http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pJaFSnR0iG0ZVbkztPcwzJw&hl=en

I’m just trying to clarify the thinking behind it, as I understand it. It’s not so much about the people currently driving to the Javits Center, but about the buildings planned for the western end of the Yards. The city wants people to get there by transit. Of course, last we heard they’re also hedging their bets by trying to build lots of parking.

If the city were to build the Hudson Yards development as a totally pedestrian-hostile landscape with lots of parking and bad transit, it could become a car-dependent enclave. Apparently this is what happened in Boston:

http://www.transit.stunningabsurdity.com/?p=104

Given that option, I’d prefer a subway extension. But at this point I don’t see the need for/value of the Hudson Yards development. Larry, the argument you articulated (not sure whether you’re endorsing it or not) is pretty circular: we need to build the office buildings to pay for the bonds that we raised to dig the subway extension to get people to the office buildings.

Maybe in a boom it would be fun to convert that area to office space. Not in a recession.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080513/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices;_ylt=Ap46VI8Z9v..K1r_mg1P1CKs0NUE

-Pedestrians have always vastly outnumbered occupants of cars in NYC, and always will. Our streets teem with human beings 24/7. Why can’t we govern the streets to maximize everyone’s safety?

-in many (most?) suburban areas around the NYC metro area, the default speed limit for residential streets is 25 mph. And there are hardly any friggin’ pedestrians there. (Are their lives worth more, maybe?)

-Motorists routinely go ten mph and more above the posted* speed limit. An illegal 35mph would still be better than an illegal 45mph.

-Speed limits are posted almost nowhere in Manhattan.

I know, there’s a lot more to improving safety than changing the books. But still, there is NO REASON for 30 mph to be the default speed limit in NYC’s interior streets. Cut it!

The most ludicrous example of this is that when cars coming off the Manhattan Bridge need to make a hard right (a 90 degree turn), there’s a yellow suggested speed limit sign of 25 mph.

Or how about the sign that says “share the road, watch out for cyclists.” Couldn’t it say “speed limit 15.”

I made the practice sound more confrontational than it really is:

I don’t deliberately go slow. But I do take a lane, and I don’t go all that fast either. And most importantly, very rarely do motorists around me make any indication that I’m being confrontational.

And riding this way, I am generally making the street safer for everyone around me.

And lately I’ve not been bothering to state cases clearly here in streetsblog comments.

Still, like I commented about the other day, the way I ride recently put me within inches of saving the lives of two toddlers carelessly crossing Lexington Ave.

Yeah, you’re right, I’m pretty much suggesting that cyclists calm traffic themselves with their mere presence.

Official speed limit of 30 mph on city streets = lots of unnecessary deaths.

Because taxes on the buildings to be built on the West Side are expected to pay back the bonds the city is floating to give the MTA the money to build the Flushing Extension. No buildings, no additional taxes, higher taxes or service cuts for everyone else.

NYC has far less office space than it did before 9/11, and it is hurting our economy. Any office buildings that get underway now would not be finished until the recession is over sometime in 2011 or later. They wouldn’t even begin construction until the residential market has crashed and construction prices decreased.

The new office buildings would be a far better investment than much of what is out there — stocks, bonds, real estate — IMHO, but I don’t have a couple of $billion sitting around. Unfortunately, intermediaries who were recently shoveling out cash at low rates of return for anything that moves, now won’t invest in anything but Treasuries.

Although to my limited knowledge there’s only been one NYC cyclist fatality that can be fairly chalked up to the design of the Class II lane in which or next to which it took place, I still say that most NYC Class II lanes contribute serious hazards for cyclists and foster road culture seriously dangerous to cyclists.

Ideally, make everyone go slower on NYC streets BECAUSE THEY’RE &@%&$%%$#&@@ CITY STREETS (see my more civilized comment (63) on the Josh Benson NYTimes feature).

And separately, whether cars have been slowed down or not, cyclists should take up a whole car lane in New York City, no matter how slow the cyclist goes.

Because that’s the speed that cars should travel in this city anyway, and besides, in most conditions, cars can’t average speeds much higher than that anyway.

http://www.examiner.com/a-1386452~Congestion_based_toll_a_sound_idea.html

Anyone who thinks that on-street lanes are inherently dangerous has to explain why only 7 out of 225 bicyclist deaths in a ten-year period in New York City were caused by a motor vehicle colliding with a bicyclist in or near a bike lane.

http://www.colliers.com/Content/Repositories/Base/Corporate/English/Market_Report_Corporate/PDFs/colliersparkingratesurvey2007.pdf

For the public subsidy in taxes foregone, take one third of the annual cost.

Well then you might as well slash bus service in Bed Stuy and use the savings to make the ferry free.

Because the East River Bridges are free, and if you have a placard, parking is free too.

Younger generations if infrastructure maintenance stops.

Younger generations if money is borrowed and infrastructure maintenance continues.

Younger generations if other taxes rise, because retirement income is exempt from state and local income taxes.

Younger generations if all those pension enhancements (more and more and more) for those with seniority working their way through the legislature are passed.

It this fight was in a boxing ring, and competent referee would have stopped it by now.