Aaron Naparstek
AARON NAPARSTEK is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparsteks 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. Naparstek is the author of "Honku: The Zen Antidote for Road Rage" (Villard, 2003), a book of humorous haiku poetry inspired by the endless motorist sociopathy observed from his apartment window. Prior to launching Streetsblog, Naparstek worked as an interactive media producer, pioneering some of the Web's first music web sites, online communities, live webcasts and social networking services. Naparstek is currently in Cambridge with his wife and two young sons where he is enjoying a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. He has a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Naparstek is a co-founder of the Park Slope Neighbors community group and the Grand Army Plaza Coalition. You can find more of his work here: http://www.naparstek.com.
Recent Posts
Anti-Congestion Pricing Group Suggests Alternatives
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While waiting for Walter McCaffrey to send over an official version (he sent it — download it here), we managed to get a hold of a bootleg copy of the executive summary of the Committee to Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free’s new report. Willie Neuman has a write-up of the report in the Times today […]
Caption Contest: MTA Public Outreach Strategy
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The MTA invites members of the public to a hearing on proposed fare changes. Who is going to come up with the best caption for this photo?
Bronx Traffic Relief Forum Tonight, 7:30pm, Riverdale Temple
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Bronx Assembly member Jeffrey Dinowitz is hosting a forum tonight on Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan. Speaking in favor of congestion pricing will be Kathryn Wylde, President and CEO of the Partnership for New York City. Speaking in opposition to congestion pricing will be Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, Chairman of the Assembly Committee on Corporations, Authorities […]
Walk Don’t Destroy Brooklyn 3
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Park Slope Neighbors will be taking part in this Sunday’s Walk Don’t Destroy 3, a walkathon fundraiser to benefit Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn’s legal fund. If you have yet to enroll — or even if you already have — Park Slope Neighbors hopes you’ll consider joining their team team for this critical fundraising event. Sign up or learn […]
Kunstler: Parking Plans Are Based on “Faulty Assumptions”
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If you’re the type of person who has been following the Yankee Stadium parking garage story, or the Hudson Yards zoning story or the story about the city block in Prospect Heights that’s being leveled and turned into a gigantic surface parking lot, you may enjoy James Howard Kunstler’s column this week. The author of […]
Is Transportation Reform Possible When the Cops Don’t Care?
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A reliable Streetsblog tipster sends along this photo of a police cruiser parked in the Department of Transportation’s new Ninth Avenue bike facility. The police officer seen getting into the car was returning from a nearby deli with what appeared to be lunch for him and his partner. Again, as we pointed out yesterday, the […]
Truck Drivers Confusing New Cycle Track for Unloading Zone
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With construction of the new Ninth Avenue separated bike path in Chelsea still underway it is way too early to draw any conclusions about the project. The new medians and planting beds haven’t been built, the markings aren’t done and DOT still needs to install new traffic signals. Once the Muni-Meters are turned on, every […]
MTA Says it Needs More Money for Congestion Pricing
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The deal that produced the 17-member Congestion Mitigation Commission mandated the MTA to "submit comments on the Mayor’s [congestion pricing] plan" by October 1, 2007. In these comments, the MTA was instructed to provide the Commission with three items: (a) a description of the additional capital needs required for implementation; (b) proposed utilization of any […]
1,200 Pack Town Hall for “How New Yorkers Ride Bikes”
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Streetfilms’ Clarence Eckerson was at Town Hall on Saturday night for the New Yorker Festival’s "How New Yorkers Ride Bikes," hosted by former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne. Clarence wasn’t allowed to film the event so he published a nice write-up on StreetFilms. Some excerpts: Mr. Byrne, dressed in black and sporting his cool taxi-yellow […]
Congestion Pricing Should be Attached to Parking Reform
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The daily scene on SoHo’s Crosby Street, jammed with illegally parked government employees. The Observer reported on Wednesday that Walter McCaffrey’s Committee to Keep New York City Congestion Tax Free recently solicited UCLA parking policy guru Donald Shoup to do a study of curbside parking policy in New York. Carolyn Konheim, a Brooklyn-based transportation consultant […]
GAPCo Wins Design Trust Fellowship
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Sculpture on the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, Grand Army Plaza On the heels of Tuesday’s press conference, here is another exciting development at Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza. Robert Witherwax, an organizer of the Grand Army Plaza Coalition, sends along the following news: As you may know, GAPCo applied for a fellowship from the Design […]
A Ride Down NYC’s “Street of the Future”
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For years, Livable Streets advocates have pleaded with New York City’s Department of Transportation to just try new things. Do street design experiments using temporary materials. Give new ideas a shot. If an experiment doesn’t work, take it down, redesign it, improve it or, heck, just restore it to how it used to be. What […]