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T.A. In the News Latest
T.A. News 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. 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) 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 Contact Matt: info@transalt.org
Do Your Part for Safer Streets! Report: Potholes
and Hazards: Sidewalk
obstructions: Mayor’s Quality of Life Hotline at 888-677-LIFE/
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 31,000 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!
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Now, Let's Turn the Tide and Score a Major Win for Better Biking in NYC!
Take
two minutes and contact your City Councilmember and tell her or him that you
support Int. 155 (and oppose Int. 497). With 70,000 bikes stolen
Look up your councilmember at If you don't live in New York,
tell Mayor Bloomberg you support indoor bike parking:
Stay tuned to www.transalt.org for updates and alerts.
80-year-old Catherine Lee, a nun with the Mary Knoll Sisterhood, was killed Monday morning by a turning truck at Sixth Avenue and 23rd Street in Manhattan. At the scene, the commanding NYPD officer told a Newsday reporter, "It was just a tragic accident." But there is a consistent history of such tragedies at this intersection, indicating that this was no "accident." The death of Sister Catherine Lee was preceded in 2002 by the death of 50-year-old Betty Kapetanakis (also by a turning truck) and yet another death in 2001--all three at the exact same location. In fact, between the years 1995 and 2001, there were no fewer than eight fatal or near fatal driver-pedestrian crashes at Sixth Avenue and 23rd Street. There are several ways to fix
this intersection so that pedestrians are not killed by turning drivers, the
most common type of driver-
The THRU Streets program, which
began in the fall of 2002, will soon include 49 "split phase"
Kudos to the City DOT and Mayor Bloomberg for standing up for Midtown's beleaguered walking masses. Now, in the interest of preventing future tragedies, it is time to expand such efforts and provide pedestrians with exclusive crossing time throughout the City.
Hundreds of straphangers, many of them T.A. members, turned out to a series of Metropolitan Transit Authority public hearings to voice their opposition to planned fare hikes and service cuts. Undeterred by the fact that the hearings were held in remote locations difficult to reach by subway or bus, many arrived by bike to protest the MTA's planned double-whammy of fare hikes and service cuts.
In addition to moving tolls up
the priority list, the Mayor could do much more to convince New Yorkers what
they stand to gain. In addition to generating vital transit funding, tolls would
diminish peak hour traffic and speed business-critical trips. And Brooklyn and
Queens residents, many of whom fear that the tolls will disproportionately
impact them, would clearly reap more benefit than cost in terms of quicker
commutes and reduced neighborhood through traffic, as outlined in a report
released last year by T.A. and the Straphangers Campaign. [
Until we convince NY power brokers to address the MTA's root revenue problem by making bridge tolls a top political priority, here are eight things you can do to save mass transit: www.straphangers.org/farehike1004/
New Crosstown Bike Routes a Boon...but Stop Short of Greenways
The DOT recently striped two new cross town bike lanes on 9th and 10th Streets in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. The east and west lanes run between 6th Avenue and Avenue A and connect to existing bike lanes on 2nd Avenue, Lafayette Street, and 5th and 6th Avenues. There is also a new two-block stretch of bike lane on Christopher Street between West and Greenwich Streets.
Though the new lanes connect with four of NYC's busiest bike lanes, they fall short of making the critical coast-to-coast connection. Having Trouble Crossing Delancey? Then attend this Important Public Meeting:
Spector Hall, 22 Reade Street, Manhattan NYC Department of City Planning Delancey Street Transportation Study Do you walk or bike on or around Delancey Street in Manhattan’s Lower East Side? Do you live, work, shop or travel in the area, use Delancey Street to visit the many stores and restaurants in the neighborhood, to get to and from the Williamsburg Bridge path or Allen Street bike lanes? If so, please attend this important public meeting to air your concerns and ideas about how to make Delancey and the surrounding streets safer and easier for biking and walking. Congratulations to George G. of Manhattan, who won a free NYC Bike in our NYC Century sweepstakes! All NYC Century riders who joined T.A. or renewed their membership were eligible to win.
