Seen/Scene in NYC: Transit & Road Improvements Begin

Shortly after the City of New York and the DOT announced game-changing bus and bike lanes running along First and Second Avenues, DOT got right to work on them. Forgetting the fact that they are truly not and will never be "surface subways" as the bureaucrats put it (due to the bus lanes not being physically separated, problems will arise when cars, trucks, and yes, even emergency vehicles park or stand in it,) lanes have been popping up over the past few weeks. On Second Avenue (with a better redesign of "bus bulbs" on Broadway as well) and First Avenue.

I got my first-hand look Tuesday along First Avenue: for the several minutes or so walking South along 1st it looked as if most vehicles were respecting the new bus, bike and parking lanes.  But only time (and NYPD enforcement or mockery of) will tell.

Update 7/21/10: The problem with the Second avenue bus lane is that is adjacent to the curb, which means that trucks park there to load/unload. This is a clear difference from 1st Ave, where the bus lane is adjacent to a parking lane.

Here's some pics!

Clear view of new bike lanes at 1st and E 9th (looking South):

DOT Contractors painting bus lane along 1st Avenue:


DOT Contractors installing pedestrian refuge island at 1st and Houston:


Post 201
Comment below! - and leave an ID/email to get replies EcstaticE.blogspot.com

Happy 200!!!

HAPPY 200th PUBLISHED POST!!!!!

Yes, the 200th post is finally here and is a confirmation that I am still alive. Apologies for the extremely long hiatus since my last official post on 11/11/09, school work and a sense of lethargy on writing a blog that no one really reads made me reluctant to continue blogging. However, with Summer break here and a enormous list of bookmarked websites and news articles in my browser's "ToBePosted" folder have persuaded me to resume. Although I will try my best to include everything I have wanted to talk about (politics, entertainment, rants), I can only include items that have been preserved in that aforementioned bookmark folder; stuff I thought about while in the shower maybe forever lost to time. Details/opinions may also be brief. I will also add a date to give it some context.

Now, on to the celebrations! A quick recap of the last 100 posts! (The 100th post was published 2/5/09.) Get ready for a barrage of hyperlinks but trust me, it is worth the read:

• Cooper Union builds, completes behind schedule, and gets 'Ugly' (future posts show Cadillac and Time Warner Cable are lovin' it too)
• Health Care Reform: Why I Fought for my Uncle Gen
• My growing love for livability
• Re-electing Bloomberg on my own, but was it a mistake? (future post)
• I'm there for you, MTA, but we can all help
• My attempts at super-local reporting
• And I'm still looking for my Obama button :(

Here's to another 100 and thank you for stopping by and hope to see you again soon!


Post 200 Dated 5/19/10, see 200th post for reason
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Bill Thompson: Bad for Transit & Livable Streets

As comptroller, he received millions in personal contributions while the city's pension declined. He gave billions to contractors who were willing to support him during his mayoral race. And if he becomes mayor, he will make quality of life in NYC worse.

Under Mike Bloomberg, the Department of Transportation has improved quality of life for pedestrians by increasing pedestrian safety with wider sidewalks, new pedestrian plazas, and safer routes to school for children. Bike lanes and bikers have increased in the past 8 years that enable more New Yorkers to commute by bike and to encourage more to take part in physical activity.

And yet, if Bill Thompson is elected as Mayor, he would do away with all of these safety and pedestrian space gains that other major cities worldwide have already instituted. He plans to get rid of the Dept. of Transportation's Commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, despite her even championing the installation of working bus arrival signs, something the MTA hasn't been able to do for a decade.

Thompson has also attacked Bloomberg and the DOT's installation of bike lanes and how they were harming neighborhood businesses and would rip them out. Not true. In addition, he also claimed that the community was not consulted before bike lane placement. Also not true. In fact, what the DOT has done in the past several years has made NYC safer for pedestrians.

