T.A. StreetBeat
T.A. StreetBeat October 27, 2011    
Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Paul Steely White stands at 1 Police Plaza with the mother and father of Brooklyn resident Mathieu Lefevre. Last week, Mathieu was riding his bike when he was run over and killed by a truck driver at the intersection of Meserole Street and Morgan Avenue. Yesterday, T.A. and Neighbors Allied for Good Growth joined Mathieu's family and friends to demand the NYPD enforce the law to protect bicyclists and pedestrians. Despite failing to drive with due care and leaving the scene of the crime, the NYPD will not charge the truck driver who killed Mathieu with a crime.
Image courtesy Dmitry Gudkov

The new MTA chief may be @JoeLhota, but @NYGovCuomo is still the boss of #NYCtransit. T.A. is following them, so you don't have to. Instead connect with T.A. on Facebook and Twitter.


Articles and Actions

Events and Alerts


T.A. in the News

  • To continue to bring down the numbers, in its report Transportation Alternatives called for stricter enforcement of traffic laws by the New York City Police Department, saying that the department should pursue harsher punishments, deploy more traffic cops and more rigorously enforce the 30 mph speed limit.

    "There is a law on the books which increases the penalty for careless drivers who strike a pedestrian, but the police aren't using it," said Lindsey Ganson, safety campaign director for Transportation Alternatives. "So we would like to see more summonses issued under this law."

    -- "Midtown is NY's Most Dangerous for Pedestrians" Crains New York Business, 10/17.


URGENT! ACTION ALERT!

Yesterday, Transportation Alternatives stood with the family and friends of bicyclist Mathieu Lefevre in front of 1 Police Plaza with a message for NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly: Killing cyclists and pedestrians is a crime. T.A. is calling on the the NYPD to start enforcing traffic laws and stop tolerating dangerous driving. Tell Commissioner Kelly that dangerous driving is no accident. T.A. needs your help to be heard by the NYPD: Take Action!



 
East Side Redesign vs. Reality

Appearances aside, the future of Manhattan's East Side isn't sketchy. Architect James Stokoe, a Close the Gap Design Comptetition winner, predicts a serene new place to stroll and sit.
Image courtesy d3
Chickens and eggs don't mean much for city folk. So when T.A. had a set of successes this week, we found ourselves asking a more urban version of the conundrum: Which came first, the rendering or the reality?

As T.A.'s Close the Gap Design Competition sought innovative ideas to redesign a nascent 22-block stretch of the East River Greenway bordering the United Nations, a long-term T.A. advocacy campaign found success, delivering a new reality for those same 22 blocks. We won, and not just in rendering. In asphalted reality, the gap on the East River Greenway will be filled.

Because thousands of New Yorkers asked, Mayor Bloomberg agreed to sign the East River Greenway Proposal, sanctioning a land swap between the City and the United Nations, which in time will provide funds to complete the missing length of waterfront access between East 38th Street and East 60th Street.

It was more than nine years ago that T.A. began the campaign to close the mile-long gap on the East River Greenway. When the land swap is complete, we will be one step closer to accessible public space surrounding Manhattan.

While there's no guarantee what the final design will look like, T.A.'s Close the Gap Design Competition chose two renderings we'd like to present as our preferred picture for the future of Manhattan's East Side: Architect James Stokoe's user-friendly rendering builds a park above the FDR Drive, while pla.net architects imagine a riverfront where the aquatic is accessible.

The Close the Gap Design Competition was a collaboration between Transportation Alternatives and the experts in art, architecture, design and space at d3, coordinated by Architect Sandy McKee with T.A.'s East Side Committee. Design contests like this help everyone -- from Mayor Bloomberg to the New Yorkers who will enjoy the path -- envision the goal we're working toward. From the city to the federal level, a lot of elected hands helped patch this hole. But what sealed the deal was the vocal involvement of East Side residents, community boards and neighborhood organizations. As Oprah might put it: Way to make your dreams into reality, East Side.
 
How Murray (and His Co-op) Changed Their Street

The intersection of Delancey and Essex Street is one of New York's most dangerous. Every year, 13,000+ cyclists and pedestrians are killed and injured in New York City traffic. What intersection are you going to try to fix?
Image courtesy nydiscovery
Last year, T.A. member Murray Lantner had a newborn baby, a co-op building full of children and seniors, and a problem on his street corner. At Avenue I and East 16th Street in Brooklyn, there was no traffic signal, no stop sign, no crosswalk and no shortage of cars that sped through the turn without looking twice.

