T.A. StreetBeat


	September 29, 2011

Stay up-to-date about bike share, and how you can help it succeed: Declare yourself a New Yorker for Bicycling. It's information central for bike share, and your best way to stay informed.
Image courtesy Alta Bicycle Share

New Yorkers who are dedicated to doing good connect with T.A. on Facebook and Twitter, where we keep everyone informed about volunteering.

Articles and Actions

How Bike Share Will Change New York
Transit is King in Queens
Dedicated to Delancey Street

Events and Alerts

Members Only: 75 Percent Off!
T.A.'s Brew & View
Tour de Bronx
The Carl Henry Nacht Health Fellowship

T.A. in the News

The jury felt that both Ms. Sadik-Khan and Mr. White had worked to help bring about significant changes in New York, said Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation.

"A city that is environmentally healthy, more sustainable and more pedestrian friendly is so consistent with how Jane Jacobs worked in envisioning a New York of her period and how it served people who lived there most effectively," said Dr. Rodin.

Mr. White called it an "extreme honor" to be recognized in the same breath with the other recipients of the medal, and he said that he is still trying to figure out who nominated him.

"We have our noses to the grindstone working on campaigns and doing our thing. Often it feels like thankless work and it is gratifying to be recognized," said Mr. White.

-- T.A. Executive Director Paul Steely White is awarded the Jane Jacobs Medal for New Ideas and Activism by the New York-based Rockefeller Foundation. Congrats Paul!
"Prizing a More Livable City," The Wall Street Journal, 9/15.

How Bike Share Will Change New York

Move over Metrocard!
Here's New York's next transit icon.
Image courtesy Alta Bicycle Share

Two weeks ago, T.A. joined Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson, the Department of Transportation, City Council members and the Working Families Party to announce a game-changing addition to New York City streets: the nation's largest public bike share system. In the shadow of the iconic Flatiron Building (which led New York's skyscraper movement in 1902), New Yorkers got their first glimpse of the sturdy cruiser bicycle that will lead New York's next game-changing movement. The bike share prototype revealed last week will soon be a fleet of 10,000 bikes, available at 600 docking stations.

Bike share will be New York City's first new transit system in more than 100 years. What does that mean for New Yorkers? Our transit system will finally be caught up with the cereal aisle and the Zagat Guide: Full of choices! With bike share, bicycling will be an affordable, accessible, practical transit choice. For trips long and small, T.A. expects New Yorkers will dig the new variety.

Every new pair of shoes need a little breaking in, and T.A. doesn't expect bike share will arrive without its blisters. Because a certain amount of hyperbole will undeniably precede bike share's arrival, T.A. is planning a robust public education campaign. We are going to ensure the public is involved in the roll-out of bike share. From your local community board to the City Council, T.A. needs you to be at our side, speaking up to ensure bike share's successful landing. Start your education with T.A.'s fresh new FAQ.

The public bicycles will be available to New Yorkers beginning in the summer of 2012. As door-to-door effective as any taxi cab, and cheaper than a monthly MetroCard, this new transit choice will be transformative. While we can't predict what New Yorkers will do when there's an affordable option besides their routine bus and subway, if cities around the world -- which have seen up to 27.5 million new bicycle trips a year because of bike share -- are any indication, New York City's system should be a mobility multiplier.

The most important way to help bike share succeed is staying attuned to T.A.'s gospel: Declare yourself a New Yorker for Bicycling. This is the official way to get involved in the launch of bike share in New York City.

TAKE ACTION

Declare yourself a New Yorker for Bicycling to help T.A. ensure bike share's success. This is the mailing list for bike share, and how to get alerted to every action.

Transit is King in Queens

Assembly Member Grace Meng (left) joins T.A.'s Rider Rebellion to present an oversized letter, signed by 300+ Flushing residents, asking Governor Cuomo for better transit service there.

The borough of Queens has more space than any other, and spread across those 70,000 acres are 12 subway routes serving 81 stations and 115 local and express bus routes. But all those stations and stops don't count when trains and buses won't come. In the last two years, Albany's raids on the MTA budget have meant less is more when it comes to public transit: fewer trains, fewer bus lines and more Queens' residents left standing at the station or packed into trains and buses like so many sardines.

In recent weeks, T.A.'s Rider Rebellion organized two town hall style meetings, in transit hubs Flushing and Jamaica, to put transit riders in the room with the elected officials who can change their transit equation. But elected officials aren't the only empowered voices T.A. is bringing to the table; T.A. is organizing two new local coalitions of community organizations and riders who are dedicated to improving public transit in Queens, station by station and route by route. In Flushing, T.A. is launching the Flushing Transit Alliance and in Jamaica, we are partnering with a group of riders to improve service on the QM21 Express Bus.

The purpose of these "transit town halls" is two-fold: a line of communication between power-players and transit riders plus a forum to brainstorm solutions to local transit woes. Whether it's calling out a stinking subway station or giving riders a voice in New York's next public transit boss, the Rider Rebellion is on the case.

If you think your community could benefit from a transit town hall, let the Rider Rebellion know where you live.

Dedicated to Delancey Street

In 2008, Rasha Shamoon was struck and killed riding her bicycle on Delancey Street. Now T.A. and a coalition of local officials have set out to make a safer thoroughfare.
Image courtesy bitchcakesny

No community board, precinct commander or elected official wants a dangerous street in their jurisdiction. That's the unfortunate reason why, when T.A. sits down with those leaders, one sometimes points a finger to the next.

