streets in several neighborhoods to determine the frequency and severity of illegal parking. The aim is to document the extent of the problem and convince the City to universally enforce parking regulations and end the perverse parking privileges that cause City workers to drive to work at more than twice the rate of the rest of New York City's workforce.
|
|||
| Rescuing Stranded Eskimos at Grand Army Plaza | |||
The Grand Army Plaza Coalition (GAPCo), together with Transportation Alternatives and the Prospect Park Alliance, commissioned the renowned Danish urban designer Jan Gehl, of Gehl Architects, to proffer a pedestrian oriented re-visioning of Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza.
On June 2nd, at the Picnic House in Prospect Park, Mr. Gehl presented a menu of possible strategies (PDF) to improve pedestrian accessibility to the central plaza, particularly the arch and newly renovated Bailey Fountain. "I'm quite horrified to see how this space has been treated," said Gehl during his presentation. "People have to jump like Eskimos from one ice floe to the other." Following the presentation, members of the GAPCo were joined by Congressman Major Owens, representatives from Borough President Marty Markowitz's office and Deputy Brooklyn DOT Commissioner Dalila Hall to celebrate the possibilities that lie ahead for Grand Army Plaza. In the coming weeks, GAPCo, in consultation with local stakeholders, will forge ahead with a more detailed plan to reshape Grand Army Plaza into what Jan Gehl envisions as, "one of the handful of public spaces in the world that everybody knows by name." To get involved with the effort to make Grand Army Plaza more pedestrian friendly, e-mail streets@transalt.org. See the short video of the press conference at which Jan Gehl, Brooklyn elected officials and civic and community organizations announced their partnership. Also see some of the recent media coverage of this initiative: |
|||
| Stop the Sidewalk Nibblers! | |||
|
"Erosion of cities by automobiles entails so familiar a series of events that they hardly need describing. The erosion proceeds as a kind of nibbling..."
As part of the beautiful new proposal by the MTA for reconstruction of the IRT subway station house at 96th Street and Broadway (making it ADA compliant), the NYCDOT has signed off on a plan to drastically narrow the sidewalks on Broadway between 94th and 96th Street. To do this, the MTA must widen the center median, and the DOT insists that removing the sidewalk space at the edges is the only viable way to keep vehicles moving. While the wider median is welcome and the station house improvements are greatly needed, the erosion of the sidewalks spells big trouble for the increasing number pedestrians walking along Broadway, and for the multitudes who will pile up at the corners--including many more disabled pedestrians--waiting to cross Broadway to access the new station. The narrowing plan will most certainly result in pedestrians walking in the street, as they do in Times Square and other areas of the city where motor vehicles get more space than walkers despite the fact that walkers are in the clear majority. T.A., local residents and businesses are building support to save the sidewalk. The public outrage over the proposed narrowed sidewalk was captured by the NYC Streets Renaissance campaign in this short video that was featured on Curbed. See T.A.'s recommendations for sidewalk-saving alternatives (PDF)
|
|||
| Car-Free Summer Campaign Refocuses on 2007 | |||
The Mayor's lighter alternative to car-free summers, a fractional closure plan that started on June 5th, is proving popular with park-goers and laying a foundation for car-free summers in 2007.
T.A. is sad to report that Intro. 276, the "car-free parks" bill, has been withdrawn without a vote. While the measure had broad support in the Council, with 14 co-sponsors and a total of 21 committed "yes" votes, some powerful councilmembers asked for another summer of compromise and analysis before supporting the legislation. Intro. 276 sought to ban vehicular traffic this summer on the loop drives of Central and Prospect Parks, and would have required the DOT to study the ban to assess its viability for future summers. The plan was supported by several leading civic, health and transportation groups, and three former NYCDOT commissioners. The consensus view among supporters of the bill is that much of its momentum died after the Mayor announced his "fractional closure" plan of non-rush hour portions of the loop road. The Mayor's plan, while falling far short of what park users wanted, is a step in the right direction that offers real benefits to millions of New Yorkers while laying a foundation for a car-free summer in 2007. In the coming months, T.A. and car-free parks proponents will be strengthening the case for summer 2007 closures with air quality tests during car-free and non-car-free hours, as well as traffic counts to measure the impact of the Mayor's trial closing. If you have detailed questions on the parks legislation push or want to help out this summer with air-quality analysis, user-surveys, vehicle counts or other parks volunteer opportunities, email Graham at communications@transalt.org. |
|||
| Take Action for More and Better Greenways | |||
Cyclists of all ages and abilities love car-free cycling in New York City. The city's 120 miles of car-free greenway paths are well-used, and everyday these paths encourage more New Yorkers to make biking their regular mode of transportation.
