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
Brodsky Killed Congestion Pricing But We Hurt His Feelings
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State Assembly Member Richard Brodsky is displeased by the suggestion that his opposition to New York City’s congestion pricing plan had anything to do with the fact that he has accepted more money from parking industry interests than any other State Assembly Member and that his district houses the wealthiest Manhattan car commuters in New […]
Statement from Mayor Bloomberg on Congestion Pricing Failure
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Press conference at 11:30 am today. Here is the Mayor’s statement on the New York State legislature’s failure to act on New York City’s congestion pricing plan: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 17, 2007 STATEMENT FROM MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG ON CONGESTION PRICING AND PLANYC "Although we continue to talk to the Legislature and the Governor, […]
The Introduction of a New Order of Things
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In his essay, "Valuing the Commons," Charles Komanoff discusses congestion pricing and carbon taxes and the difficulty in convincing people to pay for their negative externalities. Komanoff wrote it back in June and it’s on Grist this week: What, then, is standing in the way of congestion fees and a national carbon tax? The power […]
Park(ing) Day is Coming
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Depressed about the direction Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan is heading? Cheer yourself up by starting to plan for Park(ing) Day 2007. Friday, September 21 is the day when urban dwellers the world over pop quarters into parking meters and take over on-street spaces, temporarily transforming them into miniature parks, playgrounds, cafés and community spaces. […]
State Assembly Meeting in Manhattan to Talk Congestion Pricing
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Brooklyn Assembly Member Jim Brennan (right) tells me that he sees sentiment against Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan running at about "three- or four-to-one against" among his colleagues. Brennan suspects that the plan may not even pass the Republican-controlled Senate. While Brennan supports congestion pricing himself, he is concerned that advocates have "over-sold the benefits […]
Congestion Pricing Opponents’ Press Conference
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On Sunday, July, 15, 2007 neighborhood opponents of the Mayor’s Congestion Pricing plan will hold a rally and press conference at City Hall to protest the Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal to tax cars going into the City’s central business district. The theme of the press conference, to be led by State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. of […]
How Do Bike Seizures Fit Into Bloomberg’s “Green Plan”
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On Tuesday afternoon the Parks Dept. seized dozens of bikes parked at the Forest Hills train station Lauren Philson was out running some errands near the Forest Hills train station in Queens on Tuesday when she spotted three or four men using large clippers to steal bicycles. The men weren’t your typical bike thieves. "They […]
DOT Media Blitz Forthcoming
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Laura Conaway at the Village Voice caught the filming of a bike lane-related television ad near Lafayette and E. 4th Street yesterday. We’re guessing that either MyBikeLane brought in some venture capital funding and is going big-time or the Dept. of Transportation was filming a public service advertisement. We’re leaning towards the latter because we’ve […]
BRT Moving Ahead but City Pushes Back the Timeline a Bit
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Dept. of Transportation Comissioner Janette Sadik-Khan tells NY1 Transit reporter Bobby Cuza that New York City and the MTA still plan to implement a Bus Rapid Transit program, with or without Albany’s approval of congestion pricing. In an e-mail to Streetsblog, Cuza also adds: They’re clearly going back and giving the program some more thought. […]
Dollars for Democracy on Brian Lehrer Today
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Today at 11:20am Brian Lehrer digs deeper into the story, published first here on Streetsblog, that congestion pricing opponent Richard Brodsky received more contributions from parking industry interests than any other New York State Assembly Member. You can tune in online. From the WNYC web site: What’s the connection between campaign contributions and policy making? […]
Odds and Ends
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New York and six other cities have their federal grant application presentations online here at the Transportation Research Board. Contrary to congestion pricing opponents who claim the July 16 federal deadline is a ruse. Patrick Decorla-Souza at the FHWA confirms that all of the "other applicants either already have statutory authority, or the granting of […]
Details of Proposed Bus Service Expansion
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The other day I noted that one of the most destructive pieces of misinformation floating around the New York State Assembly is this line from Assembly Member Richard Brodsky’s congestion pricing report: The City has no plan to improve mass transit prior to the implementation of congestion pricing. This is a serious if not fatal […]