Murray rallied his co-op's Environmental and Safety Committee and together they contacted their community board and the Department of Transportation. But their request was rejected. "No," they were told. "Relative to the level of traffic, the conditions here do not warrant improvement." That's when Murray contacted T.A.

At T.A., we have an open-source answer for problems like the corner of Avenue I and East 16th Street: The Neighborhood Traffic Monitoring Toolkit. It's a how-to guide for creating scientifically-sound data on the lawlessness of local streets. The Toolkit enabled Murray and his co-op to prove irrefutably -- to the local police precinct, the community board and the DOT -- that their street was in need of fixing.

With the hard data, gathered by the co-op's Environmental and Safety Committee, and the tried and true T.A. campaign techniques detailed therein, the Neighborhood Traffic Monitoring Toolkit helped Murray turn a "no" into a "yes." Now, on the corner of Avenue I and East 16th Street, bright white stop lines indicate where to, and a shiny new stop sign makes the point.

Last week, T.A.'s relaunch of CrashStat landed in every major New York City news outlet and more than 9,000 internet browsers. This week, we followed up with a brand new report: Walking in Traffic Violence: The Pervasiveness of Motor Vehicle Crashes with Pedestrians in New York City.

The maps therein -- charting New York City's most dangerous streets in every neighborhood -- create a where-to for wannabe traffic monitors. Want to be like Murray? Choose a place you know should be safer, download the Neighborhood Traffic Monitoring Toolkit and get to work.
 
Emilia's Community Board Can-Do

This meeting of Brooklyn Community Board 6 helped defend a protected bicycle lane on Prospect Park West.
What can your community board do?
Image courtesy Andrew Hinderaker
When it comes down to it, meetings are meetings. Meetings aren't pizza. Meetings aren't massages. Meetings aren't parties. But at some meetings -- the community board meetings that occur every month, in every New York neighborhood -- you can challenge judgments and change your neighborhood. Community board meetings are still meetings, but T.A. thinks they are the most important meetings in New York.

T.A. member Emilia Crotty joined Community Board 2 in Queens in 2008, now she's a full board member and part of their transportation committee. She decided to dive into civic responsibility four years ago, when she made a presentation to her community board about Bike Month and the Tour de Queens. "When I identified myself as a bicyclist, the breadth of questions and misconceptions that came flooding towards me was eye-opening," Emilia explains, "I realized that there was a real gap on the board that needed to be filled."

Every year, T.A. hosts an event to make the community board application process as easy as possible. The Community Board Join-Up Jamboree is November 9th. There, elected officials explain the system, and New Yorkers like Emilia Crotty get their applications signed, notorized and ready to change New York.

Community boards can be seen on changing streets across New York. And it isn't only in controversies like the Prospect Park West bicycle lane where community boards play an essential role. Emilia, for one, has seen direct results from her participation: changes large and small. "There are definitely some bike lanes in the district that would not have been painted if we hadn't been in the room to suggest them," Emilia told the Streetbeat. "And just last week, we received support from the transportation committee to host a bike forum that will bring together local bicyclists and the DOT to identify useful bike routes in Western Queens."

Stories like Emilia's are why T.A. spends so much time in community board meetings. In fact, on any given week, T.A. staff is in attendance at a community board meeting in every borough -- at minimum. We present information, provide the facts around an issue, and as Emilia puts it, "one of the most important, though not super measurable, parts of participating in the community board, I think, is just giving bicyclists a face and a voice in the community."

The system New York City has for local democracy is unique, and it provides New Yorkers with a choice: You can live in your neighborhood, or you can participate in it. Clichés aside, when you're on your community board, what happens to your neighborhood is really, truly up to you.
 

Image courtesy Hugger Industries
Some T.A. members enjoy a fast bike ride, followed by a mud mask and a long bath. Others like all three all at once. T.A.'s messier set are in luck with our newest member discount: Staten Island Cyclocross. Staten Island CX is New York City's only cyclocross race and a great way to get dirty on the weekend. All the bicycle-carrying, mud-slinging fun arrives on November 12th. Registration required to ride, but observation is free. T.A. members get $5 off adult registration. Not a T.A. member but dying to get your dirty, grass-stained race on? Become a T.A. member today.



  
A Free Party for T.A. Members

Did we mention it's free?
Every year, T.A. throws a holiday party for our members. We celebrate T.A. members because T.A. members are the New Yorkers who are changing our streets. From 1st and 2nd avenues to Prospect Park West to the plan for public bike share, T.A. members made it happen this year.

