Clarence Eckerson

The 96th Street Sidewalk Nibblers

Enjoy the new Clarence Eckerson film, "The Sidewalk Nibblers."

By Aaron Naparstek

10:17 AM EDT on June 8, 2006

Enjoy the new Clarence Eckerson film, “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.” –Jane Jacobs

The New York City Department of Transportation and MTA recently announced plans for a big, new subway station with elevators in the middle of Broadway at 96th Street.

While the new station is a great improvement, the plan subtracts 9 feet of sidewalk space on both sides of Broadway. Not an inch of space, however, is taken away from motorists.

The plans were drawn up and have, essentially, been finalized before the community had even had a chance to look at them or discuss them. The DOT and MTA continue to refuse to make the details of their plans public.

“It seems like every time there’s a conflict between cars and pedestrians, the pedestrians lose.” — Ken Coughlin

Aaron Naparstek

Aaron Naparstek is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparstek's journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. He was also one of the original cast members of the "War on Cars" podcast. You can find more of his work on his website.

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