Committee News

What's T.A.'s Brooklyn Committee up to?
Brooklyn T.A. volunteers continue the fight for a car-free Prospect Park, currently gathering postcards and writing letters pushing for an expansion of the summer hours from 6 months to year-round. But that's not all. Members have been very active fighting the DOT's planned widening of Columbia and Van Brunt Streets in Red Hook. The widening would make these streets more dangerous and narrow the planned Brooklyn waterfront greenway trail. The committee has met with candidates for the various City Council races and educated them on pedestrian and cycling issues including car-free Prospect Park and Downtown Brooklyn Traffic Calming. Volunteers manned booths and signed up new members at street fairs like Seventh Heaven and You Gotta Have Park. Volunteers are also fighting for better bike parking in Brooklyn.
Come and get involved with your community. The Brooklyn Committee meets the third Monday of every month at 6:30 pm at Eco Books, 192 5th Ave. (between Union and Sackett Streets, closest trains are N/R/M). The meeting is open to everyone.

Gowanus Committee
Attention west Brooklyn residents. A highway tunnel and greenspace, or a new elevated monstrosity? You decide. Contact Gowanus@transalt.org.

Help make the NYC Century a success!
The NYC Century Bike Tour, T.A.'s largest fundraiser, is taking place on Sunday Sept. 9, 2001. There are four routes, 35, 55, 75, and 100 miles, that start and finish in Central Park and travel through Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and The Bronx. This is a fantastic urban bike tour designed to show off New York's beautiful parks, bike paths, and waterfront views. Each year, T.A. puts together special NYC Century teams that help with the ride and make it the successful event that it is. There are several different ways to get involved:

Central Park Start and Finish crews: Help set up the start of the ride. We need early risers who can be in Central Park as early as 3 am! Help register riders, and pass out t-shirts and waterbottles. The Finish Line Crew (shifts between 10 am - 8 pm) needs help distributing T.A. literature, signing up new members, and welcoming returning riders.
Rest stop crews: There are five locations to choose from: Prospect Park, Canarsie Piers, Alley Pond Park (Queens), Astoria Park, and Pelham Bay Park (The Bronx). Help set up the rest stop, greet, feed, and water riders. Pick your favorite park and sign up to help.
Ride Marshals: T.A. needs confident riders to help guide participants along the route. Marshals also help with minor bike repairs and minor first aid where needed. All marshals must do a NYC Century pre-ride.
Route Painting: A well-marked route equals happy cyclists! Join one of the route painting teams in The Bronx, Brooklyn, or Queens and enjoy the adventure as you mark the route the weekends of Aug. 18th, 25th, and Sept. 1.
To volunteer to help on one of these teams go to www.NYCcentury.org and click on volunteers or contact the T.A. office at 212-629-8080 or events2@transalt.org.

Car-Free Central Park Committee
Pictured is the Central Park Traffic Calming ride presented by Time's Up!, one of the many community groups that support a car-free Central Park. To learn more about T.A.'s Car-Free Central Park Committee visit www.Car-FreeCentralPark.org.

Bronx Committee
The Bronx Committee is busy this summer planning the annual Tour de Bronx (Oct. 21), and helping plan the route for the NYC Century Bike Tour. The next project is marking the Bronx section of the NYC Century route happening August 18th and 25th. To join the fun of painting the Century route meet at 10 am at the Metro-north Botanical Garden Parking Lot, or send an e-mail to Bronx@transalt.org.