Articles and Actions
Events and Appeals
Letters to T.A.
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| Cars Out for Summer: Give Us One Hour, We'll Give You Three Months | |||
Noon at City Hall on Sunday 3/26
RSVP Now The Car-Free Central Park campaign continues to gain momentum among the ranks of New York City politicians. The breadth and depth of this movement will be evident on Sunday March 26th at noon as hundreds of Car-Free Central Park faithful rally at City Hall alongside top elected officials united by the belief that the Mayor should at least make Central Park's loop drive off-limits to cars during the summer months. Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum; Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer; City Councilmembers Gale Brewer, Dan Garodnick and Jessica Lappin as well as City Council Transportation Committee Chair John Liu all publicly support the event and most will be present on March 26th to speak. We are still working hard to encourage Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito and Councilmember Inez Dickens to support the cause and speak at the rally. If you live in either of their districts write them a note or email, call or fax and ask them to support a Car-Free Summer in Central Park for the health, safety, quality of life and joy of their constituents. It will surely be a historic moment in the campaign for a Car-Free Central Park. Don't miss it and make sure to bring friends.
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| A Welcoming Willoughby? Downtown Brooklyn Could Get Much Needed Public Space | |||
Can't find a place to sit? You're not alone. Brooklyn residents and employees lament the fact that great public space is hard to find in Downtown Brooklyn. Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Brooklyn Heights Promenade are too far for most employees to reach on lunch break and for many getting to Cadman Plaza means crossing several big scary streets.
But all that may change this spring—thanks to a new plan that would pedestrianize portions of Willoughby Street between Pearl and Adams Street and Adams Street and East Service Road between Willoughby Street and Adams Street's off-slip. A direct result of the Downtown Brooklyn Traffic Calming Project and the Downtown Brooklyn Transportation Blueprint this plan would bring much need greenery and seating to the area: adding planters, benches, tables, chairs and bike racks to this under-utilized street space. We commend the Brooklyn DOT for making the needs of the 2,600 pedestrians that walk through the area (at peak hours) a priority. Join Transportation Alternatives and support the Brooklyn DOT as they continue to move in the right direction. Innovations like this can become the norm.
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| Survey Says... | |||
Walking and biking in New York City can be difficult and dangerous. Personal anecdotes detailing reckless drivers and poorly designed infrastructure abound, but systematic data is often hard to come by. To convince elected officials and City agencies of the hardships cyclists and pedestrians face every day, Transportation Alternatives needs volunteers to help collect data for the following surveys:
Traffic Violations Survey: Driving and parking in bike lanes, double parking, dooring and speeding are all too common on New York City streets. Though these traffic violations pose a significant danger to cyclists, they are rarely enforced. Help collect data that will quantify the frequency of these infractions and convince the NYPD to increase their enforcement efforts. Downtown Parking Survey: Car commuters are overrunning Chinatown, City Hall and the surrounding areas. Illegal sidewalk parking discourages walkers, destroys the streetscape, prevents or delays deliveries and ruins local businesses. Unfortunately, this might-makes-right approach to parking has become commonplace, especially among City employees. Join our team of volunteers as we document the extent of this problem. Bridge Safety and Access Surveys: The four East River bridges are critical links in the New York City bike network, yet access to the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg and Queensboro bridges is inconvenient and often downright dangerous. T.A. is studying safety and access conditions at the bridge path entrances on both sides of the river and needs your help to survey path users and document dangerous traffic conditions. For more information and to get involved, contact T.A. at volunteer@transalt.org. |
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| T.A. Goes to Capitol Hill | |||
Two T.A. staffers headed down to Washington, D.C. at the beginning of March to advocate for walking and bicycling on a national scale as part of the National Bike Summit. There they met with advocates from across the country and paid visits to our state representatives and senators hard at work in our nation's capitol.
The Bike Summit was started as a way to create visibility for cyclists and cycling issues on Capitol Hill. This was vital during the reauthorization of the Federal Transportation Bill, to ensure that cyclists and pedestrians got their fair share of transportation funding from the federal government. This year our group went to D.C. to thank our elected officials for setting aside billions for bicycles in the new transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU. We also asked for their support on a few new initiatives. Here are two important ones for New York City.
T.A. was part of a contingent of 15 New Yorkers at the summit, including representatives from the New York Bicycling Coalition, Recycle-A-Bicycle, Bicycle Habitat and Bike New York. The National Bike Summit is organized by the League of American Bicyclists. |
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| New York City Streets in Photographs: Rebecca Lepkoff | |||
What has a century of auto-centric planning cost New York? Even as our NYC Streets Renaissance Campaign looks ahead to 21st century street improvements, it also harks back to the days before automobiles crowded the life out of New York City streets.
