Articles and Actions:
Events and Appeals:
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| Car-Free Summer Within Reach: Send a Postcard to the Mayor | |||
On Monday October 24th, hundreds of Central Park lovers came out to support a proposed three-month trial ban of cars from the loop drive. The event was a great success and featured inspiring oratory from Scott Stringer, Gail Brewer, Stacy Creamer, Cecil D. Corbin-Mark and Ken Coughlin.
If you missed the event, check out the 5 minute film summary. An increasing number of elected officials and the city's top civic, health, environmental and recreational groups are lining up to support the cause. Most recently, the Sierra Club of New York City and the Audubon Society of New York City signed on in support of a three-month trial closure of the loop drive during the summer of 2006, and NYC's Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum recently posted this letter of support. To add your support to the push for a car-free park, send a postcard to Mayor Bloomberg to request a three-month trial closure: Dear Mayor Bloomberg, I support a three-month trial closure of the Central Park loop drive in the summer of 2006 and encourage you to do the same. The trial will not only answer long-standing questions concerning Central Park traffic patterns, it will also provide a summer of safe recreation for all New Yorkers. Please answer the call of 100,000 petition signers and pledge your support for a trial closure. Sincerely, Click here to fill out the form online if it doesn't work in your email program. |
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| The Carnage Continues | |||
Enid Rivera always rode with her helmet and she never rode after dark without her lights. Enid's prudent bicycling habits, however, were no match for the hit-and-run motorist who plowed into her ten days ago on Queens Boulevard.
Enid is lucky. She is beginning to recover from her severe injuries. So far this year 21 less fortunate New Yorkers on bikes have been killed by drivers. In all of 2003 and 2004, 13 and 15 cyclists perished, respectively. What is City Hall doing to protect the droves of new cyclists — who for reasons ranging from fun, fitness to the high price of gas — are taking to the streets in record numbers? In July, city bicycle advocates, commuters, messengers, racers and enthusiasts developed the New York City Bike Safety Action Plan, and Transportation Alternatives met with the City Department of Transportation and the NYPD to urge the city to adopt the plan. While the city has agreed to some aspects of the plan, the City has yet to agree to the full plan.
To join the effort to convince City Hall to adopt the Bike Safety Action Plan, email bike@transalt.org. |
Bike Ticket Blitz | ||
Over the past several days the NYPD has drastically increased enforcement of traffic laws as they apply to bicyclists. If you feel you were unjustly ticketed or harassed or would like legal advice, contact T.A. at bike@transalt.org.
To urge the NYPD to ticket drivers who threaten cyclists and park and drive in bike lanes, email Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. Bike riders are required to follow all of the same traffic laws as drivers. Additionally, the law requires cyclists to ride in bike lanes unless preparing for a turn, passing or to avoid dangerous conditions like double-parked cars, potholes, debris or substandard bike lanes. Bikers must also have a bell and front and rear lights from dusk until dawn and yield to pedestrians, and adults are prohibited from riding on the sidewalk. |
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| Public Bike Thief #1: The City of New York? | |||
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In early October, the NYPD clipped and seized two dozen bikes that were harmlessly parked near the Bedford Avenue L subway station in Williamsburg. And in neighborhoods throughout the city, the Department of Sanitation has served bicyclists with dubious "parking tickets" for parking their bikes at street fixtures like signposts and parking meters.
These are patently unjust acts. Everyone from George Bush to the NYC Department of Health now pushes bicycling as a sensible and healthy transportation alternative. So why are our City agencies going out of their way to deter bicycling? Granted, sidewalks should routinely be cleared of abandoned bikes (and parked cars). But with only one bike rack for every 35 bicyclists, where else but lampposts and the like are bicyclists supposed to park their bikes? At least until our City rolls out enough bike parking, the City must provide adequate notice to bicyclists before clipping bikes to ensure that they are not seizing legitimately parked bikes. Was your bike taken or ticketed? If you recently received a bike "parking ticket" or suspect that the NYPD or other City agency confiscated your bike, contact T.A.: bike@transalt.org. See a short NY1 news piece that features T.A.'s Noah Budnick sounding off on this topic. |
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| T.A. Usurps Car Parking for More Productive Use | |||
It's a problem in business districts throughout New York City: free and under-priced curbside parking encourages vehicles to monopolize valuable street space that could be put to much more productive use.
On Saturday, October 29th, Transportation Alternatives decided to see what would happen if this irrational and inefficient policy were turned on its head. For several hours we fed the meters but we didn't fill the spaces with vehicles. Instead, we filled them with people and bicycles. Employees and residents near Bedford Avenue stopped by, chatted, parked their bikes and just hung out. Together we explored what can happen when parking spots are appropriated for more productive uses such as dining, socializing and bike parking. The response was overwhelming: "Make this an everyday thing!" Do you have underutilized parking spots in your neighborhood? If so, contact T.A. at streets@transalt.org. See a more comprehensive photo essay of the first-ever T.A. Parking Spot Squat. |
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| Help Win the 8th Avenue Bike Lane! | |||
On Wednesday, November 16th, Manhattan Community Board 4's Transportation Committee will meet about the proposed 8th Avenue bike lane. Come to the meeting to call for a new, buffered bike lane on 8th Avenue from 14th Street to Columbus Circle. Your voice will help win safer cycling!
