In New York, we’ve already seen some confusion about what sort of trips bike-share is meant for, and even something as simple as swiping a Metrocard has a learning curve. We could probably use a video like this before Citi Bike launches in July.
We’ll see you back here on Tuesday, Streetsblog readers. In the meantime, feel free to share your storyboard ideas for NYC bike-share how-to videos in the comments.
Good job winning River Road, Komanoff. Now go for the Taconic.
Richard Grossman, organizer, agitator and an intellectual godfather of the movement against corporate sovereignty, put those words on a postcard he sent me in 1989, after hearing that the Palisades Interstate Park Commission was rescinding its ancient rules restricting cycling on Henry Hudson Drive, a spectacular sinuous two-lane road carved from the Jersey Palisades. The advocacy campaign I had led as president of Transportation Alternatives had been a Grossman special, with tactics running the gamut from a bike-in (with the inevitable arrest) to legal briefs, coalition building and behind-the-scenes suasion. Richard’s praise was heartfelt, but he was kidding about the Taconic. Or was he?
The Taconic Parkway is a multi-lane highway that starts in New York’s northern suburbs, ribbons through its exurbs and ends in rolling farmland between Albany and the Berkshires. Making it a bike highway, or even one shared with cars, was sheer fantasy. But Richard, who died last November, was always goading fellow activists to raise the stakes; to begin three new campaigns before the current one was finished; to aim beyond the reasonable. Whether he was kidding or not was for you to decide, and wrestling with it enlarged your sense of the possible.
I was four hours into a ride last Saturday when Richard sprang into to mind. My friend Udo and I had met up in lower Manhattan and biked up the Hudson River Greenway, over the Harlem River and into the Bronx, and through a string of Westchester villages. We were grinding up a punishing climb out of Ossining and past Maryknoll Seminary, when I spotted little Inningwood Road. “Hey,” I told Udo, “There’s a camp down that turnoff. I was there in 1994, at one of Richard Grossman’s ‘Rethinking the Corporation’ weekend meetings.”
It was in dozens of such meetings that Richard honed his thinking and stirred other activists to dig deeper and “contest the authority of corporations to govern,” as he put it. “Corporate sovereignty,” literally, rule by corporations, was what happened when corporations were granted perpetual life and given Constitutional protections while shareholders enjoyed limited liability. If that seems distressingly obvious today, it’s only because Richard was such a catalytic synthesizer that the culture is now permeated with what was originally a far more solitary vision. Over the course of that weekend’s Socratic dialogues nearly twenty years ago I got the idea but didn’t know what to do with it. My most vivid memory is ducking out after dinner and riding over a creek where the polyphony of hundreds of singing frogs stopped me in my tracks.
Past Inningwood we crept up Pinesbridge, past the golf course that in ’94 was a meadow returning to forest, turned left onto tiny Hoag Cross Road, and soon another left on Illington, to what used to be a thrilling downhill until extreme weather and budget cuts turned it into hundred-pothole hell. I blundered into a nasty crater, and Udo kept going while I steadied myself. When I caught up, he was stopped on the overpass above the northbound Taconic. The usual thrum of traffic was absent. Udo gestured to the parkway below, where there were no cars. Not just a lull, but zero traffic. “Post-apocalpytic,” he grinned.
For a while, it seems, City Council Member Steve Levin was the only person in the 76th Precinct with a radar gun -- the local police didn't have one until last week. Photo: Elizabeth Graham/Brooklyn Paper
Here’s how unconcerned the New York Police Department is with deadly traffic violations: For at least a month, and possibly longer, reports DNAinfo, Brooklyn’s 76th Precinct went without a radar gun.
Perhaps due to said lack of a radar gun, the 76th Precinct issued almost no speeding tickets in 2012 until this month: all of five from January through April [PDF]. In that time, over 60 percent of all moving violations the precinct issued were for just two violations, cell phone and seat belt use.
After acquiring a new radar gun, the precinct issued eight speeding tickets on Hicks Street in a single day last week, according to DNAinfo, more than doubling their previous total.
