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
Rally for Pedestrian Safety
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166 pedestrians were killed by cars and trucks on New York City streets in 2006. Already this year, too many have lost their lives (pdf) on New York City streets. Just one week ago, James Rice, 4, was killed by a turning SUV while crossing Baltic Street in Boerum Hill. What makes this young boy’s death […]
Streetfilms: Intersection Intervention
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Intersection InterventionA Clarence Eckerson StreetfilmRunning time: 3 minutes 56 seconds As people living in the neighborhoods around Downtown Brooklyn are learning the hard way, New York City government’s installation of pedestrian safety and traffic calming measures is remarkably slow and expensive. Even as children are dying while crossing the street in potentially preventable crashes, and […]
Sources Say…
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DOT Commissioner Kate Ascher: "It’s not happening. It’s not possible. That information is incorrect." DOT Commissioner Joan McDonald: "It’s a very complicated agency, a huge bureaucracy with lots of moving parts and serious work to be done. If they took someone who has been here before, already had knowledge of the agency and who has […]
Help us Find Livable Streets Blogs in Cities Outside NYC
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We are interested in creating a new feature — a collection of links to Streetsblog-ish web sites in other cities around the world. Ideally, this collection of links will represent the best, most comprehensive, most readable group of Livable Streets bloggers anywhere. We could really use the help of the Streetsblog online community to build […]
Illegal Permit Parking Crackdown Underway?
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Word has it that the city is finally cracking down on uncivil servants’ illegal parking privileges. Was this the final outrage that finally spurred the Bloomberg Administration to take action? A Manhattan tipster reports that a jersey barrier has suddenly appeared in front of the Brooklyn Bridge on-ramp where scores of Police Plaza employees […]
34th Street Partnership Explains the Icey Snow in the Bike Lane
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On Tuesday we posted an "Eyes on the Street" item looking at the sorry, snowed-in condition of the bike lane running through Herald Square. Seth Taylor at the 34th Street Partnership sends along the photo above and explains: The 34th Street Partnership apologizes for the inconvenience caused to cyclists by the closure of the Herald […]
Why Wasn’t Traffic-Calming Built on Third Avenue?
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DOT has gotten back to me with some answers. As Streetsblog reported Monday, New York City’s Department of Transportation failed to follow through on a 2004 pledge to build potentially life-saving pedestrian safety improvements along the Third Avenue corridor where a 4-year-old boy was run over and killed last Tuesday. Streetsblog asked DOT why […]
Eyes on the Street: Snow Days
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When there isn’t snow on the ground where does all the black stuff go? Photo courtesty of Gowanus Lounge.
Kate Ascher: New York City’s Next DOT Commissioner?
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Sources say that Mayor Michael Bloomberg will name the replacement for outgoing Department of Transportation commissioner Iris Weinshall later this week. Word has it the job may be going to Kate Ascher. Ascher currently works as executive vice president of the city’s Economic Development Corporation. She received her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in government from the […]
Will “Atlantic Yards” Kill the JFK-Lower Manhattan Rail Link?
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The Atlantic Yards plan superimposed on the released JFK-to-Lower Manhattan rail link study (PDF docs). Click here for a much bigger map. Jonathan Cohn at BrooklynViews is reporting that the current plan for Forest City Enterprises’ Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn appears to preclude the possibility of someday building one of the Pataki Administration’s favorite […]
DOT Pledged Ped Safety Fixes by 2006 on Deadly Third Ave
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New York City’s Department of Transportation failed to follow through on a 2004 pledge to build potentially life-saving pedestrian safety improvements along the Third Avenue corridor where a 4-year-old boy was run over and killed last Tuesday. DOT’s announcement of $4 million in funding for the installation of "median extensions, neckdowns and other traffic-calming" measures […]
DOT Commissioner Update
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Sources say that Janette Sadik-Khan (left) is a top candidate to replace Iris Weinshall when she resigns on April 13. Sadik-Khan met with Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff this week to talk about the job. A senior vice president at Parsons Brinckerhoff and former Director of the Mayor’s Office of Transportation for New York City during […]