The photographs of Rebecca Lepkoff, beginning in the 1930s, capture families sitting out on stoops and curbs to escape overcrowded, sweltering tenements. They show neighbors relaxing each evening, their field of vision unobstructed by rows of parked cars. We can see the "informal supervision" of livable streets at work as kids play kick-the-can, stickball and hopscotch in the roadbed. To learn how Transportation Alternatives is working to revive these forgotten pastimes, visit nycstreets.org. |
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| Join T.A. as We Welcome Enrique Peñalosa to NYC | |||
You have two great chances to see Enrique Peñalosa. As mayor of Bogotá, Colombia Peñalosa transformed his city's landscape and the outlook of its residents by democratizing public spaces in Bogotá: adding and reconstructing hundreds of miles of sidewalks, more than 185 miles of bicycle paths, pedestrian streets and greenways and more than 1,200 parks.
At the morning event Peñalosa will be giving a formal full length presentation about his work in Bogotá. During the evening event he will give a more informal presentation and there will be more time for discussion. For those already familiar with Peñalosa's work in Bogotá, the evening event will put his accomplishments in Bogotá into a global context and explore what it means for New York City. Peñalosa will be joined at the evening event by MacArthur Foundation Fellow and Bronx native, Majora Carter of Sustainable South Bronx. Evening Event: A very special evening with... Enrique Peñalosa "If you improve the pedestrian qualities of the city you get improved real estate values. My main worry is equality and happiness, but many people think real estate values are more important, so the interesting thing is that both of them are benefited."
Join Transportation Alternatives, New York City's leading advocacy group for bicycling, walking and environmentally sensible transportation and the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, a leading non-profit organization that promotes environmentally sustainable and equitable transportation worldwide, as we host the visionary politician, economist and urbanist, Enrique Peñalosa. Beer, wine and light hors d'oeuvres. Tickets $45 each. Make checks payable and mail to: Limited space is available for this event. Morning Event: Transportation Alternatives, The New York City Streets Renaissance Campaign and the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management as part of the Livable Streets series present: Less Traffic, More Life "We had to build a city not for businesses or automobiles, but for children and thus for people. Instead of building highways, we restricted car use. ... We invested in high-quality sidewalks, pedestrian streets, parks, bicycle paths, libraries; we got rid of thousands of cluttering commercial signs and planted trees. ... All our everyday efforts have one objective: Happiness." Enrique Peñalosa, renowned urban planner, economist and former Mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, discusses why he chose to improve the streets to make wonderful spaces for pedestrians and bicyclists. He will explain how these changes led to less traffic and more productivity and human happiness. Wednesday, March 22 8:30-10 am Light breakfast will be served. Admission is free. |
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| This Week at Livable Streets: A New Vision for New York | |||
3/20, 6:30-8 pm Connecting Neighborhood Leaders As citizens of New York City, we have seen how traffic negatively affects our local communities and our quality of life. This event is designed for residents and neighborhood leaders who are frustrated by traffic congestion and streets that don't meet the needs of their community, and who are looking for ways to become involved in changing streets for the better. Come learn about resources—including technological tools, planning and advocacy assistance, videography and media strategy—that the NYC Streets Renaissance provides to neighborhood activists working to improve their streets and traffic. This event will also highlight the efforts of the Municipal Art Society's Planning Center, which helps community organizations and neighborhood advocates confront the planning, land use and economic development issues facing their neighborhoods.
After the presentation, meet others who want a new vision for our neighborhoods and who are joining together to fight for better streets across the five boroughs. Admission is free.
3/21, 6:30-8 pm What is the Problem with NYC Traffic and What Can Be Done to Solve it? Please join us at the Museum of the City of NY for a panel discussion on traffic relief. Three different perspectives on the pressing issue of traffic relief will be presented by Tim Tompkins, President, Times Square Alliance; Councilmember David Weprin, 23rd Council District, Queens; and Paul White, Executive Director, Transportation Alternatives in a conversation moderated by Peter H. Kostmayer, President of Citizens for NYC. A special viewing at 6 pm of the exhibition New York Comes Back: Mayor Ed Koch and the City will precede the program and a reception will follow. At the Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan. Admission is free. 3/27, 6:30-8 pm Designing Public Consensus: The Civic Theater of Community Participation Author Barbara Faga, Chair of EDAW's board of directors, will be joined by Alexander Garvin, Yale University Adjunct Professor of Urban Planning and Management, and Gary Hack, Dean, University of Pennsylvania School of Design, in a discussion concerning the public planning process as it relates to New York's World Trade Center and Battery Park City sites, Boston's Wharf district and Philadelphia-based initiatives. Admission is free. Events, unless otherwise noted, are at the Municipal Art Society, 457 Madison Avenue, Manhattan |
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| NY'ers for Parks 4th Annual Parks Advocacy Day | |||
Register now to continue making a difference for parks.
Parks Advocacy Day will include:
WHEN: May 10, 2006 Sign up on the New Yorkers for Parks website. |
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| Regional Commuter Choice Awards: Call for Nominations | |||
Helping employees save time and money while cleaning the air can be rewarding! If your company promotes commute alternatives—transit, vanpool, ridesharing, bicycling, walking or telecommuting—and is located in the NY Metropolitan region, you may be eligible for a 2006 Regional Commuter Choice Award. Find out more and nominate your workplace by April 7th at nymtc.org.
