NYCcentury.org

Save $30 when you register now and join T.A.!

Register online and learn more about the tour at NYCcentury.org!

If you would like to receive a tour brochure in the mail, request one below or visit our Web site!

Come to the Mailing Party, Wednesday, August 14th at 6 pm at the T.A. Office (115 West 30th, #1207). Free snacks, beer and scintillating conversation!

Hazard ID!

Come join T.A. for a jaunt to Manhattan to mark hazards on the commute around the Manhattan Bridge.

We’re meeting at 9am on the Manhattan side of the Manhattan Bridge, spraypainting and recording potholes till 11, then probably heading for a bite to eat.

It’s fun, it’s sociable, and it’s easy! Newcomers and oldcomers welcome!

Please let Diana Gavales know if you’ll be there. You can also register online as a Hazard ID volunteer.

Read our recent press on Hazard ID:

7/22 Cyclists Beware: Bumpy Road Ahead, Park Slope Courier

Delivery People Wanted!

T.A. is looking for people to deliver City Cyclist to bike shops throughout NYC every two weeks. Person must be willing to be responsible for maintenance of store display. Must be able to carry heavy load long distances. $10/hour. If interested, please call Kit at 212-629-8080. Delivery starts ASAP.

Environmental Transportation Advocate

Experienced public interest advocate needed for T.A.’s cutting-edge NYC environmental transportation campaigning. Will manage pedestrian, traffic calming and car-free parks advocacy. Must have excellent writing skills, post-graduate political and/or advocacy experience and the ability to work both on policy issues and community coalition building. Salary $30k-$40k to start. E-mail and postal mail only. No phone calls please. Send cover letter (important) and resumé to Transportation Alternatives, 115 West 30th Street, Rm. 1207 NYC 10001 or info@transalt.org. Please do not attach Word documents--plain text or pdf only.

Time on your hands? Eager to make a difference? T.A. needs folks who are retired, work part-time or between jobs to help our top-notch advocacy staff make the city a better place for bicyclists, pedestrians and transit riders.
Call 212-629-8080 or e-mail info@transalt.org.

Bike Counts Coordinator Needed

T.A. needs a responsible volunteer to take the reins of the East River Bridge Count project for the summer. Responsibilities include organizing monthly bike and pedestrian counts, collecting count sheets and compiling and presenting the data. Database or spreadsheet skills are a must. East River Bridge Counts are a barometer of cycling activity in the city. The data is also used in efforts to make bridge access safer for cyclists and pedestrians. To apply, contact: bike@transalt.org.

T.A. also needs volunteers to count all those bikes and pedestrians as they cross the Queensboro, Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. The counts take place from 7-10 am, one morning a month. To volunteer, register online.

Valet Bike Parking Coordinator Needed

Organize volunteers to provide valet bike parking at events throughout the year. You are encouraged to seek out events, though not required. Register online to express your interest in this opportunity.

T.A. still has two open internships: 

- Advocacy (work with T.A. program staff)
- Bicycle Research and Policy

Please visit transalt.org/intern for more information.

T.A. In the News

transalt.org/media

Latest

8/5 Park's car-ban fans want a DOT tryout, Daily News

8/1 Congestion Pricing: Charge more for highway tools and street parking at peak hours, Metropolis

7/29 Beep Skips Rally for a Car-Free Park, Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill Courier

7/22 Slope Demands a Prospect Park Car Ban, Park Slope Courier

7/22 Cyclists Beware: Bumpy Road Ahead, Park Slope Courier

7/14 A Great Leap Backward: No Cars, New York Times

7/14 Visions of a Car-Free Park Activists push plan for 3-month trial period, Daily News

7/8 Car-Free Prospect Park at Hand? Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill Courier

7/8 Kneejerk Vote Endangers Cyclists, Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill Courier

7/5 Traffic Accidents, Injuries Down in City, Daily News

7/4 Mayor Acknowledges M.T.A. May Have to Raise Fares in '03, New York Times

7/1 A car-free P'Park? The Brooklyn Paper

7/1 New York City Council Approves Sidewalk Cycling Amendment, The Ride

6/24 4 Pols Back Trial Of a Car-Free Park, Daily News

6/22 On Bridges, the View Includes Chain Links, New York Times

6/18 Drive Is on to Get City Scooter OK, Daily News

6/13 Group Calling For Car-Free Summer In Central Park, NY1

More Quotes...

