But I think we are all here to help enlighten our Commissioner who has given us signs of optimisim. I'll be looking forward to the next similar situation to see if the statement does include better wording and encouragement to get out of the car.

Flatbush Avenue east of Times Plaza is very wide. It's also an auto sewer, but doesn't have to be.

John --- That sounds like Queens Blvd. Planting trees doesnt compensate for a right of way that just too wide for pedestrians.

Gigantism of any kind works much better for people in cars than people on foot.

Sorry, make that "From the small amount of info available..."

Let's hope that's wrong. Maybe the City has, for example, narrowed the absurdly wide (and thus fast) lane widths NYC normally uses.

My architecture studio at the University of Miami is working on the Atlantic Yards / Forest City Ratner / Gehry site: in two of the the three master plans we've made that stretch of Flatbush a Parisian-style boulevard, with 12' traffic lanes, 2 local roads with parking, and 3 planted medians and wide sidewalks (the third plan narrowed Flatbush and made it part of a pair of one-way couplets along with that stretch of Pacific).

In the last 50 years, we've made many of our streets auto sewers, and trees and pretty lights aren't enough to counteract that. Flatbush is one of the worst, and it really needs some rethinking to reclaim its balance for pedestrians.

"[W]ith the Manhattan Bridge's car-carrying capacity greatly reduced there are better ways to transport themselves into Manhattan than by car."

In particular, there are better ways to transport themselves over the Manhattan Bridge: Namely, the bike/ped lane and the B, D, N and Q lines.

The MTA spent 1986 to 2004 restoring service to all four Manhattan Bridge subway tracks. The DOT could capitalize on the fact that all four tracks are finally back in service and encourage people to fully use the great restored train service.

they even put those tiny ramp thing-ies on the steps so you can roll your bike up if you want

This year when Shea Stadium closed half it's parking lot, they did at least urge people to take mass transit. However, there is still no elevator for disabled people at the subway station, forcing them to drive. There is no express service on the Number 7 train back into Manhattan resulting in an hour long trip. There are an inadequate number of turnstiles to handle the rush at the end of the game. There isn't even buses to bring people to satellite parking facilities near LaGuardia.

The DOT could have not only urged the use of mass transit and other alternatives to driving, they could have used this opportunity to build out those alternatives encouraging new patterns of transportation for the next decade and beyond.