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| Letters to T.A. | |||
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Big Scary Intersection in Brooklyn Remains Big, Scary 2.27.06 Dear T.A., I live near the corner of Ocean Ave. and Parkside in Brooklyn and it is very dangerous intersection for walkers. I think some of the problem is a lack of enforcement of existing traffic laws by NYPD. Have you brought it up with them? Also what is the participation of the DOHMH? Reducing the barriers to walking is a public health issue. Best, Dear Mike, Parkside and Ocean Avenue is a tricky location for pedestrians. According to our crashstat.org tool, it is also one of the worst intersections in Brooklyn for cyclists. About a year ago T.A. started collecting petition signatures to get the DOT to study the crossing and make it safer. In response, DOT promised to make a few signal timing changes at this location. To date, however, the agency has only restriped some of the faded markings. Our volunteer Brooklyn advocacy committee has been tracking this issue, you can find out more by visiting transalt.org/campaigns/brooklyn/list.html and signing up for the mailing list or contacting the head of the committee at brooklyn@transalt.org. T.A. is currently exploring opportunities for funding of a collaborative effort with Brooklyn’s District Public Health Office to increase physical activity through safer street design. Furthermore, we are collaborating with the Department of Health on the promotion of NYC Bike Month in May of 2006. We encourage you to forward your suggestion to both Commissioner Iris Weinshall of the Department of Transportation and Commissioner Thomas Frieden of the Department of Health and Mental Hygeine and to Mayor Bloomberg. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg Commissioner Iris Weinshall Commissioner Thomas R. Frieden, M.D. Best, EVill Bike Parking Mess 2.10.06 Dear T.A., There has been a sharp increase in bike thefts and dismemberments in East Village area. Three bikes were stolen, two from inside the building at 608 E. 9th St and at least one from the street within a month. Also seems that public bike locks are being used as storage bins for street bike vendors. Does anyone know who the bikes belong to locked around the library? The bike rack at the corner of Ave. B and E. 9th—my bike was cut out on a Sunday three weeks ago, then four bikes that do not belong to anyone on this block appeared locked to the rack and they are slowly being taken apart. Seats are apparently another hot item for the local thieves market. Dear Eastsider, Stolen bikes, especially when part of a string of thefts, should be reported to the police. The police precinct for the East Village is the 9th Precinct. You can contact them at (212) 477-7811. You're also fortunate to live in the only police precinct with a rational abandoned bike policy. If you report an abandoned bike to the 9th Precinct, they'll come out and tag the bike. The tag informs the owner that they have 2 weeks to remove the bike, after which the police and the Dept. of Sanitation remove the bike and haul it away. We also encourage you to contact your City Council member and ask that they support Introduction Number 38, the Indoor Bicycle Parking Bill introduced by Councilmember David Yassky. This would require commercial buildings to allow tenants to bring their bikes inside, which would free up valuable on street parking for those who need it. You can identify your council member by clicking on "Who Represents Me?" at nypirg.org. Best, Activism for the Over-Committed 2.15.06 Dear T.A., Congratulations on maintaining the excellent quality of your e-newsletter. Would the editor please consider an article addressing the following? I'm a bike commuter, working for a non-profit myself. I've always appreciated that the newsletter recommends specific ways for members to get involved, volunteer and join the fight. Would you consider writing an article that recommends meaningful ways that the time-strapped non-activist biker could help support T.A. beyond simply paying dues? Is there anything a cyclist can do, which doesn't take extra time—like simply continuing to ride through the winter, or making a point of riding down certain streets on the commute home, or being sure to take the route through the parks, or wearing a reflective vest with a certain message on the back...but I'm not sure what would help. Call it "strategic low-level activism," but maybe there are other members with the same needs. Any suggestions? Thanks! Dear Time-Strapped Biker, Thank you for your praise and support of Transportation Alternatives. There are many "strategic low-level activism" steps you can take to support T.A. The first thing is just as you suggested, keep riding, walking and using mass transit. The second thing is to speak up, report street defects when you see them by calling 311, ask your City Councilmember for better bike lanes or a greenway in your district and to fix existing bike infrastructure. This would probably take about 5-10 minutes and you could do this once a month. You might also consider asking your elected officials to come for a ride with you once the weather gets a bit nicer. One of our bike advocates (bike@transalt.org) could give you some pointers on this. The idea is to show politicians what biking conditions are like in NYC and for you to ask them to help improve them. This would take a bit longer, but you could work it into a ride you planned to do anyway. Finally, you can tell other people about Transportation Alternatives and the work we do. If you read an interesting article in our e-bulletin feel free to forward it on. This would only take a few seconds. The work we do is pretty commonsense to many of our e-bulletin readers, but our success depends on having even more people hear about it and get involved. Best, Transportation Alternatives is a member-supported non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Join T.A. today!
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