Charles Komanoff
Recent Posts
Have the Days of Scapegoating the MTA Come to an End?
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MTA Love. Two words that have never before been paired have been practically joined at the hip during the recovery from Superstorm Sandy. To wit: The “enthusiastic round of applause” accorded Metropolitan Transportation Authority chief Joe Lhota at last week’s Association for a Better New York breakfast by real estate magnates and other civic power […]
Remembering Danny Lieberman, a Gentle Force for Better New York Cycling
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Before Streetsblog, there was “ebikes.” Since the early 1990s, this listserv has been a digital village square for New York-area bicycle riders — the place where cyclists share info on routes, gear, events and politics — and an incubator for change as well. Danny Lieberman, the listserv’s beloved founder, moderator and guiding spirit, and a […]
Teenagers’ Cars Are the Gifts That Keep on Wreaking Havoc
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The multiple-teenager-fatality car crash remains a sad staple of journalism. And no wonder. The instant loss of several lives is so dreadful and the death of a young person so poignant that the combination is shattering. When a car-full of teens crash and die, the article can almost be assembled by rote: the devastated families, […]
Tonight’s Ride and Forum Are About Livable Streets for All
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New York City bicyclists will celebrate bike activism’s past, present and future this evening in a ride from Greenwich Village to Central Park South and back to the Village, culminating in a community forum at Cooper Union. These linked happenings come the day after the New York Times managed to twist its big story on […]
Bicycle Uprising: Celebration Ride and Community Forum This Friday
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Cyclists of all stripes and generations will converge on lower Manhattan this Friday evening, September 28, for a two-part event celebrating the street actions that thwarted a ban on cycling and threw bike activism into high gear 25 years ago, and charting a course for livable streets progress today and tomorrow. Part I is a mass bike […]
The Bicycle Uprising, Part 5
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This is the concluding installment of a five-part series looking back at the victory over the Midtown bike ban, 25 years ago. Read parts one, two, three and four for an overview of the bike ban, the advocacy of the 1970s and 80s, and my recounting of the activism that followed the uprising against the ban. Activists are […]
The Bicycle Uprising, Part 4
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This is the fourth installment in a multi-part series looking back at the victory over the Midtown bike ban, 25 years ago. Read parts one, two, and three for an overview of the bike ban, the advocacy of the 1970s and 80s, and the aftermath of the ban. Activists are planning a September 28 bike ride and forum […]
The Bicycle Uprising, Part 3
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This is the third installment in a multi-part series looking back at the victory over the Midtown bike ban, 25 years ago. Read parts one and two for an overview of the bike ban and the advocacy of the 1970s and 80s. Activists are planning a September 28 bike ride and forum to commemorate and celebrate the […]
The Bicycle Uprising, Part 2
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This is the second installment in a multi-part series looking back at the victory over the Midtown bike ban, 25 years ago. The first part provided an overview of the response to the ban. This post looks at that activism in the context of the previous two decades of bike advocacy. Activists are planning a September […]
The Bicycle Uprising: Remembering the Midtown Bike Ban 25 Years Later
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Editor’s note: This post, the first in a five-part series by Streetsblog contributor Charles Komanoff, recounts the activism that saved and rejuvenated bicycling in New York City 25 years ago. Future posts in this weekly series will place the “bike ban uprising” in the historical context of cycling advocacy. Activists are planning a September 28 […]
Liu’s and Pucher’s Bike-Share Math Is Wrong, and Not By a Little
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Hey, remedial math teachers: the City Comptroller’s office is hiring. At least, let’s hope so. Judging from Comptroller John Liu’s innumerate broadside against the City’s Bike Share program, they badly need help in basic arithmetic, not to mention fact-checking. Let’s begin with Liu’s own words, insinuating that bike-share might cause one or more children to […]
A Compulsory Helmet Law Won’t Make NYC Cyclists Safer
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The great thing about arguments favoring compulsory bike helmet laws is that they tend to stay on topic instead of degenerating into fruitless bickering over cyclists’ interactions with pedestrians, bike riders’ claim to the streets, and other tired subjects. The bad things about such arguments are many. Here are three: They ignore the possibility that […]