By going without a radar gun, the 76th Precinct couldn’t perform the essential task of keeping its citizens safe. Speed kills. According to the Department of Transportation, a pedestrian struck by a car moving 40 miles per hour has a 70 percent chance of dying. A pedestrian struck by a car driving the city speed limit of 30 miles per hour has an 80 percent chance of survival.
Just one month ago, 5-year-old Timothy Keith was killed by a cab driver in the 76th Precinct, on Hicks Street. Keith, who is deaf, ran into the street. The driver said he couldn’t stop in time, and no charges were filed against him.
It’s a good thing that the public can use radar guns, even when the police don’t. In March, City Council Member Steve Levin clocked 88 percent of drivers on Atlantic Avenue exceeding the speed limit. The westernmost section of Atlantic, near the BQE, is in the 76th precinct.
If it takes a tragedy and community pressure for precincts to even bother to buy a radar gun, much less to make speeding a priority, it speaks volumes to the NYPD’s prioritization of traffic safety. The unwillingness of the police to ticket speeding drivers is as strong an argument one can make for the necessity of using automated cameras – unavailable in NYC until Albany passes the enabling legislation – to catch dangerous speeders.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. Image: Borough President's Office
Election Day is more than a year away, but the race to become the next mayor of New York City is well-underway. In the last two issues of its magazine, Reclaim, Transportation Alternatives has been asking the would-be mayors for their thoughts on transit (in the more recent interviews, one question about cycling was added). So far, TA has received responses from all of the major candidates except 2009 Democratic nominee Bill Thompson.
All this week, Streetsblog will be re-printing the candidates’ responses. Here are the answers TA received from Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.
Q: What role does a well-funded public transit system play in New York City’s economic growth?A: Simply put, the public transit network enables the City to be the world’s financial center, a magnet for tech startups, a global leader in culture and art, and a place that people of all backgrounds can call home. During the “bad old days” of the 1970s, subways broke down once every 7,000 miles. Today, after the City, State, and MTA committed to investing over $100 billion for capital improvements to the system, subways break down once every 170,000 miles. It’s no surprise that the rebirth of the subway system—both its reliability and its safety— went hand in hand with the economic boom of the City.
Q: What would you do as mayor to address transit deserts, which are locations where riders are faced with hour-plus commutes, multiple transfers or multi-fare rides?A: The fact is that there is no single solution to the problem of transit deserts. Some possible solutions include transforming the dilapidated North Shore Rail Line to BRT or light rail, expanding bus rapid transit to Nostrand Avenue and other crowded corridors and examining the potential for expanded ferry service. No matter what the proposed solutions, one thing is certain: these deserts disproportionately affect working class New Yorkers, and working class New Yorkers need a true advocate in the Mayor’s office. That starts with a Mayor who prioritizes public transit.
Fresno State University has no shortage of parking. So why is this school spending $4 million to replace trees with asphalt? Image: Stop and Move
Perhaps you’ve seen the headlines recently about how higher education costs have been ballooning, leaving a generation shackled with crushing debt?
In its recent series on college costs and student debt, the New York Times noted that one factor, according to some analysts, is the host of expenses colleges and universities have assumed that are unrelated to the actual business of learning: fancy gyms, private dorm rooms, sports programs.
If there’s one area that’s ripe for savings, it’s parking, with each space in a surface lot costing more than $300 per year to operate and maintain — and double that when you factor in the total lifecycle costs of acquiring land and pouring asphalt.
One institution of higher learning that definitely hasn’t gotten the memo is Fresno State University, which is spending $4 million to replace trees with asphalt, according James Sinclair at Network blog Stop and Move:
If you’ve heard only one thing about the California State University system in the past couple of years, then it’s probably the words “budget cuts”. Details like “enrollment slashed” or “tuition hiked”. “Classes eliminated”. Remaining classes “doubling in size”. That’s what we’ve been reading in the news every month for the past few years.