Donations Wish List

Help cycling and walking and get a tax deduction. Donate to T.A. We need:

-Pentium II or better PCs
-Laptop computer (P 100+)
-Digital Camera
-Good chairs for conf. table or desks
-Computer Projector

Contact Matt: info@transalt.org

Do Your Part for Safer Streets!  Report:

Potholes and Hazards:
212-CALLDOT (hit 0 to speak with a human) or report them online at transalt.org/hazard  

Sidewalk obstructions: Mayor’s Quality of Life Hotline at 888-677-LIFE/5433

Read more about T.A.'s work to reduce street hazards at transalt.org/haz

Report Dangerous Cabs: 212-221-TAXI or report them online.

Read more about T.A.'s work to make cabs safer for pedestrians and cyclists at transalt.org/cabs

The T.A. Bulletin is a bi-weekly publication of Transportation Alternatives. The Bulletin has 16,000 subscribers.

Transportation Alternatives is a 5000-member NYC-area non-profit citizens group working for better bicycling, walking and public transit, and fewer cars. We work for safer, calmer neighborhood streets and car-free parks. Join T.A. today!

Week of August 5, 2002

Massive Support for Car-Free Prospect Park Leads to Inconclusive Showdown

Taking On Big Taxi Dooring Threat

Electeds Call on DOT and Transit Authority to Speed Up Pokey M96 Bus

Paris Mayor Converts Busy Highway to Beach

Chicago: Drunk Driver Jumps Curb, Injures 2 Pedestrians, Kills 1

New Ped Crossing Law Fixes Irrational Former Rule

NYC Century Bike Tour Regular Registration Discounts End August 26th

Massive Support for Car-Free Prospect Park Leads to Inconclusive Showdown
600 Call for Car-Free Park at July 17 Event

On July 17, more than 600 car-free Prospect Park supporters showed up for T.A.'s enormous town hall meeting at the sweltering Union Temple at Grand Army Plaza. Along with the cheering throngs were City Councilmembers Yvette Clarke, James Davis, Bill DiBlasio, Angel Rodriguez and David Yassky and State Senator Carl Andrews. All of the electeds gave rousing speeches in support of a three month, car-free trial period. The people power carried forth into a July 30th, car-free rally in Prospect Park which drew 120 cheering people holding placards.

The political power generated by this popular show of force (which was organized by T.A.'s Brooklyn Committee) led to a summit meeting between the City Councilmembers supporting a three month trial closing, DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall and opponents of a trial closing - including Borough President Marty Markowitz and Councilmembers Nelson and Felder.

The good news for supporters of the car-free trial period is that the 78th Precinct (police) say policing the park would be easier if it was car-free. The Parks Department also supports a car-free park. The bad news is that the DOT is convinced that conducting a study based around the three month car-free trial would require extensive before, during and after traffic counts and analysis, which would cost $300,000. T.A.'s preferred test period is April, May and June of 2003. But under DOT's scheme, traffic counts would be conducted during these months in '03 and compared with the actual test, which wouldn't take place until '04. This is all academic anyway, since neither DOT nor the Council say they are able to find the money for such a study. Additionally, Weinshall reports that the DOT traffic planning staff has been wiped out by retirement buy-outs and does not have the capability of managing a Prospect Park study.