7th Avenue Bike Lane in Brooklyn? Dear T.A., You did a great job getting the bike lane on Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn. Thank you for that. Now that 7th Avenue has been repaved is there any chance of a bike lane there? I would like to help if I could. Thank you
We recommend writing (and faxing, if you can) a short letter to the Department of Transportation Brooklyn Borough Commissioner Lori Ardito, thanking the DOT for its good work on 5th Avenue and urging them to stripe a bike lane on 7th Avenue too. Brooklyn Borough Commissioner Lori Ardito We will also ask her about this. Keep us posted!
Dear T.A., Thank you for noting that the Central Park West bike lane in Manhattan is for northbound traffic only. Sadly, the lack of a southbound bike lane has led many cyclists to believe that it is for traffic in both directions. This creates a hazardous situation during rush hours when the lane sees its heaviest use. I commute north from Manhattan to the Bronx and am regularly confronted with anywhere from six to a dozen cyclists riding south in the bike lane. As long as there is no southbound lane this situation will continue. Richard G.
Dear T.A., Please get the sand removed from the bike path at Plum Beach (the one that parallels the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn). Thanks, T.A. Response: Martin, we are working on it and could use your help.When T.A. discovered the problem over the summer, we did not know what government agency has jurisdiction over it. We wrote to City Departments of Transportation, Parks and Design and Construction and the State Department of Transportation. The State Department of Transportation and City Department of Parks indicated that this patch of greenway path is under the jurisdiction of the City Department of Transportation. We are waiting to hear back from them. It would greatly help if you could send a quick note to the City Department of Transportation and ask them to fix this problem. Brooklyn Borough Commissioner Lori Ardito NYC Department of Transportation [an error occurred while processing this directive] Take Action
T.A. has many volunteer opportunities. Please visit our site to learn more about how you can help. Come to the Volunteer Mailing Party on Wednesday, December 8th at 6 pm at the T.A. Office (115 West 30th, #1207)! Free beer, soda, snacks and scintillating conversation. Advocacy Committees Brooklyn@transalt.org Centralpark@transalt.org Gowanus@transalt.org Citywide:
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Breaking News Bike Messenger Doored and Killed Yesterday morning 42-year-old Dell Covington was riding up 8th Avenue near 49th Street when, apparently, a deliveryman opened a truck door and hit him. Mr. Covington was knocked headfirst into the pavement. Dell is the fourteenth person to be killed while riding a bike in New York City in 2004. For details see: 'Dooring' top culprit in cycling crashes New York City Bicycle Messenger Association nybma.com
Come to the Volunteer Mailing Party, Wednesday, December 8th at 6 pm at the T.A. Office (115 West 30th, #1207)! Free beer, soda, snacks and scintillating conversation.
Join T.A.
today to start receiving Transportation
Alternatives Magazine, our members-only in-depth quarterly
magazine— Selected articles
"Safety in Numbers" Redefines Road Safety
Bike Lanes Coming to Park Slope's 5th Ave
TA Fights for More Safety, Less Harassment
Restoring Vital Habitat: NYC Kids Need Car-Free Parks, Playgrounds and Side Streets
The Just Desserts of DOT's Piecemeal Policy
Governor Pataki's Low Capital Crime: Will He Commit it Again? TAKE
THE TOUR!
POTHOLES, STREET HAZARDS GOT YOU IN A RUT? Call DOT at 212-225-5368 and hit 0 to skip the message and speak with a
human. You can also report them online at transalt.org/ STAY SMART & INFORMED Savvy
transit riders get their lowdown on the subways here: Sensible
Transport Junkies:  The daily Gotham Gazette: gothamgazette .org NYC News summaries and savvy commentary. Bikes
in Bogota? Car-Free Cartagena? Tel-Aviv by Train?
Give on-line at transalt.org/join Quick!
What's your city council GET THERE!
