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
You Are Invited to Streetsblog’s Birthday Party
| | 3 Comments
This Friday we’ll be celebrating Streetsblog’s first full year of operation and the remarkable progress that New York City’s Livable Streets movement has made in pushing transportation policy and urban environmental issues to the very top of the civic agenda. This web site would be a far less interesting and informative place without all of […]
Man “Tasered” and Arrested for Leaving Airport by Bike
| | 4 Comments
If you think handing out traffic tickets to Central Park cyclists or random seizures of locked bicycles qualifies as outrageous police behavior, check out what happened to Stephan Orsak when he tried to leave the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport on his Brompton folding bicycle. He says that he was pulled over by a police […]
DOT: Bergtraum to CUNY, Primeggia to Copenhagen
| | 5 Comments
Department of Transportation First Deputy Commissioner Judith Bergtraum, a top aide to former commissioner Iris Weinshall, is leaving DOT for a job at the City University of New York where Weinshall is now a vice chancellor. As first reported by the Daily News’ Elizabeth Benjamin, DOT commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan just returned from a quick trip […]
Parks Dept: Central Park Cyclists Must Stop at Traffic Signals
| | 58 Comments
In Central Park the police will, supposedly, be handing out traffic tickets to cyclists who ride through red lights, even during car-free hours. Last year around this time, the police were running a bicyclist dragnet on Central Park’s East Drive at about 98th Street (which strikes us as kind of incredible given the lack of […]
The King of Albany Gridlock Breaks His Silence
| | 3 Comments
As reported by WNYC: NEW YORK, NY June 11, 2007 – As the mayor continues to push for a congestion pricing scheme for midtown Manhattan, the focus of the debate has shifted to — you guessed it — Albany. REPORTER: Assembly members had many questions for the mayor on Friday, and Speaker Sheldon Silver said […]
Jon Orcutt Appointed as DOT Senior Policy Advisor
| | 8 Comments
File under: Totally unimaginable just a few months ago. Following the appointment of Bruce Schaller as Deputy Commissioner for Planning and Sustainability, Jon Orcutt is DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan’s second high profile hire since taking over the agency. Stay tuned for one or two more big appointments. Kate Slevin will be taking over as Tri-State […]
Albany Advocacy Day
| | No Comments
Anyone want to go to Albany tomorrow?… Dear Campaign for New York’s Future subscriber and PlaNYC supporter, Tomorrow! Tuesday, June 12 Albany Advocacy Day, Albany, NY Buses will leave the city (31 West 15th St.) at 6:30 am and return at approximately 6pm. Join the Campaign for New York’s Future as we take our message […]
Thank Goodness for Dear, Glorious Leader Sheldon Silver
| | 2 Comments
Almost exactly one year ago, Harvard economist Edward Glaeser wrote a great little essay for the New York Sun’s op/ed page that asked the question, Does New York Suffer From A Soviet Traffic System?: The Soviet approach to markets set prices at some controlled price, and then let shortages ensue. Under this system, millions wasted […]
Another Big Hire at DOT
| | 5 Comments
Jon Orcutt will be stepping away from his job as executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign to go work at the New York City Department of Transportation as Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan’s Senior Policy Advisor.
Cyclists Be Warned: New City Bike Racks May Not be Secure
| | 24 Comments
From: stephanie — redbike606[at]yahoo[dot]comSent: Thursday, June 07, 2007 11:54 PMTo: tips@streetsblog.orgSubject: atlantic ave bike racks Hi Streetsblog, You may have noticed that there are new bike racks all up on Atlantic Avenue [in Brooklyn]. They’ve been installed all along Atlantic, from Clinton to 4th avenue, on both sides of the street. Initially, I […]
Submit a Congestion Pricing Question to Dr. Horodniceanu
| | 1 Comment
The New York Times Empire Zone is hosting an interactive Q&A this afternoon with Dr. Michael Horodniceanu, a name that Streetsblog readers will recognize from our post-Iris Weinshall DOT commissioner search process rumor-mongering. Help the Times collect some good, smart questions. Here is what they’re doing: We have arranged for Michael Horodniceanu, one of the […]
Eyes on the Street: A Historic Sidewalk Widening in Williamsburg
| | 2 Comments
A Streestblog tipster snapped this photo of workers in Williamsburg, Brooklyn preparing the southeast corner of Bedford Avenue and N. 7th Street for a historic sidewalk widening. So, what’s the big deal? This project represents the first time ever in New York City that on-street car parking spaces have been eliminated to make way for […]