Charles Komanoff
Recent Posts
“Kheel Plan II” to Revive Free Transit Proposal for ’09 Races
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“In for a penny, in for a pound” is how the Brits express what we Americans less elegantly call “the whole hog”: why do something halfway when you might as well go all the way? That’s the thinking behind Ted Kheel’s free-transit proposal. If an $8 congestion fee, as unsuccessfully proposed recently by Mayor […]
Bridge and Tunnel Traffic Drop Tied to Toll Increase
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The Times reported Saturday that vehicle traffic on Port Authority bridges and tunnels declined by 2.9% in March, in the wake of toll increases that took effect on March 2. In typical bizarre fashion, the Times’ lede asks, “Who needs congestion pricing when plain old toll increases seem to do the job?” Why not this […]
Queens Pricing Opponent Is Right: $8 Is Crazy
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Drivers who take an East River bridge would have to pay the $8 congestion fee when they reach Manhattan, even if they’re just passing through on their way to somewhere else. "That’s crazy," said City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-Queens), who voted against it Monday. "That’s one of the reasons I’m so adamant against the plan. […]
Ghost Bikes Memorial Ride Marks Another Year of Loss
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Grief, solidarity and resolve brought out two hundred New York cyclists yesterday for the third annual Ghost Bikes Memorial Ride, to commemorate cyclists killed by motor vehicle drivers last year. At the Canal Street & Bowery triangle by the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge bike path, Steve Hindy raised his empty arms in a pantomime […]
Greenway Killer is Sentenced 3½ to 10½ Years
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Portraits of cyclists killed on the streets of New York, Eric Ng, Keith Powell, Andre Anderson, and Carl Nacht by artist Christopher Cardinale. Yesterday was the sentencing for Eugenio Cidron, the driver who killed bicyclist Eric Ng on the Hudson River Greenway thirteen months ago and pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in November. Leaving the […]
January 3rd: The Wrongdoer is Brought to Justice
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"The wrongdoer is brought to justice because his act has disturbed and gravely endangered the community as a whole, and not because damage has been done to individuals who are entitled to reparation. It is the body politic itself that stands in need of being repaired, and it is the general public order that has […]
The One Carbon Tax That Couldn’t
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Assembly Member Richard Brodsky, archenemy of Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan, is urging the mayor to seek a carbon tax instead. So he said, following Monday’s meeting of the Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission, as reported by Streetsblog and confirmed by at least one other observer. I wish Brodsky (pictured) had checked with me first. After […]
Delucchi Study Finds That U.S. Motorists Do Not Pay Their Way
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A dozen or so years ago, back when congestion pricing was a distant dream and New York City’s number one transportation priority was to squeeze more transit funding from government, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign commissioned me to determine which was greater: the dollars that New York State governments took in from drivers, or the […]
The Weekly Carnage
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Chad Rachman / S.I. Advance Police view Honda in which Michelle Arout, 17, died in Veterans Road drag race. Fatal Crashes (15 Killed This Week; 369 Killed This Year) Staten Island: Passenger Dead After 90 mph Teen Crash (Daily News) Related: Police Finger Speed-Gas Canister as Pals Mourn (NY Times) Related: Teen’s Death Too Much […]
The Weekly Carnage
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Matt Rainey / Star-Ledger Fatal Crashes (9 Killed This Week; 354 Killed This Year) Lindenhurst, LI: Woman Dies Day After Hit Crossing Highway (Newsday) Old Brookville, LI: Hicksville Man Killed in Motorcycle Crash (Newsday) Totowa, NJ: Police Kill Ex-Cop Who Struck 2 With Car (Newsday) NJ: ‘Girls’ Night Out’ Ends in Fatal Parkway Crash (NJ.com) […]
The Weekly Carnage
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Fatal Crashes (12 Killed This Week; 345 Killed This Year) Brooklyn: Car Kills Yemeni Immigrant Boy in Canarsie (NY Post) Brooklyn: Suspended-License Driver Kills Brighton Beach Ped (Daily News) Suffolk Co. (L.I.): Motorcyclist Hits Guardrail, Dies (Newsday) Nassau Co. (L.I.): Police Searching for Driver Who Killed Physician (Newsday) Related: Staff Stunned by Death of "Physician’s […]
The Weekly Carnage
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Samantha Foster / The Journal News Fatal Crashes (17 Killed This Week; 333 Killed This Year) Manhattan: Minivan Driver Kills Off-Duty Cop (NY Post) Related: Drunken Driver Ends Life of NYPD Dad-to-Be (Daily News) Related: Bail Boost in Cop-Death DWI Case (Daily News) Tappan Zee Bridge: Fiery Truck Death Crash Shuts Bridge (NY Post) Related: […]