NYC Century Bike Tour
15, 35, 55, 75 and 100 mile routes
Sept. 7, 2003

Register online today and save $20! Early registration discounts end July 31st.

Experience the world’s greatest city! Ride the 14th Annual NYC Century Bike Tour on September 7, 2003. 

Featuring a selection of distances (15, 35, 55, 75 or 100 miles) and magnificent views of New York's bridges, neighborhoods and parks.

NYCcentury.org

Come to the Volunteer Mailing Party, Wednesday, June 25th at 6 pm at the T.A. Office (115 West 30th, #1207)! Free beer, soda, snacks and scintillating conversation. 

6/22 New York's Rumpus Room, The New York Times

6/22 Earplugs Required: City to Study Truck Routes, The New York Times

6/12 Pols Weigh Car-Alarm Ban, New York Post

6/12 Plan for ban alarms pols, Daily News

5/27 City finds road map to safety Injuries, accidents down, Daily News

5/20 Toward more rapid transit: Plan pushes longer subway routes, more transfer points, Daily News

5/19 Car-Free Parks, Gotham Gazette

5/14 Summer in the City: Urban Oases, Village Voice

5/13 Pushing Pedal Power, Staten Island Register

5/12 Pedestrian Peril: People on Foot Represent a Quarter of LI’s Traffic Deaths, Newsday

5/11 Pedal power, Boston Globe

5/6 Gridlock Sam, Daily News

5/5 Fixing a Traffic Light, Gotham Gazette

5/5 Gridlock Sam, Daily News

5/5 Speed Bumps and Humps, Gotham Gazette

5/5 Critics' Picks--
Around Town, Time Out New York

5/5 Call for Better Parking Starts NYC Bike Week, Mobilizing the Region

5/4 Biking Is One Thing, Finding a Place to Park Is Another, The New York Times

5/4 Two Wheels on Reels, The New York Times

More Quotes...

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.

Valet Bike Parking Volunteers Needed

Volunteer to provide valet bike parking at events throughout the year. Register online to express your interest in this opportunity.

T.A. still has two open internships: 

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

Please visit transalt.org/intern for more information.

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 23,000 subscribers.

Transportation Alternatives is a 5,000-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!

June 25, 2003

T.A. Sues to Remove Illegal Stop Signs From Hudson River Path

For two years, T.A. has pressed the State DOT and the Hudson River Park Trust in letters and meetings to remove stop signs from the middle of the Hudson River Greenway Path. Placed at head height and directly in front of often-conflicting traffic signals, the signs are dangerous and confusing and have already resulted in injuries.

Despite our pleadings and a letter from Manhattan Borough President C.V. Fields, the signs remain. So, on April 20th, T.A. filed a lawsuit demanding that the State DOT remove the signs for violating the State Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. In our lawsuit, we observe that the stop signs conflict with traffic lights located at the same intersections, are placed on the center of the path and are not permanently mounted. This creates dangerous conditions, as the stop signs contradict green traffic signals, block sight lines on the path, can be easily moved and are confusing for greenway users and motorists alike.

Read more about NYC greenways.

Silver Stops NYC Red Light Camera Increase

You've read it here before: red light cameras save lives and reduce crashes. The Mayor wants more for NYC, as does the City Council, all five borough presidents, the State Sentate and the 700 T.A. E-Bulletin readers who faxed Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in early June.

Silver

But Silver doesn't care what you want. In the waning moments of yet another hideous legislative session, Silver stopped legislation to increase the number of NYC red light cameras from 50 to 75. Apparently Silver is angry with Mayor Bloomberg over unrelated issues and red light cameras and other Mayor-supported legislation were casualties.

Tell Silver it is unacceptable to play politics with people's lives. Send this fax today!

Downtown Brooklyn Traffic Calming Results in a Huge Nothing
Consultant and community sabotaged at every turn by the DOT

Six years ago, the Department of Transportation was forced to conduct the Downtown Brooklyn Traffic Calming project by the Giuliani City Hall, which was responding to widespread community protest over intolerable levels of traffic. The DOT was clearly unhappy about the project, and over the years repeatedly undermined the efforts of the traffic consulting firm Arup.

But the full extent of the DOT's revenge was revealed at a June 23rd wrap-up meeting hosted by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. At the meeting, the DOT disclosed that the agency would not implement any of the recommendations of the traffic calming process until 2009, at the earliest. The DOT's announcement, constant foot dragging and closed-mindedness are insults to the groups and citizenry who have sunk countless hours into attending meetings and preparing written comments, all as an effort to make their neighborhoods better places. Traffic in the neighborhoods surrounding Downtown Brooklyn is still atrocious and the Mayor and his DOT are doing nothing to change that.