Community Board 4 Transportation Committee The 8th Avenue bike lane would connect to Central Park and fill the gap between the popular Hudson Street bike lane (pictured) to the south and the well-used Central Park West, Frederick Douglass and St. Nicholas bike lanes to the north. In Midtown, it would offer a much needed alternative to the sub-standard 6th Avenue lane. The new bike lane would also help tame traffic, make 8th Avenue safer for everyone and reduce sidewalk cycling. If you can't make the meeting, contact Community Board 4 to express your support: Manhattan Community Board 4 |
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| On November 8, Vote Yes! for Proposition Two, The Transportation Bond Act | |||
Volunteer to help T.A. pass the Transportation Bond Act.
On the early morning and late afternoon of November 8th, T.A. and the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign need volunteers in all five boroughs to help win passage of Proposition Two, the Transportation Bond Act. If you are interested in volunteering, sign up here. |
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| Benefit for the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway | |||
November 10th, 6-8 PM
At this special benefit event, the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative will honor Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, who secured $14.6 million in the federal transportation bill for the greenway's implementation. Greenway friends and supporters are invited to attend, eat, drink, dance and view plans for the 14-mile greenway from Greenpoint to Sunset Park. For more information or to RSVP, please contact the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative. Brooklyn Greenway Initiative |
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| Operation Hazard ID: Pothole Reporting Ride | |||
Sunday, November 6th
Come ride Manhattan's heavily cycled bike lanes and help report potholes, missing bike lane markings, metal plates, debris and other street hazards. We need your help to scout, mark and record the hazards before sending a thorough list of street defects to the DOT for repair. Meet at the TA office at 2 pm Rain at the start cancels. Please RSVP to david@transalt.org. |
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| Eco-Metropolis 2005: Toward a Green, Just, Sustainable Greater NYC | |||
Friday and Saturday, November 11th and 12th
at the CUNY Graduate Center (365 5th Avenue at 34th Street) This annual conference features many of Greater New York's most accomplished grassroots environmental justice, neighborhood, water, air, food and transportation activists; "green" architects and designers; urban planners; social entrepreneurs; scientists; artists; engineers; educators; civil servants; and social leaders. Come check out the entire conference, and note that T.A. staff will be represented on two panels. For more information and a full program schedule, see: www.ecometropolis.org. |
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| Sneak Preview of CONTESTED STREETS: Breaking NYC Gridlock | |||
Special Sneak Preview: Wednesday, November 16th, 7-9pm at the New 42nd Street Studios (229 W. 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues). Duration: 56 minutes.
The event will include a discussion with the filmmakers and stars. Light refreshments provided thanks to Savoy, Florent and Brooklyn Brewery. Tickets are $10 at the door. Limited seating is available, RSVPs strongly encouraged. Contested Streets is a T.A. produced, Cicala Filmworks made documentary that explores the rich diversity of New York City street life before the introduction of automobiles and shows how New York can follow the example of other modern cities that have reclaimed their streets as vibrant public spaces. Contested Streets features new footage of reclaimed streets in London, Paris and Copenhagen and interviews with New York savvy notables such as Ken Jackson, Mike Wallace, Bob Kiley, Majora Carter, Kathryn Wylde, Enrique Penalosa, James Howard Kunstler and many more. View a 5 minute trailer of the film. |
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| T.A. Volunteers Take to the Streets This November! | |||
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Looking to get out on the street one last time before winter sets in? T.A. needs volunteers out on several field campaigns this November. Click on these links to find out more:
Safe Routes for Seniors Want to bask in the glamour of London's traffic guru, Jan Gehl, as he takes New York by storm? We need help with coat check, valet bike parking and basic set-up at our November 16th film screening and November 17th breakfast. Click here to get involved. The T.A. office will host our next Mailing Party on Wednesday, November 9th from 6-9 pm. No need to RSVP, just drop by for a casual meet-up with other T.A. activists! |
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| Also Don't Miss: | |||
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On Thursday, November 17th, the New York League of Conservation Voters and Citizens Union, in partnership with the Baruch College School of Public Affairs, will host a public forum for candidates vying to become the next City Council Speaker.
The event will be held at the Baruch College Conference Center on Thursday, November 17th from 6-8 pm. The Center is located at 55 Lexington Avenue, 14th Floor. The entrance is on 24th Street. Doug Muzzio, Professor of Public Affairs at Baruch, will moderate the discussion. The growing list of co-sponsors includes: Common Cause/NY To RSVP please call 212-227-0342 x. 43. |
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| T.A.'s New Anti-Speeding Campaign/Call for Affected Families and Friends | |||
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In early 2006 T.A. will unveil a new anti-speeding public education campaign. If you represent a family who has suffered a tragic loss at the hands of a speeding or reckless motorist and you are willing to help T.A. with this important campaign, please contact T.A. at info@transalt.org, and please put Anti-Speeding Campaign in the subject line.
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