And although Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan to improve mass transit for the over 5.2 MILLION people that take it did not pass the ever-ineffective State Senate, Thompson barely has a plan to improve transit that moves NYC. Benjamin Kabak of SAS says on his transit plan, "...the one about objecting to MTA service cuts. He won’t promise to fund the MTA, but he will object!"

This Tuesday, re-elect one of the most progressive mayors in NYC history that will continue to improve New York City's quality of life.. He is supported by unions, celebrities, local newspapers, and average New Yorkers. Plus, we give him only $1 a year-the best deal in NYC. This Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, vote for Mike Bloomberg for Mayor.

Post 196/204
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A Tree Grows in (not Bklyn) the Road

An interesting way from Australia to calm traffic and provide a better environment to live in. Trees are planted in square plots of land that seem literally plopped onto the sides of roads and around crosswalks.



Youtube: Streetfilms Shortie: Planted Trees Green Streets/Calm Traffic (Melbourne)

Post 183/191
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Streetsblog + Me = Cool

Articles from tips I've sent to Streetsblog:

1) AAA Times Square Magazine Article
2) DOT's Ped Plazas Survey
3) Soon to come (I hope), something on Cooper's anti-indoor bike rack...

Post 178/186
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AAA: You're BSing Me Right?

You read it here first: AAA, the automotive company, just published an article blasting the "environmental and congestion benefits" of the pedestrian plaza in Times Square. They also doubt the safety improvements brought on by eliminating car traffic from Broadway. Let's look at it this way - taking back the streets from the gridlock, pollution, and hazards of car and truck traffic makes it safer for pedestrians. Every time I have visited Times Square before this makeover involved overcrowded sidewalks filled with passersby and tourists, and many people frequently have to walk out onto the asphalt. And it's funny how they believe that the diagonal orientation of Broadway fits into "New York’s no-nonsense grid–pattern street design." Then again, AAA is basically a lobbyist for car drivers...

http://www.aaany.com/CarandTravel/Current/A_Broadway_Flop.asp

Post 174/182
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Seen/Scene in NYC: Plazas Charming Hollywood

Madison Square Park: The NYC Dept. of Transportation (DOT) has in the past several months been transforming areas of Manhattan into urban pedestrian plazas, most notably Times Square and Herald Square. Madison Square Park was actually the first to receive painted green asphalt, sand surfacing as well as the addition of chairs, tables, and greenery to make it a comforting oasis in the middle of traffic-hectic Manhattan. Known as traffic-calming measures, fewer road lanes and "neck downs" help slow down traffic, thus making it safer for pedestrians.
These urban oases have been a great hit with New Yorkers and tourists alike, with the ITDP (which awarded NYC the Sustainable Transport Award), and recently, even with Hollywood. On Tuesday, I walked by the park and noticed that there was a film crew on the plaza! A hot dog stand seemed to be the focus of a large boom camera and at least 2 dozen crew and extras on the site. My initial reaction was that it was a shoot for Law & Order, since I had previously seen them at Astor Place with a similar type of camera. Now why would I call the plazas a success? Without it, this location would not have had a great location to shoot the Flatiron Building directly behind it and house all of the equipment, attractiveness is key...Score 1 for the DOT! Picture below:
[EDITED 9/23/09] Hot dog stand was set for Ugly Betty shoot.


Post 161/167
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200 of 1800 Miles of Bike Lanes Added, But Safety?

Today, the Mayor and other city officials celebrated the addition of the 200th mile of new bike lanes ever since the city announced it as a major goal in improving the livability of New York City streets in PlaNYC. By 2030, the city is expected to have 1600 more miles across all 5 boroughs. However, more often than not, these bike lanes are on the narrowest of streets, with nothing but a 6 inch white painted line to separate fast and dangerous cars from bikers. Bikers are frequently injured or killed these days, mainly from vehicles just plain ignoring them - either by sideswiping them or just parking in the lanes (something even cops do it too). Something more along the lines of buffer zone along most bike lanes such as this city-approved one from Streetsblog would be better. We still have a long way to go before NYC is truly a bike-friendly city.

Published Post Number:139/145
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