Lower East Side
Streetsblog Basics
Patchwork Upgrades Move Ahead as East Side Waits for Complete Greenway
The East River Greenway, stepchild of Manhattan's bikeway network, currently consists of segments beneath, beside, and sometimes even above the FDR Drive. A report issued by New Yorkers for Parks yesterday acknowledged that East Siders awaiting a continuous path will have to wait decades before they can walk or bike on a full-length East River Greenway. In the meantime, an uncoordinated series of plans, studies, and development projects attempt to piece together sections of the route.
August 8, 2013
How Many Parking Spots Will Developers Build at Transit-Rich EDC Site?
Since being cleared for redevelopment in 1967, several city blocks at the base of the Williamsburg Bridge on the Lower East Side -- known as the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area, or SPURA -- have lain fallow. For decades, the largest undeveloped, city-owned land below 96th Street was used only for surface parking lots. After years of planning work, this afternoon marked the deadline for developers to submit bids for the site to the New York City Economic Development Corporation.
May 6, 2013
Community-Based Bike Advocacy in Chinatown and the Lower East Side
Local Spokes is a coalition of nine organizations that joined up to engage low-income residents, people of color, immigrants, and young people in the Lower East Side and Chinatown to envision the future of bicycling in their communities. To understand the transportation needs of the neighborhoods, Local Spokes conducted an extensive survey in 2010 and 2011 and held a series of workshops in Chinese, English, and Spanish.
January 15, 2013
Bike Lanes Mean Business
The East Village and Lower East Side have seen new bike infrastructure flourish in the past few years, and now have some of the best city bicycling infrastructure in the country, including what will soon be the nation’s longest protected bike lanes on First and Second Avenues, several on-street bike corrals, and, coming next spring, bike-share stations blanketing the neighborhood.
October 12, 2012
In Wake of Traffic Fatality Spike, Officials Tout Safer Delancey Street
This morning, elected officials and community leaders unveiled a slate of pedestrian safety improvements to Delancey Street, long ranked as one of the city's most dangerous places to walk.
September 27, 2012
Youth Ambassadors Bring Artistic Bike Signage to Lower East Side
On Saturday, youth ambassadors from the Local Spokes initiative held a party in Sara D. Roosevelt Park to mark the end of their six-week summer program and launch a new signage installation on the Lower East Side. The event included bike tours of the neighborhood and came on the heels of the nine-group coalition's action plan for better bicycling in the community.
September 19, 2012
Video: NYPD Also Ignores Left Turn Ban at Delancey and Essex
After Gothamist posted a video of motorists ignoring the new left-turn ban at Delancey and Essex, we contacted NYPD to ask about traffic enforcement at one of Manhattan's most notorious intersections. We're still waiting to hear back. In the meantime, judging from this video by ANIMAL New York, it looks like police are not only not ticketing drivers who continue to put lives at risk while making illegal turns, but are joining in on the fun. See how many Delancey Kong points are racked up over the course of an hour by cops and civilians alike.
August 23, 2012
NYPD: Not Even a Ticket for Truck Driver Who Killed LES Pedestrian
We have more details on the August 9 crash that killed a pedestrian on the Lower East Side, though many of them conflict with information previously provided by NYPD.
August 21, 2012
NYPD Says It’s Not Investigating Lower East Side Pedestrian Death
An unidentified woman was struck and killed by a truck driver on the Lower East Side earlier this month in a collision that NYPD is reportedly not investigating.
August 20, 2012