On May 31st Transportation Alternatives, the Hunter College Center for Community Planning and Development, the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, the Pratt Center for Community Development and the Regional Plan Association hosted the first-ever New York City Greenway Summit (PDF) at Hunter College. The summit brought together over sixty advocates, representing 42 community and advocacy organizations, government agencies, elected officials and planners from across all five boroughs to discuss a wide array of greenway planning, development and operations issues. At the summit, greenway advocates from around the city learned from each others' experiences, encouraged each other with positive examples and demonstrated the broad-based support for car-free cycling and walking in New York City. Representatives from Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (PDF), Bronx River Alliance (PDF), Hudson River Park Trust (PDF) and Sustainable South Bronx (PDF) presented on current projects in various stages of greenway development. Following the presentations, attendees met in breakout sessions to discuss issues in depth and, over lunch, NYC Parks Department First Deputy Commissioner Liam Kavanagh gave a keynote address and took questions about the City's plans to expand the greenway network. Two common frustrations expressed by summit participants were the lack of coordination between city agencies responsible for aspects of greenway development and implementation and the lack of communication between these agencies and the public.
|
|||
| Take the NYC Department of City Planning's "Bicycle User Survey 2006" | |||
|
City Planning is surveying New Yorkers to "obtain feedback from a wide spectrum of bike riders in the city with the aim of addressing their concerns. The survey will provide us [the City of New York] with detailed information and valuable input as we plan current and future projects."
You can find more information about City Planning bicycle projects online, including a new library of City Planning studies and reports on improving cycling in New York City. During Bike Month 2005, the NYC Department of City Planning hosted the first ever "State of Cycling in New York City" public forum to solicit public input on riding a bike in New York City. The report on the forum is available on City Planning's website. |
|||
| Bike Month 2006 and Tour de Brooklyn Kick Off a Summer of Cycling | |||
The 2nd Annual Tour de Brooklyn capped off Bike Month 2006 with typical Brooklyn style. Nearly 1,500 beginning and advanced riders, young and old, biked the 18-mile route through the "Borough of Neighborhoods." This year's tour showcased the future route of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, historic brownstone Bedford Stuyvesant and the sprawling open spaces of the Red Hook Recreational Area.
We'd like to thank everyone who helped make Brooklyn's premier free cycling event a huge success including the Brooklyn Borough President's office, Brooklyn Tourism, Slope Sports, Deno's Wonder Wheel and the Wonder Wheels Cycling Team, Habana Outpost, Independence Community Foundation, the Emergency Medical Rescue Team of NYC, Brooklyn Department of Health, Bike TV and hundreds of T.A. volunteers. Want to relive the magic or check out what you missed? Check out this 4-minute short film about the Tour de Brooklyn or tune in to BikeTV, in Brooklyn on BCAT channel 34 or Time Warner channel 67, July 7th, August 4th and September 1st at 10:30 pm or in Manhattan on June 21st at 10 pm MNN channel 57. We would also like to announce that the winner of the Tour de Brooklyn photo contest is Jonathan Barkey. Mr. Barkey will receive a gift certificate for a free (and delicious) cake from Baked in Red Hook for his beautiful images from the tour. Thanks to all who sent us photos and look for yours as part of the 2007 Tour de Brooklyn web site. Tour de Brooklyn T-shirts are still available for purchase at tourdebrooklyn.org. The Tour de Brooklyn is only part of what made Bike Month 2006 so exciting for 120,000 daily NYC cyclists and thousands more occasional riders. This year, Bike Month brought riders together at commuter breakfasts with their borough presidents, NYC's first Greenway Summit, Bike to Shea Day, blockbuster events like the 5 Boro Bike Tour and the Bicycle Film Festival and over a hundred smaller rides, races and workshops. T.A. thanks the hundreds of event organizers and the City DOT for helping put more bike wheels on NYC pavement than ever before! |