Read more on Downtown Brooklyn Traffic Calming.

BikeSummer Comes to NYC!

The fifth annual BikeSummer, a month-long celebration of bicycling, will hit the streets of New York City from June 27 to July 26. BikeSummer was founded in San Francisco in 1999 and since then has traveled to Vancouver, Chicago and Portland, OR.

BikeSummer, like T.A.'s annual Bike Week NYC, promotes and celebrates cycling through an extensive schedule of events for bicyclists of all types. Come hear Transportation Alternatives and other bicycle advocates from across the country speak about bicycle advocacy on Wednesday, July 23rd from 6:30-8:30 pm at The Urban Center (457 Madison Avenue, at 51st Street).
Check out the full BikeSummer calendar at www.bikesummer.org.

Bloomberg Administration Defends Car Alarms
T.A. Calls for Total Ban

At a June City Council Hearing, representatives of the Bloomberg Administration defended car alarms as a necessary "first line of defense from theft."  Curiously, they also asserted that there was no evidence that the alarms actually did deter theft.

Incredulous City Councilmembers asked why if this was the case the Mayor thought it appropriate to subject the public to them. The Council also pointed out that there is an enormous body of evidence showing that car alarms do not reduce theft.

Pathetically, the official who mounted this lame defense of car alarms is in charge of the Mayor's Silent Night noise reduction campaign. The Council is considering two bills restricting car alarms, which are expected to be merged.

Read T.A.'s City Council testimony on car alarms or T.A.'s report "Alarmingly Useless: The Case for Banning Car Alarms in NYC".

T.A. Poll: Dooring

Token Booth Closing Freeze Passes Legislature,  Faces Governor

A surprise winner in the "Big Ugly" last minute rush of state legislation was a bill that freezes the closing of token booths for three years until a new subway safety advisory panel reviews the implications for crime and terrorism. The MTA was planning to close 62 booths, but cannot procede until a lawsuit by the Straphangers Campaign is appealed. The legislation (A. 9020, S. 5473) passed the State Senate and Assembly and awaits the Governor's approval or veto.

Read more about transit issues.

Port Eyes Permanent Ban on Big Trucks in Holland Tunnel

The Port Authority and the NYC DOT are close to deciding to permanently ban tractor trailer trucks from the Holland Tunnel. The big rigs and smaller trucks have been banned since 9/11, which has resulted in a significant reduction in truck traffic on Canal Street. A permanent ban on 18 wheelers is good news for long suffering neighbors of Canal Street and will produce safer conditions for pedestrians and cyclists using the busy street. The ban also means that NJ Transit will be to run more busses through the tunnel, which it could not do before, because tractor trailers and busses are too wide to fit at the same time.

The Port and DOT have also decided to allow small, two-axle, NJ bound trucks, back in the tunnel so they do not have to make an uptown detour to the Lincoln Tunnel. T.A. and other transportation watchdog groups support this move because it will result in less truck traffic overall and only a slight increase on Canal Street.

Read more about trucks.

Hummers for Harlem
East Harlem Gets Huge Auto Mall

Thanks to $21 million in tax-exempt New York City bonds, a giant auto mall will be opening in East Harlem in 2005, the first car dealership launched north of 60th Street in 40 years. The announcement was made at a ceremony attended by the Mayor, Reverend Jesse Jackson and the Chairman of General Motors. The Potamkin Auto Group is constructing the multi-dealer mall at the block bounded by East 127th and 128th Streets between Second and Third Avenues that had served as a salt storage for the Department of Sanitation.

"It was a neighborhood blight," Bloomberg said of the site.

Spring 2003 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! View the Table of Contents or request a copy!

State Legislature Dilutes NYC Red Light Camera Request--Speed Cameras Dead for Now

Pols Act on T.A. Call to Ban Car Alarms

Include Indoor Bike Parking in Zoning Regulations

City Councilmember Yassky Introduces Bikes in Commercial Buildings Bill

City Should Help Cyclists Get Building Access, Not Hinder

Electeds Call on DOT to Make Brooklyn Side of the Manhattan Bridge Safe

Disabled Group Says Williamsburg Bridge Bumps Violate Federal Law

Re-Mark Safety Symbols on the Brooklyn Bridge

Cyclists Get Some TLC

T.A. has many volunteer opportunities.  Please visit our site to learn more about how you can help.  Come to the Volunteer Magazine Mailing Party on Wednesday, June 25th at 6 pm at the T.A. Office (115 West 30th, #1207)! Free beer, soda, snacks and scintillating conversation.