New York
Basics
President Obama’s Hollow Push for Infrastructure Investment
This afternoon, President Obama stood by New York’s Tappan Zee Bridge and made a speech pressing Congress to do something about infrastructure investment. It’s part of his Infrastructure Week push for Congress to pass a fully funded transportation reauthorization bill. Many other groups are spending this week sounding the same horn.
May 14, 2014
Chuck Schumer Proposes Making Bike-Share Memberships Tax Deductible
If you drive to work, the IRS allows you to pay for parking with pre-tax money. Same goes if you take the train or the bus (though transit commuters can't claim as much tax-free earnings as car commuters). People who ride their own bikes are also eligible to deduct some associated costs. But if you get to work using Citi Bike, Divvy, Nice Ride, or any of the other bike-share systems sprouting up in American cities, you get no such assistance from Uncle Sam.
April 2, 2014
Talking Headways Podcast: Knight Rider Rides Again
It was a dark and stormy day in San Francisco and Jeff Wood stayed dry in Woonerf studios, recording the Talking Headways podcast with co-host Tanya Snyder, who was bitter that days after the spring equinox, Washington, DC, was getting hit with another snowstorm.
March 27, 2014
The 5 Cities Where It’s Easiest — and Hardest — to Walk to the Grocery Store
Walk Score has put together a new ranking of the best and worst American cities for walkable access to food. The above visualization contrasts New York, city with the best access, and Indianapolis, which brought up the rear in Walk Score's ratings.
March 27, 2014
Families of NYC Traffic Violence Victims Band Together for Safer Streets
On Sunday, New Yorkers who've lost loved ones to traffic violence gathered on the steps of City Hall in Lower Manhattan to launch Families for Safe Streets, a new initiative advocating for street designs and traffic enforcement that will save lives. In this moving Streetfilm, members of Families for Safe Streets talk about their goals and why they're speaking out.
February 25, 2014
Long Island Lawmaker to Injured Mom: No One Should Ride Bikes Here
After his mother was hit by a driver while riding her bicycle, 17-year-old Matthew Cutrone appealed to local lawmakers with a pretty reasonable request: consider adding bike lanes. But this story only goes downhill from there.
February 13, 2014
Talking Headways Podcast: Vision Zero
The best thing about hosting a Streetsblog podcast is getting to call on other Streetsblog reporters for the lowdown on the biggest news of the week. In this case, Jeff Wood and I called Ben Fried, Streetsblog's editor-in-chief based in New York, to provide some context for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's big announcement of the campaign to eliminate traffic deaths in the city. Note that the podcast was recorded before the recent outbreak of jaywalking tickets in Manhattan.
January 22, 2014
Bixi Bankruptcy: What Does It Mean for American Bike-Share?
The Montreal-based equipment supplier for several American bike-share systems, including New York's Citi Bike and Chicago's Divvy, filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday. It's unclear exactly how the restructuring or sale of the company known as Bixi will play out, but the bankruptcy filing could accelerate the transition to more robust and reliable hardware and software. It also figures to be a messy process, though the company that operates Citi Bike expressed confidence today that it won't impede their service.
January 21, 2014