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
City Still Sending Mixed Signals on Bike Parking
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A tipster sent us these photos of the City’s new indoor bicycle parking facility at 280 Broadway. A couple of months ago cyclists who work for the City suddenly found themselves and their bikes turned away from their office buildings, leaving few options aside from locking up to street signs and unprotected outdoor racks. This […]
In London They Summons Their Own
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Remember, after the launch of the Uncivil Servants web site last spring, the retired NYPD officer who wrote, "Ungrateful Liberal Scum… we do not summons our own!" We were reminded of that infamous and highly entertaining NYPD rant after Sean Roche of Newton Streets and Sidewalks forwarded along this news story from London where city […]
Car-Free Hours in Prospect Park? Fuhgeddaboutit!
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Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz The Daily News reported yesterday that, along with the recent extension of car-free hours in Central Park, Dept. of Transportation officials proposed closing Prospect Park’s Manhattan-bound East Drive to cars during evening rush hour this month but the plan was squashed by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz: Sources said city […]
The Cars That Ate New York
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Adam J. Schwartz, who has a really interesting looking exhibit up at the Brooklyn History Society called Up From Flames, sends along this rather intense photo of a bike crash in Bushwick. As one commenter noted after seeing the photo, "Looks like a faulty bicycle." Another commenter replied, "Looks to me like a faulty traffic […]
What if Terrorists Killed as Many as Die in U.S. Car Crashes?
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In an op/ed for the Los Angeles Times, Gregg Easterbrook suggests that if 245,000 Americans had died in terrorist attacks since September 11th, the country would be "utterly gripped by a sense of national emergency." Well, 245,000 Americans have died since 9/11, all of them on our nation’s roadways: While the tragedy of 3,000 lives […]
Dying to Get to Work
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As New York State sets up a commission to study the costs and benefits of New York City’s congestion pricing proposal, a new study by the Clean Air Task Force finds that, for many New Yorkers, the greatest exposure to dangerous and unhealthy air pollution comes during the daily commute. "Although we spend only about […]
Effective Traffic Calming Device: The Frisbee
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From Sean Roche at the Newton Streets and Sidewalks blog: Want to slow traffic? Throw a frisbee across the street. That’s what six-year-old son of NS&S and I learned on Sunday. Please note that we did not throw the frisbee in front of traffic. We stopped throwing as soon as any car approached. But, our […]
Americans Vote for Fuel Efficiency. Why Do They Buy Guzzlers?
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With new fuel economy standards under consideration in Congress, James Surowiecki ponders why Americans continue to buy gas guzzlers when polls show that the majority would like to see the government mandate big increases in fuel efficiency. What does all of this have to do with professional hockey players wearing helmets? This was in last […]
Safety First? True Once, but U.S. Now Lags in Road Deaths
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Fatalities per billion kilometers driven from 1970 to 2005 for selected countries Every once in a while you can find something other than a car for sale in the New York Times’ Sunday Automobiles section. This weekend, Tanya Mohn points out that in 1970 the United States ranked first in road safety worldwide. Today, the […]
Campaign For New York’s Future: Event to Thanks Legislators for Action on Congestion Pricing and to Urge Action on Remaining Issues
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Leading representatives from the New York Central Labor Council, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Environmental Defense, Nos Quedamos and Transportation Alternatives will join with other leaders from the Campaign for New York’s Future to thank New York’s elected leaders for moving New York’s congestion pricing plan forward while also urging quick action on key remaining steps […]
The World’s First Sustainable Parking Structure
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James Howard Kunstler‘s Eyesore of the Month of July is the nation’s first LEED-certified, "sustainable solar-powered parking structure." Yep. Only in California. Kunstler writes: Apparently nobody informed these idiots that happy motoring is not a sustainable activity, and neither is the parking that necessarily attends it. This is apart from the sheer appalling monumental ugliness […]
Transportation Alternatives: Public Viewing for Traffic Safety Mural
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This summer, Transportation Alternatives is collaborating with Groundswell to create a mural as the centerpiece of a community traffic calming project along 3rd Avenue in Boerum Hill, Park Slope and Gowanus. This project was inspired by the tragic death of James Rice and many other children that have been injured and killed by cars. As […]