Jason Varone
Jason Varone battles the streets everyday during a 9 mile commute on his bicycle from downtown Brooklyn to the Upper East Side. In addition to his efforts on Streetsblog, he is an artist making work related to the environment and technology. Examples of his work can be found at www.varonearts.org.
Recent Posts
Eyes on the Street: Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn
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A tipster spotted this Parks Department garbage truck doing its morning rounds on the sidewalk at Plaza Street and Vanderbilt Avenue, near the Grand Army Plaza subway stop in Brooklyn today. "As far as I can tell," he writes, "the sole reason for it is so the workers don’t have to move the trash cans […]
Bike Club Files First Lawsuit Challenging NYPD “Parade Rules”
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Announced on the Five Borough Bicycle Club’s website: On March 27, the 5 Borough Bicycle Club and several other affected parties filed a lawsuit in Federal court, asking a judge to stop the NYPD’s new rules that would let the NYPD ticket or arrest any "recognizable group" of 50 or more cyclists that ride together […]
Important Meeting for Livable Streets Advocates
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Brooklyn Community Board 6‘s transportation committee will hear presentations and community input on the following items: Presentation and discussion of a proposal by the Department of Transportation for improvements designed to enhance pedestrian mobility, access and comfort at the Grand Army Plaza. Presentation by the Department of Transportation of a plan to install two-way Class […]
Mayor Says Toronto Will be North America’s Greenest City
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Toronto Mayor David Miller vowed last week to make Toronto "the leading environmental city in North America." The Toronto Star reports: Mayor David Miller is pledging to slash the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2020 and a whopping 80 per cent by 2050. Miller and city council will unveil a plan […]
Will “Crazy Technology” Thwart Climate Change?
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Between automobile advertisements, ABC news reports on some far-out ideas to mitigate global climate change: Crazy-sounding ideas for saving the planet are getting a serious look from top scientists, a sign of their fears about global warming and the desire for an insurance policy in case things get worse. How crazy? There’s the man-made "volcano" […]
Sydney Organizes World’s First Climate Change Blackout
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Reported on Yahoo news: Australia’s largest city will be plunged into darkness for an hour on Saturday in an attempt at a world first blackout to raise awareness of global warming, organisers say. A successful switch-off could then be copied by major cities around the world in a drive to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions […]
A Livable Streets Discussion and Happy Hour
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Meet and mingle with other readers, activists, and supporters of a livable approach to transportation, development, and public spaces. Get to know the others who share your values about the kind of city we want to live in. Put faces behind the screen names online. And have a drink! A Livable Streets Discussion and Happy […]
Streetfilms: George Washington Parked Here
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Red Hook Lane: A Parking Lot to HistoryA StreetFilm by Sean CliffordRunning time: 1 minute 22 seconds StreetFilms’ Sean Clifford discovers that one of New York City government employees’ favorite illegal parking spots in Downtown Brooklyn happens to be the last vestige of a historic road that played a significant role in the Revolutionary War. […]
Paris Embraces Plan to Become City of Bikes
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The Velo’v public bicycle system in Lyon, France. By the end of 2007 the city of Paris will have 1,450 bike stations offering 20,000 bicycles. The Washington Post reports: On July 15, the day after Bastille Day, Parisians will wake up to discover thousands of low-cost rental bikes at hundreds of high-tech bicycle stations scattered […]
Google Staff Get On Their Bikes
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The Guardian reports: Google is improving its green credentials by offering all of its employees a free bike to ride to work. The bikes, manufactured by Raleigh Europe, will be offered to around 2,000 permanent employees of the search engine giant in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. All of the bikes – plus free […]
NYC School Construction and Maintenance Going Green
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CBS News reports: The New York City Department of Education and the School Construction Authority on Tuesday announced the publication of the NYC Green Schools Guide and Rating System, which will be used to guide the sustainable design, construction, and operation of new schools, modernization projects, and school renovations. Prescriptive Energy Efficiency Measures required by […]
Ethanol’s Growing List of Enemies
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Businessweek reports on an unlikely group of allies united againt the ethanol craze: The ethanol movement is sprouting a vocal crop of critics. While politicians including President George W. Bush and farmers across the Midwest hope that the U.S. can win its energy independence by turning corn into fuel, Hitch and an unlikely assortment of […]