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
The Storm of ’07 and the Commute of 8/8
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Over on Flickr, Gothamist is gathering some incredible shots of the aftermath of last night’s storm and the chaos of this morning’s commute. We’d love it if you would share your morning commute story here on Streetsblog. And check out these photos, thanks to Gothamist’s remarkable network of contributors… Prospect Park South, Brooklyn. Flickr photographer […]
Open Thread: How Was Your Commute This Morning?
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How did you get to work, or try to get to work, this morning — subway, bus, bike, walking, telecommute? Let’s hear some commuting stories. Here’s mine: After breakfast at Streetsblog Headquarters I walked in to my office and got to work. OK, that was obnoxious. Apologies to the subway commuters. I live on Union […]
When a Car Does the Killing, It’s Always an “Accident.”
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Mary-Powel Thomas is President of the Community Education Council for School District 15 in Brooklyn. Back in June Thomas organized a pedestrian safety forum for schools, community groups and others who live and work along Brooklyn’s dangerous Third and Fourth Avenue corridors where numerous pedestrians, kids and elderly people in particular, have been injured and […]
Hello, Dolly!
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A knowledgeable tipster submitted this gem to UncivilServants, the web-based watchdog for government parking abuse in New York City. The yellow Porsche Carrera, above, was spotted parked in front of a fire hydrant on the east side of Seventh Avenue, in Park Slope, Brooklyn, between Sterling Place and St. John’s Place at about 7:30 pm […]
City Building Opens New Indoor Bike Parking Facility
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The city bureaucracy got it a little bit backwards, cracking down on bike commuting employees before actually offering them a new place to park their wheels. But this e-mail sent this morning to Dept. of Health employees working at 280 Broadway seems like a step in the right direction. From: Dept. of Health AnnouncementsSent: Tuesday, […]
Congestion Pricing Questions the Mayor Will Need to Answer
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New York State Assembly Member Deborah Glick represents Chelsea, Greenwich Village, Tribeca and a good piece of Chinatown and Lower Manhattan. Encompassing the Holland Tunnel, Canal Street and a section of the Westside Highway, her district suffers from some of the worst traffic congestion in all of New York City. Transit-rich and offering some of […]
New Blog Focuses on Tearing Down the “Highway to Nowhere”
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Sheridan Swap is a new blog covering the Mother of All Livable Streets projects — the long-running campaign to convert one mile of little-used highway running along the Bronx River into affordable housing, parkland, greenway and economic opportunity for one of the city’s most beleaguered neighborhoods. The blog is run by the Southern Bronx River […]
20 City Council Members Support or Lean Towards Pricing
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If all goes according to plan, the decision to approve Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing proposal will be made by New York City’s 51 Council members some time before March 28, 2008. Gotham Gazette called every single New York City Council member to ask where they stood on congestion pricing and here is what reporter Courtney […]
Parks Dept. Confirms New Employee Parking Policy
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Parks Dept. spokesperson Abigail Lootens confirms this morning’s story: It is our goal to reduce the number of vehicles throughout Central Park. Not only are we asking all employees to reapply for parking permits but today was the first day of the additional increase in car-free hours in Central Park.
Central Park No Longer a Parking Lot for City Employees
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According to a Streetsblog tipster, the Parks Dept. is finally cracking down on the numerous employees who have turned sections of Central Park into a parking lot. Below is a broadcast e-mail from Parks Dept. Assistant Commissioner and Senior Counselor Jack Linn to Parks Dept. employees. I have a call in to the Parks Dept. […]
Grist: NYC is Not One of the World’s Greenest Cities
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Grist recently produced a list of the world’s 15 greenest cities. Streetsblog favorites Copenhagen, Curitiba, London, and Bogotá all made the grade. StreetFilms’ posterchild Portland captured the number two spot right behind geothermal-powered Reykjavik, Iceland. San Francisco and Austin were the only other U.S. cities to make the list with Chicago meriting runner-up status. One […]
Manhattan Bridge Bikeway to Reopen on Monday
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Streetsblog tipster Geoff Zink reports "this morning there were two friendly DOT guys on the Brooklyn side of the Manny B handing out flyers regarding the reopening of the north side bike lanes. Gotta love the new DOT!" Here’s the message from DOT: Important NoticeNew York City Department of Transportation Division of Bridges Rehabilitation […]