Brad Aaron
Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York's dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.
Recent Posts
Wrist Slap for DWI Killer After Brooklyn DAs Decline to Charge Homicide
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A convicted drunk driver was sentenced this week to probation, a nominal fine, and a six-month license suspension for killing a Brooklyn pedestrian. Shortly after midnight on July 5, 2013, 27-year-old Roxana Gomez was walking at Flatbush Avenue and St. Marks Avenue when Eric Nesmith hit her with a BMW sedan, according to witness accounts and the Post. […]
Upper Manhattan Poised to Get Its First Protected Bike Lane
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DOT will install Upper Manhattan’s first protected bike lane this summer, pending an endorsement from Community Board 12. The parking-protected lane would run north-south on Fort George Hill, which is one-way southbound for drivers, between Fairview Avenue and Dyckman Street/Nagle Avenue. Its installation would be part of a slate of new bike facilities and refurbishments […]
Brewer: I Won’t Remove Community Board Members Who Impede Safe Streets
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Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer says she does not intend to remove community board members who stand in the way of transit improvements and projects that would make streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists. She expects new appointments to sway older members and make the case for street redesigns. Brewer hosted a small group of […]
Full House at First Bronx Vision Zero Town Hall
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Over a hundred people turned out for a Vision Zero town hall in the Bronx on Tuesday, Bronx News 12 reports. The event was hosted by freshman City Council Member Ritchie Torres at the Bronx Library Center on East Kingsbridge Road. Council Member Vanessa Gibson, DOT Borough Commissioner Constance Moran, and representatives from NYPD were also […]
Eyes on the Street: Illegal Parking Crackdown Coming to Jay Street
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Reader Eric McClure spotted these flyers today on cars “up and down Jay Street between Johnson and Willoughby,” in the 84th Precinct. This comes a few weeks after attendees at a public workshop identified illegal parking as a major safety hazard and a major source of dysfunction on Jay Street, where pedestrians, cyclists, buses, and private […]
Bronx DWI Pedestrian Killer Gets 90 Days and Six-Month License Suspension
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A judge sentenced a convicted drunk driver to just 90 days in jail and a six-month license suspension for killing a pedestrian in the Bronx. Thomas Riley, 23, was crossing East Fordham Road near Bathgate Avenue at around 4:20 a.m. on March 20, 2011, when 48-year-old Seth Johnson struck and killed him with a minivan, according […]
Albany Delays Speed Cam Expansion — Time to Draft a Better Bill
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Governor Cuomo and the leaders of the Assembly and State Senate all purportedly favor expanding NYC’s speed camera program, yet they failed to authorize the use of more cameras during budget negotiations. As it stands a speed cam bill won’t be acted on until later in April at the earliest, as both houses are adjourned […]
NYPD and the Press Parrot Driver’s Account of Crash That Killed Lisa Julian
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Yesterday’s fatal East Village crash is another example of how NYPD and the press blame deceased pedestrians and cyclists based mostly on the word of the drivers who killed them. “Woman, 47, crossing against light in NoHo struck by car, killed on Thursday,” read the Daily News headline. But the only evidence presented that Lisa […]
NYPD Tickets for Failure to Yield Up 108 Percent Compared to 2013
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For the second month in a row, NYPD issued more summonses for failure to yield to pedestrians than officers wrote a year ago. In February, 2,818 failure to yield citations were issued citywide, compared to 1,107 in February 2013. That’s a 154 percent increase. Failure to yield summonses jumped 60 percent in January compared to […]
NYPD: 914 Pedestrians and Cyclists Injured, Nine Killed in Traffic in February
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Twelve people died in New York City traffic in February, and 3,077 were injured, according to the latest NYPD crash data report [PDF]. As of the end of February, 22 pedestrians and cyclists were reported killed by city motorists this year, and 2,105 injured, compared to 33 deaths and 2,408 injuries for the same period […]
Parks Department: City Hopes to Complete High Bridge Rehab This Year
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Last year Mayor Bloomberg announced that the long-awaited restoration of the car-free High Bridge would be completed “by 2014.” Work began soon after, and the Parks Department tells Streetsblog the rehab is slated to wrap before the year is over. “While we estimate that the construction will be completed in December of this year, we […]
No Vision Zero Specifics in Proposed NYPD Budget
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Police Commissioner Bill Bratton says NYPD is committed to Vision Zero, but the initiative to eliminate traffic deaths is not mentioned in the department’s proposed budget, and it’s not clear how the resources Bratton plans to dedicate to its implementation will be adequate to significantly reduce motorist violence. “Safer streets must also mean safer roadways for pedestrians, bicyclists, […]