Check our maps page for links to NYC-area bicycle and transit maps. RIDES AND WALKS Saturday, November 20, 8 am. Heading North, Bear Mountain Metric Century. Plaza Hotel. 5BBC. Saturday, November 20, 9:15 am. Wandering to Wave Hill. Columbus Circle. 5BBC. Sunday, November 21, 9 am. Hastings to Van Cortlandt Park. Grand Central upper level info. booth. Shorewalkers. Sunday, November 21, 9 am. Nyack. Central Park boathouse. Fast & Fabulous. Sunday, November 21, 10 am. Saddle Up and Ride The Hutch. Dyre Avenue subway station, #5 train. 5BBC. Tuesday, November 23, 10 am. TBA. Loeb Boathouse. The Weekday Cyclists in NYC. Friday, November 26, 7 pm. Critical Mass: Manhattan. Union Square North. Time's Up! Saturday, November 27, 9 am. Walk Off the Turkey. South Ferry Terminal entrance. Shorewalkers. Saturday, November 27, 10 pm. Riverside Ride. Columbus Circle. Time's Up! Saturday, November 27, 10 am. Turkey Jam. Bridgemarket. 5BBC. Sunday, November 28. Call for time. Kingston, NJ to Hamilton, NJ. Port Authority Bus Terminal, by the commuter statues. Shorewalkers. Sunday, November 28, 10 am. Near Brooklyn. City Hall. 5BBC. Sunday, November 28, 10:47 am. Stump Pond plus Caleb Smith. Smithtown LIRR station. Shorewalkers. Tuesday, November 30, 10 am. TBA. Loeb Boathouse. The Weekday Cyclists in NYC. |
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Let’s
not stop now! We now need your help in passing a different bill, a truly
landmark piece of legislation that would bring bicycling into the NYC
mainstream:
each
year in NYC and less than 2% recovered, bike thieves and the lack of indoor bike
parking are the largest obstacles to would-be bike riders in New York City. Int.
155 would require landlords, building owners, managers and supers to make
reasonable provisions for tenants to bring their bicycles inside. This would
greatly increase daily bike riding. 
Here
are three more ways you can help stop mandatory bike registration and help win
indoor bike parking: 
1)
Write a letter to the
editors
of the Daily News and Newsday and tell them: bike licensing bad; lawful cycling
and secure bike parking good (But be more eloquent than that.)
pedestrian crash. One way is to install medians so
that turning truck drivers would be forced to make a tighter turn, and thus slow
down, onto Sixth Avenue. Another is to provide pedestrians with exclusive
crossing time free from turning drivers. 
Thankfully, there are signs
that the DOT is beginning to recognize and more effectively wield its power to
prevent traffic crashes. DOT
announced in October that it will expand and make
permanent the Midtown THRU Streets program. 
Meanwhile, the Governor’s office, leaders in the State Legislature and the New
York City Council all reiterated their strong opposition to re-tolling the East
River bridges (the bridges used to be tolled in the early 1900's). The
Independent Budget Office, on the other hand, joined the chorus of those calling
for bridge tolls as an obvious solution for the MTA's root problem: the dearth
of dedicated revenue to fund transit. Mayor Bloomberg, who to his credit has
already tried, unsuccessfully, to push the tolls, last week threw up his hands
once more, telling the New York Times that bridge tolls are, "politically
impossible."
Tolls
are a heavy political lift, but as the Mayor of London found, it can be done. If
Mayor Mike were to apply to MTA fund-raising half of the political muscle he is
flexing to win the 2012 Olympics, then tolls might be a contender.
When originally planned by the
DOT, the 9th and 10th Street bike lanes were slated to stretch from the East to
the Hudson River and connect the East River and Hudson River Greenway paths that
line both rivers' shores. But DOT engineers did not want to interfere with motor
vehicle travel or parking lanes. So, for now,
the DOT has decided to only stripe
lanes between 6th Avenue and Avenue A, leaving cyclists to find their own way
between the Hudson River Greenway and 6th Avenue and the East River Greenway and
Avenue A. 
Tuesday, November 23, 6:30pm
Watch
your inbox over the next few weeks for an e-mail from us regarding the
long-awaited giveaway of a $1,000 Brompton folding bicycle. All e-bulletin
subscribers are automatically entered to win.
T.A.
Response:
Central
Park West Southbound Bike Lane
Plum
Beach Bike Path Sand Dune
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