There may not be money for silly things like classes, but adding 600 unneeded parking spots, and taking away some of the little greenery the university has? There’s always money for that.
More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill
Queens driver Ian Glasgow fled the scene of a near-fatal crash last month in what prosecutors said was a conscious attempt to avoid a DUI charge. The penalty for hit-and-runs is less than for drunk driving. Image: Daily News
If you get drunk, get behind the wheel of a car and get into a crash in New York State, you should flee the scene. Not morally, of course, but legally the repercussions will be less severe. A drunk driver who stays at the scene of a crash can be charged with a felony; sober up and take the hit-and-run charge and the worst you’ll face is a misdemeanor.
As Staten Island defense attorney Mario Gallucci told the Staten Island Advance, “As a defense attorney, you love it when they leave the scene, because it helps your case.”
Earlier this week, though, the State Senate passed legislation sponsored by Brooklyn Republican Marty Golden which would eliminate that perverse incentive. Golden’s bill would increase the penalty for leaving the scene of a crash, currently a Class A misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of one year in prison, to match that of causing injury while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, a Class E felony that can carry up to four years of jail time.
“This bill makes a very important change to the law in terms of aligning DUI and hit and run penalties in non-fatal or serious injury cases,” said Transportation Alternatives general counsel Juan Martinez.
Golden’s bill passed the State Senate last year as well, but died in the Assembly. The Assembly version, introduced by Brooklyn Democrat Steven Cymbrowitz, currently has 23 sponsors and is before the transportation committee.
In the Senate, the bill passed by a vote of 58 to 1, with Brooklyn Democrat Velmanette Montgomery the only nay.
Radio personality Kevin "Gravy" Canup delivers a bike, donated by Grand Rapids Bicycle Company, to Kenowa Hills High School in Walker, MI. Photo: Chris Clark for MLive.com
Tuesday morning, a group of intrepid high schoolers in the western Michigan city of Walker got onto their bikes and into a heap of trouble.
The Kenowa Hills High School students, eschewing a tradition of senior pranks that often destroy school property (spray-painting lockers and super-gluing doors, for example), opted to ride their bikes to the last day of classes in an impromptu parade.
They called the police department, which routinely accompanies similar events. They called the mayor of Walker, Rob VerHeulen, who rode along with the cops and even brought donuts. It was a “beautiful morning,” VerHeulen told WMXI, nearby Grand Rapids’ Fox affiliate.
But they neglected to call the school (it was a senior prank, after all). So when the convoy arrived — on time — they were greeted by Principal Katie Pennington, who promptly sent some 64 participating students home and informed them that not only would they be suspended for the last day of school, but they would also be prohibited from walking in the school’s graduation ceremonies. Cue the parental outrage.
One media mini-firestorm later, enough dust had settled for the school administration to rescind their suspensions and reschedule exams and commencement. A local radio host even convinced the Grand Rapids Cycle Company to donate a bike to the school, delivering it in person at a district board meeting to resounding applause.
“Did I overreact? In retrospect, of course I did,” Pennington said in a statement posted to the high school’s website yesterday. “My first response to learning of our high school seniors riding bikes to school on busy roads was to fear for their safety, and I responded in kind.”
And with that, whether or not it was their intention, the Walker 64 have helped draw attention to the sad state of bicycle infrastructure in many areas with considerable pent-up demand for cycling.
“The idea that a group of kids riding bikes to school constitutes a ‘prank,’ and a life-threatening one at that, raised eyebrows among more than a few cyclists, including myself,” said Ken Paulman, writing for Midwest Energy News. “But thanks to the magic of Google Maps, we can see that Pennington has a point.”
This bridge is the only way over a freeway on the way to Kenowa Hills High School. Image: Midwest Energy News/Google Street View
Graphic by Carly Clark
At the February City Council hearing on NYPD traffic enforcement, council members and the public learned that a driver who injures a pedestrian or cyclist in New York City is not normally cited under the state vulnerable user laws unless an officer witnesses the violation. NYPD officials said department protocol prohibits precinct officers from issuing tickets under VTL 1146, the state statute that includes Hayley and Diego’s Law as well as Elle’s Law, because the citations are prone to being dismissed in court.