In fact, such an elaborate study is not needed. An inexpensive sample of traffic counts during peak periods can clearly show what traffic diversion effects the car-free trial is having. The rhetoric about the complicated traffic study is fog obscuring Weinshall's political uncertainty. Without clear instruction from the mayor and unaninimity from the Brooklyn Council delegation, Weinshall is left in a tough spot.

Round one in the latest heavy weight contest for a car-free Prospect Park has just been fought and it's a draw. T.A. is readying for round two, and we ask our fantastic Brooklyn members to do the same. We are going to come out swinging.

Read more about the Car-Free Prospect Park campaign and send an e-postcard in favor of a car-free park.

Taking On Big Taxi Dooring Threat

It's 1996: Picture the veteran of 30 years of NYC cycling riding up Church Street. He's confident, but careful to stay in the third lane from the curb to avoid double parked cars and trucks and open doors. Blam! He slams into the door of a double parked taxi flung open into traffic by an impatient tourist. The cyclist ricochets off of the door, and ends up underneath the wheels of a passing 18 wheeler. Clyde Moss was doing everything right and riding 30 plus feet from the curb, and was still killed in a dooring incident.

According to a Department of City Planning survey of regular bicyclists, dooring is the number one cause of cycling crashes in New York City. For over a year T.A. has been actively urging the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) to take aggressive measures to educate taxi passengers to look first before opening their doors. T.A. especially wants the TLC to place a simple illustrated sticker on the passenger partition in the back of cabs. Instead, the TLC has buried a tiny message to "Watch for Bicycles" in the midst of a wordy passenger information sticker. TLC deserves credit for working with T.A., but must think much bigger when it comes to stopping dooring.

Read more about T.A.'s work to make taxis safer and reduce street hazards.

Electeds Call on DOT and Transit Authority to Speed Up Pokey M96 Bus

Led by Councilmember Gale Brewer, Councilmembers Moskowitz, Perkins and Reed and Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields joined together in a late July request to the Department of Transportation and the Transit Authority to work with them to speed up service on the M96 bus. The bus won a "Pokey Award" after a June report by the Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives identified the heavily traveled route - which crosses Manhattan at 96th Street - as the slowest bus line in New York City.

The electeds wrote:

"This slow service concerns us and our many bus riding constituents. We are sure you agree that service and travel speeds on this heavily traveled route need to be substantially improved. We understand that your agencies are actively working together to improve bus service and have teamed up to survey bus routes around the city. To that end, we would like to join with your survey of the M96 and assist in identifying ways to speed up service. "

T.A. and Straphangers are working closely with the electeds to develop new ideas for improving service on the M96.
For a more detailed look at service improvements see: www.schallerconsult.com/pub/brt.htm

Paris Mayor Converts Busy Highway to Beach

How about taking the FDR from 20th Street to 72nd Street and turning it into a beach? Insane? impossible? Delusional? Go to Paris where Mayor Bertrand Delanoë closed the city's busiest expressway and laid down tons of sand and grass to create a beach and park along the Seine's right bank. His 2.3 mile long "Paris-Plage" attracted three million visitors in its first week. The car-free stretch of the Georges Pompidou Expressway, which carries 200,000 cars a day, is now planted with 80 palm trees, deck chairs, open air cafes and climbing walls. At night, Paris-Plage is devoted to popular concerts and dancing.

Read more on the London Observer Web site.

Chicago: Drunk Driver Jumps Curb, Injures 2 Pedestrian, Kills One
(July 31, 2002)
By the Associated Press

This headline never ran in the national press, and never will. Vehicles hitting people on the sidewalk is commonplace in big American cities. In NYC alone hundreds of pedestrians are struck on the sidewalk annually. Rarely do the motorists mowing down people on the sidewalk face criminal charges or any other penalty.

The July 31 incident did capture national attention, but for a different reason.

