Soho Wins Skirmish vs. Trucks

In the May/June issue of Auto-Free Press, we reported on the efforts of Broome Street residents to fight oversize truck traffic on their street. Now the DOT plans to erect big signs that read, "Historic Area-No Trucks," and back them up with a fine of over $1000.

Residents had grown tired of the rigs, many of them longer than the City limit of 55 feet. Trucks often use lower Manhattan streets to avoid Verrazzano Bridge tolls.

Channels 2 and 9 also reported the story, and the DOT agreed to step in. Only partially satisfied, residents are now putting pressure on the City's Landmarks Commission to get involved in protecting historic buildings from the damage done by traffic.

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Mobil Calls Gas "America's Best Bargain."

It's hard to argue with the Mobil Oil Corporation, which used its ad space on the Times's Op-Ed page recently to boast about the incredibly low price of gasoline In apologizing for a recent price increase, the oil giant pointed out that in 1920, gas cost a dollar more per gallon than it does now (in present-day dollars).

When you think about it, gas is a real bargain. All it costs is $1.17 a gallon, plus dirty air and water, urban sprawl, the spread of pavement, the loss of community, pedestrian, cyclist, and motorist deaths, mountains of tires, noise, soot, and a landscape of parking lots. Such a deal.

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