Legislation pending in Albany would amend Hayley and Diego’s Law by making clear that officers may issue tickets for careless driving whether or not they observe an infraction. Meanwhile, thousands of pedestrians and cyclists are injured in traffic every year with barely any repercussions for motorists. Though the department’s prohibition on careless driving citations does not apply to the Accident Investigation Squad — the 19-officer unit assigned to conduct full-scale investigations in instances where someone dies or is believed likely to die — NYPD rarely employs VTL 1146 to assign responsibility to drivers who injure and kill.
In 2011, the first full year after Hayley and Diego’s Law went into effect, 161 pedestrians and cyclists were killed on New York streets. NYPD issued just 84 citations for careless driving last year, according to preliminary data obtained by Transportation Alternatives from the state Department of Motor Vehicles. That number represents a drop from 2010, when officers issued 98 citations under VTL 1146.
“It is appalling that the number of 1146′s would go down after the passage of the Hayley and Diego amendments to it,” says attorney Steve Vaccaro. “Hayley and Diego’s Law was a clear indication that the legislature wanted enforcement against drivers who injure carelessly. The flat trend in 1146 citations means NYPD doesn’t care. It is also a reflection of the fact that staffing of the officers who write the bulk of the 1146′s — the AIS detectives — is far too low.”
In March, City Council Member Steve Levin announced a number of measures intended to reform the way NYPD handles traffic crashes, one of which was a bill to require that at least five officers per precinct be trained to conduct AIS-scale investigations. That bill has since been reduced to resolution status, as has another that would have mandated that NYPD investigative protocols conform to state law.
Graphic by Carly Clark
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. Photo: Wikimedia
Election Day is more than a year away, but the race to become the next mayor of New York City is well-underway. In the last two issues of its magazine, Reclaim, Transportation Alternatives has been asking the would-be mayors for their thoughts on transit (in the more recent interviews, one question about cycling was added). So far, TA has received responses from all of the major candidates except 2009 Democratic nominee Bill Thompson.
All this week, Streetsblog will be re-printing the candidates’ responses. Here are the answers TA received from City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
Q: What role does a well-funded public transit system play in New York City’s economic growth?A: Investing in our transportation system must be a central part of any plan to grow our city’s economy. We want residents and businesses to be able to make long-term decisions based on the belief that our transit system is dependable and will continue to improve. Often a lack of transportation is one of the biggest obstacles for businesses looking to expand in a particular community and create jobs for working families. That’s why the Council’s efforts to expand the city’s booming tech industry from DUMBO and the Brooklyn Navy Yard to Downtown Brooklyn have focused in large part on increasing transit links between all three areas.
It’s also one of the reasons I worked with the Mayor to launch the East River Ferry last year, which currently serves 10,000 commuters a week. The East River Ferry has helped bring additional development to the Queens and Brooklyn waterfront, and business owners are already reporting an increase in economic activity. And just as importantly, we need to ensure that New Yorkers—no matter where they live—can commute to work or school in a timely fashion. This provides residents the opportunity to devote more time to their families and communities.
Q: What would you do as mayor to address transit deserts, which are locations where riders are faced with hour-plus commutes, multiple transfers or multi-fare rides?A: When I meet with New Yorkers in communities around the city, one of the most common issues they raise is long commute times and lack of access to transportation. I believe New York City and the MTA need to continue to invest in infrastructure projects in underserved communities, to make our transit system more equitable. But we also need to aggressively pursue more immediate solutions. That’s why I support the expansion of Express Bus and Select Bus Service in all five boroughs—two ways we can quickly speed commute times for many New Yorkers. Ferries are another way we can shorten transit times without major construction, and the City Council has been leading the charge to expand ferry service to waterfront neighborhoods in all five boroughs.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