Mob Kills 2 in Chicago After Van Crash
July 31, 2002
By the Associated Press

Two men whose van jumped a curb and crashed into pedestrians died after an angry mob pulled them out and beat them with bricks, witnesses and police said. At least 100 people watched as Anthony Stuckey, 49, and Jack Moore, 62, were kicked and beaten with bricks and stones by an angry mob on Tuesday night, according to witnesses Moore, the van's driver, was legally drunk when the van jumped a curb and plowed into three people, but police said that would have no bearing on the hunt for suspects in the fatal beatings.

Four paragraphs later the names of the pedestrian victims and their injuries are mentioned. In subsequent days, two follow-up articles have focused only on the barbarity of the mob action and Chicago police have sworn high and low to bring to punish the murderers. This zeal to bring murderers to justice is welcome in our police. One only hopes that the next time a pedestrian is killed or maimed on the sidewalk the police are equally inspired.

Read more about T.A.'s work to reclaim the sidewalks.

New Ped Crossing Law Fixes Irrational Former Rule

At the behest of the State Department of Transportation, the State Legislature passed a new law which requires motor vehicles to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, in the absence of a traffic signal light. The old, confusing and complicated law, held that motorists only had to yield to pedestrians in "their half of the road." Unfortunately, the new law does nothing to help protect pedestrians in a crosswalk from vehicles turning in front of them.

Read more about T.A.'s work to reclaim the crosswalks.

NYC Century Bike Tour Regular Registration Discounts End August 26th

Save $30* when you register now and join T.A.!

• Register online and learn more about the tour at www.NYCcentury.org!
• Download a copy of the brochure in PDF Format from www.NYCcentury.org 
• If you would like to receive a tour brochure in the mail, request one below!

* Register now and save $10 off day-of-event registration rates + save $10 off T.A. membership + save $10 off non-member NYC Century Bike Tour rates.  Existing T.A. members save $10 off day-of-event registration rates + $5 off T.A. membership renewal + $10 off non-member NYC Century Bike Tour rates.

Summer 2002 T.A. Magazine  
This issue is being mailed to all T.A. members. It includes news on bicycle, pedestrian and car-free Central Park and Prospect Park, sensible transportation, features and much, much more, features and much, much more! View the Table of Contents or request a copy!

Selected articles

Bridge Access Safety Crisis Continues as the DOT Fails to Fix 6 of 8 Entrances

Shore Park Disaster Averted

State DOT NYC Office To Make Big Safety Improvements on Hudson Greenway

Alphabet Soup of Bike Agencies Needs Chef

Secure Parking's 2nd Chance At Grand Central

Council Ups Penalties for Riding on Sidewalk--Again

T.A. Seeks Safer Cabs

Take Action

T.A. has many volunteer opportunities.  Please visit our site to learn more about how you can help.  Come to the Mailing Party, Wednesday, August 14th at 6 pm at the T.A. Office (115 West 30th, #1207). Free snacks, beer, and scintillating conversation!

MAD AS HELL?  DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

Call the Mayor's Quality of Life Action Line (real people 24 hrs a day) 888-677-5433 or e-mail Mayor Bloomberg.

POTHOLES, STREET HAZARDS GOT YOU IN A RUT?

STAY SMART & INFORMED

Savvy transit riders get their lowdown on the subways here:

straphangers.org
The ultimate source for bus and subway service changes, rider comments and complaints that produce action. Help yourself and T.A.’s favorite transit advocates--check it out.

Sensible Transport Junkies:

Subscribe to the Tri-State Transportation Campaign’s e-weekly, Mobilizing the Region.  tstc.org

The daily Gotham Gazette

Bikes in Bogota? Car-Free Cartagena? Tel-Aviv by Train?

Go global at itdp.org!

Check our maps page for links to NYC-area bicycle and transit maps.

RIDES AND WALKS

Thursday, August 8, 10 am. City Island. Central Park Boathouse. The Weekday Cyclists.

Friday, August 9, 7 pm. Cyclone Ride. Manhattan Entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge. Time's Up!