|||
| Save the Date: T.A. Summer Benefit | |||
|
Transportation Alternatives and the Sam Schwartz Company Present Monday July 24 Honoring the first recipient of the Gurin Award
for Championing Transportation Alternatives: Ticket information will be available in the next T.A. E-Bulletin |
|||
| Attend the World Premiere of Contested Streets | |||
The World Premiere of the T.A. co-produced documentary film Contested Streets: Breaking NYC Gridlock is on June 27th at the IFC Center. A limited number of tickets are still available. If you are interested in attending, please email info@transalt.org. |
|||
| Jane Jacobs: A Public Celebration | |||
Wednesday, June 28 at 5 pm
Washington Square Park In front of the Arch, site of her first victory over Robert Moses Speakers will represent different aspects of her life and work. Co-sponsored by the Center for the Living City, the Greenwich Village Historical Society and the NYC Department of Parks. Rain or shine. |
|||
| Membership (and Renewing!) Has Its Privileges | |||
Transportation Alternatives is proud to announce the winner of our spring bicycle raffle for new and renewing members. A record number of you responded to our call for membership support. Your contributions will help us kick our advocacy campaigns into high gear this season and work on issues like those discussed in each edition of our E-Bulletin. Congratulations to S. Schoenwetter and R. Doherty, who have won a brand new Genius Mobiky Folding Bike, generously donated by BFold. |
|||
| T.A. in the News | |||
|
Cyclists Mourn, Then Ride Brooklyn Downtown Star 6/15 Study: NYC Trucked Up, But What To Do? Brooklyn Downtown Star 6/15 Playing the Circle Game in Grand Army Plaza New York Times 6/11 City OKs Bike Signs Year After a Tragedy New York Daily News 6/9 Letter to the Editor: 'The Central Park Car Test' New York Sun 6/9 MTA To Create Five New Express Bus Lanes Around The City NY1 6/9 Report: Police Escorts Could Speed Up City Buses am New York 6/9 Peds and Cars Seek To End "Arch" Rivalry Brooklyn Downtown Star 6/8 Grand Army Plaza Madness Brooklyn Paper 6/8 City Parks Traffic Restrictions -- It's Definitely On gothamist 6/7 Council Pulls Back on Car Ban in City Parks am New York 6/7 The Central Park Car Test New York Sun 6/7 Coalition Formed To Make Grand Army Plaza More Pedestrian Friendly NY1 6/5 Picture of the Day: Hundreds Ride the Tour de Brooklyn gothamist 6/4 Grand Pedestrian Problems at Grand Army Plaza gothamist 6/3 Grand Army Plaza: Park or Thruway? Brooklyn Paper 6/2 Contested Streets: Breaking NYC Gridlock PPOL News 6/2 Most Dangerous For Bikers: Potholes or Vehicles? gothamist 5/31 DOT Considers Plan to Open Parkways to Trucks WNYC 5/26 Transportation Alternatives' 2nd Annual Tour de Brooklyn PPOL News 5/26 Stop! In the Name of Kids New York Daily News 5/25 Is Riding a Bike the Most Revolutionary Thing You Can Do? Guerilla News 5/21 Faster Than a Speeding Subway! New York Daily News 5/20 Bike Path Restored a Year After Fatality The Brooklyn Paper 5/20 Taxi vs. Bike: Bike Wins (Again!) gothamist 5/19 Challenging the auto-dependant lifestyle OpEd News 5/19 Battle for the Fastest Commute! Cyclist Out-Commutes Straphanger and Taxi Rider PPOL News 5/19 Commuting Fun: Bike Wins Brooklyn to LES Race Curbed 5/19 Rage Is Afoot in New York, or Should Be New York Times 5/19 Transportation Alternatives is a member-supported non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Join T.A. today!
|
