Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Quality of Life

Dead Ball

By Alec | | 4 Comments
Whatever you think of the idea of a highrise cluster in Downtown Brooklyn, you have to worry that the sponsors of the Atlantic Yards project suggest that creating jobs and housing justifies the kind of planning that discourages street life. Among the lowlights of the marathon August 23 "public hearing" on the draft Environmental Impact […]

The Suburbanization of NYC’s Waterfront

By Ethan Kent | | 12 Comments
Recently, a bunch of us took a bike excursion along the East River waterfront from Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn to the new Water Taxi Beach in Hunters Point, Queens. Traffic was light most of the way and street life relatively heavy. Though currently dominated by old industrial buildings, the thriving neighborhoods adjacent to the waterfront seem […]

Where in the City is this?

By Glenn McAnanama | | 13 Comments
Every so often I find little gems of street planning that I would love to see replicated elsewhere in the city. For instance, the other night I walked past this side street with bump outs at the crosswalk that give pedestrians more space and prevent automobiles from cutting corners too sharply. Can any name where […]

Streetfilms: Car-Free Sunday on the Grand Concourse

By Aaron Naparstek | | No Comments
Car-Free Sunday on the Grand ConcourseA Clarence Eckerson, Jr. StreetfilmRunning time: 3:58 – 12.35 MB, QuickTime Back in the early 1990s, three-and-a-half miles of the Grand Concourse, a major roadway in the Bronx, was closed to cars every Sunday from July thru November. The car-free time provided residents with much-needed open space to bike, walk, play, […]

Travel Tips for the Plutocracy

By Aaron Naparstek | | 1 Comment
Jeff Marshall avoids onerous airport security by commuting in his own Soviet fighter jet. While Thomas Frank argues on today’s New York Times’ op/ed page that America’s current "orgy of plunder and predation" is a mirror image of 19th century political corruption, the business section offers a fantastic package of travel tips for the frequent fliers that 1896 […]

Brooklyn’s Fort Greene Fights for Livable Streets

By Aaron Naparstek | | 3 Comments
DOT’s failure to provide a traffic signal or even a simple crosswalk at intersections along DeKalb Avenue disconnects the neighborhood from its bus stops and its park. Brooklyn’s Fort Greene Association is running an exemplary grassroots campaign on local pedestrian safety issues. The neighborhood group has generated more than 500 letters to DOT requesting specific improvements in crosswalk layouts […]
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