Free party, free beer, free photo portraits of you and your bike -- that's the plan for T.A.'s 2011 Member Holiday Party. At the request of T.A. members, this year our holiday party will be entirely free to members, with all the food, drink and party you can handle. Because 2011 was a year of such astounding success for T.A.'s mission, and because we couldn't do it without T.A. members, this year's T.A. Member Holiday Party is how we are saying thanks.

If you aren't a T.A. member, or perhaps are lapsed and need to renew, you can join-up at the door of the party (and get in for free too). Or sign-up online, and we'll make sure you're on the guest list.

T.A. Member Holiday Party
Thursday, December 8, 2011
7- 10 pm
Brooklyn Brewery
79 North 11th Street, Brooklyn
Free, with your T.A. member card. Not yet a member? Become a T.A. member today!
 
Fourth Annual Community Board Join-Up Jamboree

Like this, but everyone's welcome.
Image courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region
The surefire way to have a say:
Your community board.

How to deal when neighbors hate on a local pedestrian plaza:
Your community board.

Where to build a local movement for better NYPD enforcement:
Your community board.

If you want to make changes in your neighborhood but don't know how to get your foot in the door, T.A. has an event for you. T.A.'s Fourth Annual Community Board Join-Up Jamboree is on November 9th.

You can become a powerful part of your community's decision making process, and we're having a party to show you the way. Snacks, drinks and community process; what a way to spend a Wednesday night.

Fourth Annual Community Board Join-Up Jamboree
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
6 - 8 pm
T.A. Headquarters
127 W. 26th Street, Suite 1002, Manhattan
RSVPs are appreciated
 
Transportation 2030: A Five Borough Blueprint
In 2006, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer organized a first-of-its-kind citywide conference on transportation called Manhattan on the Move. At that time, T.A. joined the borough president, then-Department of Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshall, Bus Rapid Transit innovator (and former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia) Enrique Peñalosa and 400 advocates, policy makers and community leaders to address New York City's transportation future. Since then, New York City's transportation networks have been boldly reimagined: Select Bus Service modeled on Bogotá's Bus Rapid Transit shorten commutes on Manhattan's 1st and 2nd avenues, parking-protected bicycle lanes spread across the boroughs, Time Square is a shining example of the potential of public space and of course, bike share cometh.

Now, Borough President Stringer is taking on New York City's transportation systems again. On November 18th, in collaboration with John Jay College, Transportation Alternatives, the Straphangers Campaign and a slew of others, Transportation 2030: A Five Borough Blueprint will ignite and inspire New York City's next transportation renaissance.

Transportation 2030: A Five Borough Blueprint
Friday, November 18, 2011
9 am - 3 pm
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
899 10th Avenue, Manhattan
Free, but RSVP is required
 
Concrete State of Mind: How Great Streets Can Make Us Happier and Healthier

This is your brain on bicycles.
Image courtesy Danielle Baskin
It's obvious that when streets are built for walking and biking, it's easier for New Yorkers to be active. But can bicycling and walking make your brain better too?

To find the common ground between mental health and well-designed streets, T.A. has gathered experts in urban planning, public health and mental wellness for a breakfast date. We're pleased to invite you to listen and nosh at Concrete State of Mind: How Great Streets Can Make Us Happier and Healthier on the morning of Wednesday, November 16th.

Enjoy a free breakfast and the academic stylings of Snohetta Architect Claire Fellman, Dr. Mindy Thompson Fullilove of the New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University Medical Center and Dr. Andrew Mondschien of the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management at NYU Wagner.

Concrete State of Mind: How Great Streets Can Make Us Happier and Healthier
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
8:30 am
NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at the Puck Building
295 Lafayette Street, Manhattan
Pre-RSVP to get first access to registration
 
Park Avenue Traffic & Pedestrian Safety Workshop

What's behind curtain number one? Hint: It's not safety.
Image courtesy Dusty Kurtz
In Brooklyn's Clinton Hill and Fort Greene neighborhoods, the elevated lanes of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway make for high traffic speeds and dangerous crossing. Safe streets are a community concern, so the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership is hosting a Park Avenue Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Workshop.

The goal is to improve pedestrian safety and calm traffic on Park Avenue between Navy and Steuben streets. Local Brooklynites should join the conversation, as they work to identify and prioritize enhancements that can fix the problem.

Park Avenue Traffic & Pedestrian Safety Workshop
Thursday, November 3, 2011
6-8:30 pm
Benjamin Banneker Academy for Community Development
71-77 Clinton Avenue, Brooklyn
RSVP appreciated
T.A. StreetBeat
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