NYCHA Chairman: Parking Minimums “Working Against Us”
Leaders in New York City's public housing community are interested in transforming city-owned superblocks into mixed-use, mixed-income communities that engage with the pedestrian realm. There are of course many obstacles to this kind of ambitious project, but only one was identified specifically in a Municipal Art Society panel on the topic last Friday: the city's own parking requirements.
October 17, 2011
Today’s Headlines
Journal News: “It Is As If Robert Moses Was Being Channeled” Without Transit on Tappan Zee East River Ferry Service Popular, But High Subsidies Stand in Way of Expansion (NYT) Bay Ridge Merchants Happy to See Meter Prices Rise If It Makes Parking Easier (Bklyn Paper) Kimmelman: Occupy Wall Street Shows Power of Public Space (NYT) … Continued
October 17, 2011
Chris Ward: NYC Truck Traffic “an Economic and Environmental Crisis”
Speaking at the Municipal Art Society's annual summit this afternoon, outgoing Port Authority chief Chris Ward said he wouldn't be sending any parting shots at the New York region's leaders, but he didn't hold back from proposing some big and bold ideas. With only a few weeks left at the Port Authority, Ward issued a call for the construction of a cross-harbor freight tunnel and a rail freight distribution system for the city, as well as the abandonment of container shipping at the Red Hook terminal in Brooklyn.
October 13, 2011
MAS Survey: Bike/Ped Projects Popular; Many Neighborhoods Lag in Livability
The Municipal Art Society's second annual survey on livability, released today, provides still more opinion data showing that New Yorkers want to see more bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. They're more conflicted, however, when it comes to new, large-scale development.
October 13, 2011
Bike Lane Made Columbus Avenue Safer, and UWS Residents Noticed
The Columbus Avenue bike lane is both safe and popular, according to two assessments released at a meeting of Community Board 7 last night. Representatives from the Department of Transportation presented data showing that the street redesign reduced the number of crashes on the street by 34 percent, while 73 percent of Upper West Siders surveyed by City Council Member Gale Brewer said they think the bike lane and pedestrian refuge islands improved the street.
October 12, 2011
CB 2 Committee Voices Support for Bike-Sharing as System Details Emerge
Committing to a "very intensive participatory planning process," top DOT officials provided a wealth of detail about the city's plans for bike-sharing at a meeting of Manhattan Community Board 2's transportation committee last night. Members of the board and local residents in attendance voiced strong support for the initiative.
October 12, 2011
CrashStat Upgrade Provides Interactive, Up-To-Date Street Safety Data
Transportation Alternatives launched an updated version of its CrashStat website today, providing a wealth of new data about street safety in New York City and where pedestrians and cyclists are most at risk. The upgrade adds four years of geo-coded data about traffic injuries and fatalities, a smoother interface, and a wealth of interactive features.
October 12, 2011
Will Cuomo Scrap Transit on the Tappan Zee and Just Widen the Highway?
For nine years, the state of New York has been studying how to replace the aging Tappan Zee Bridge. The bridge, which is more than 50 years old, requires ever more expensive repairs to stay structurally sound and was never intended to carry the volume of traffic that pours over it every day. Since 2002, an extensive public process has led to the development of four alternative plans for the Tappan Zee and the I-287 corridor. Each of them would rebuild the bridge, widen the roadway and include both a new Metro-North commuter rail line and bus rapid transit service across the bridge.
October 11, 2011