Saturday, August 10, 9 am. Piermont. Central Park Boathouse. Fast and Fabulous.

Saturday, August 10, 9:30 am. Bathe in Bayville XV. Cunningham Park. 5BBC. 

Saturday, August 10, 10 am. The International Express. Take #7 train to 40th St. in Queens. Shorewalkers.

Sunday, August 11, 8:30 am. Jersey Shore Sojourn. Penn Station. 5BBC.

Sunday, August 11, 9 am. Ice Cream. 207th St. stop on the A train. Fast and Fabulous.

Sunday, August 11, 9:30 am. Bicycle Beach Bums #6. Prospect Park Picnic House. 5BBC.

Sunday, August 11, 11 am. Aquarium & Brighton Beach. Nathan's Restaurant near Stillwell Avenue Train Station. Shorewalkers.

Sunday, August 11, 1:30 pm. Riverdale Fieldston. Northeast corner of Broadway & 207th St. Shorewalkers.

Tuesday, August 13, 10 am. TBA. Central Park Boathouse. The Weekday Cyclists.

Thursday, August 15, 10 am. TBA. Central Park Boathouse. The Weekday Cyclists.

Saturday, August 17, 9 am. Piermont. Central Park Boathouse. Fast and Fabulous.

Saturday, August 17, TBA. Harlem River Ramble. TBA. Shorewalkers.

Saturday, August 17, 10 am. Discover Harlem, Once Again. AYH. 5BBC.

Saturday, August 17, 11 pm. Down the Hatch. TBA. 5BBC.

Sunday, August 18, 7:30 am. Tour of the Hamptons. Southampton High School. Massapequa Park Bicycle Club.

Sunday, August 18, TBA. Monastery. TBA. Fast and Fabulous.

Sunday, August 18, 9 am. Old Westbury Gardens Jaunt. Roosevelt Island Tramway. 5BBC.

Sunday, August 18, 9:30 am. Bicycle Beach Bums #7. Prospect Park Picnic House. 5BBC.

Sunday, August 18, 9:45 am. Up, Up and Away. Cunningham Park. 5BBC.

Sunday, August 18, 10:15 am. Bicycle from Bethpage to Jones Beach. Bethpage Train Station. Shorewalkers.

Sunday, August 18, 11:30 am. Silver Lake, Clove Lakes, S.I. Zoo. SI Ferry Terminal in Manhattan by tourist info kiosk on upper level. Shorewalkers.

Tuesday, August 20, 10 am. TBA. Central Park Boathouse. The Weekday Cyclists.

Thursday, August 22, 10 am. TBA. Central Park Boathouse. The Weekday Cyclists.

Saturday, August 24, 7 am. Gilda Century. Gilda's Club New York City, 195 West Houston Street. Gilda's Club.

Saturday, August 24, 9:30 am. Piermont. Upper Manhattan. Fast and Fabulous.

Saturday, August 24, 7:30 am. Go West (port), Young Man (and Woman). Grand Central. 5BBC.

Saturday, August 24, 11 am. Sandy Hook, Sic Gloria Transit. NY Waterway Ferry Terminal, World Financial Center. 5BBC & NYCC.

Saturday, August 24, 10 pm. History, Mystery, Murder & Money Tour. Time's Up!

Sunday, August 25, 8:40 am. Croton to Teatown Lake. Grand Central Terminal. Shorewalkers.

Sunday, August 25, 9 am. Jones Beach. Central Park Boathouse. Fast and Fabulous.

Sunday, August 25, 9:30 am. Bicycle Beach Bums #8 & Blowout Picnic. Prospect Park Picnic House. 5BBC.

Sunday, August 25, 12:30 pm. Gateway Getaway - A Great Kills Excursion. Staten Island Ferry Terminal. 5BBC.

Tuesday, August 27, 10 am. TBA. Central Park Boathouse. The Weekday Cyclists.

More Rides and Walks...

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