That's what happened in January 2010, when Fuen Bai was struck and killed by a school bus while bicycling on Delancey Street. And in April 2010, when Hector Vera was struck and killed by a car while walking on Delancey Street near the Williamsburg Bridge.

In May of this year, when Patricia Cuevas was killed by a garbage truck while crossing Delancey Street, the finger-pointing stopped. Finally, every New York City official who could have a hand in building a better Delancey Street joined T.A.'s call for the street to be corrected. On the Lower East Side, T.A. and State Senator Daniel Squadron are rallying a coalition that eschews finger-pointing. We've gathered city agencies and elected officials to agree: Delancey Street is a problem.

Simply the roll call of the Delancey Street Coalition is a success worth celebrating: Senator Squadron, New York City Council Member Margaret Chin, Representative Nydia Vel�zquez, New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, New York Police Department's 7th Precinct, Community Board 3, New York City Department of Transportation and the Lower East Side Business Improvement District, all at the table in the name of a safer Delancey.

But a comprehensive roll call is not enough. As we rallied community partners for a safer Delancey, another New Yorker lost their life: in August, Jeffrey Axelrod was struck and killed by a cement truck while riding his bicycle on Delancey Street.

It's evident we can't act fast enough. This gathering of tribes has just begun, but it's T.A.'s hope that our first agreement can be to set the highest of goals for one of New York City's most dangerous streets: not one more death on Delancey. Not one more.

Rental bikes are great when your bicycle is in the shop, when out-of-town relatives need to be entertained or when you want to show a bike-less buddy how safe bicycling is in New York City. All that potential is wrapped in one extraordinary new offer: T.A. members get 75 percent off Bike & Roll bicycle rentals. This huge discount is available only to T.A. members and is valid anytime, from any of Bike & Roll's 11 rental locations.

This remarkably deep discount comes with all the other benefits of being a T.A. member: fun social events with a community of likeminded New Yorkers, discounts citywide and the knowledge that you're an integral part of improving New York City streets. Plus, joining is cheap and easy. Become a T.A. member today!

T.A.'s Brew and View

Caption Contest! This week, we're watching American Flyers. Guess what our next flick will be, using this picture as a clue. Be the first person to reply to this StreetBeat with the correct answer, T.A. will buy you a beer at Brew and View.
Image courtesy Nomadic Lass

This Monday night, you could patch popped bicycle tubes or check up on the MTA's scheduled service disruptions or re-lace your walking shoes. But T.A. has a better offer: cold beer, a cinematic classic and a crowd of like-minded New Yorkers.

This Week's Movie: American Flyers

This Monday, join T.A. for the first installment of our newest social soir�e: Brew and View at 61 Local. Twice a month, T.A. will present a bicycle-themed movie. Plus, T.A. staff will be on hand to answer your questions about New York's rapidly evolving streets, discounted memberships will be available and an exclusive screening of a Biking Rules short will precede the movie each week.

T.A.'s Brew and View
Monday, October 3, 2011
Doors open at 6 pm; Movie at 7:30 pm
61 Local
61 Bergen Street, Brooklyn
FREE for T.A. members

Tour de Bronx

The NYC Century Bike Tour was a blast. The Tour de Bronx is cheaper, briefer and the next best way to celebrate bicycling in New York.
Image courtesy brightroom

The Tour de Bronx isn't just the largest free bicycling event in the United States; it's the best way to see New York's greenest borough. Though the Bronx is the third most-densely populated county in the whole United States, almost one-quarter of that is open space, making the Bronx a truly lovely borough for bicycle riding.

Join T.A. and the Bronx Borough President's Office on one of the Tour de Bronx's two great routes. Cruise the 25-mile route with some of New York City's most beautiful bikes -- decked-out classic Schwinns roll deep on this route -- or challenge yourself to ride 40 miles up and down some of the Bronx's biggest hills, and tour the grand, 2,766-acre Pelham Bay Park, New York City's largest. The Tour de Bronx is proof: Bicycling is a five borough phenomenon.

The Tour de Bronx is totally free, but registration for this fun ride always fills up. Snag your spot today.

Tour de Bronx
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Check in at 9:30 am for 25- and 40-mile routes
Bronx County Courthouse Building
851 Grand Concourse, The Bronx
Registration Required

The Carl Henry Nacht Health Fellowship

What defines a healthy community?
T.A. is looking for answers,
and people to ask the right questions.
Image courtesy Andrew Hinderaker

T.A. is proud to announce that applications are now being accepted for the second ever Carl Henry Nacht Health Fellow. The fellowship is a challenge to urban-minded scholars: How can we help people rethink how the city's health is impacted by the built environment?

Last year, T.A.'s Carl Henry Nacht Health Fellow worked with the community in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, seeking to understand how perceptions of safety, crime and violence impact walking, biking and transit use in the community. Among the findings, Bedford-Stuyvesant residents noted poor lighting and "police frisking, harassment and surveillance" as major impediments to biking and walking, and said more Play Streets would make the neighborhood a safer place for children to engage in active play.

The Carl Henry Nacht Fellow will work with T.A. for a four to five month period on a single project that enhances our existing campaigns. We are seeking adventurous spirits and creative thinkers for projects that challenge the status quo and unlock the potential of New York City streets. Applications are now being accepted.