A bike might be a possibility. I will look into it next time. My parents will probably say I'm insane.

Jason,

I do find Molinaro's plan rather shortsighted. I think we should go for the European model- a dense downtown area with less and less development as one goes away from it, which is the real "have cake, eat it too" plan. The downtown would have apartment buildings and offices concentrated around a bus and train station, for example. Those far away from it can have their lawns and backyards, but at a premium (downtown's transit and entertainment options would raise the average real estate prices).

On the other hand, there are plenty of well-connected, wealthy suburbs with no dense zoning. Case in point- Middletown, NJ, where I work. The McMansions go right up to the train station parking lot; there is no town center. I'm not saying it's a good thing; it's just that to have good transit one must have money and influence in politics, and Staten Island has neither.

Staten Island does indeed suffer from some of crummiest transit options in the area. It is unfortunate there is not more service on island, and it would be terrific if the Island enjoyed more buses, more rail, more ferries etc...

However, it's hard for me to completely sympathize with SI when Molinari brags about down-zoning the entire borough in his campaign literature. There's a bit of "have cake, eat it too" business going with Staten Island (and the outlying boroughs) that needs to be called out - and no one talked about during the CP fight.

The point is this: you can not develop around sprawl and auto-dependent infrastructure, and then whine when you don't have the same transit options as Manhattan. Something has to give.

(You do raise an interesting issue about the express bus, however. I always thought it was foolish during the Congestion Pricing fight to have the 8 dollar CP fare be *less* than the 10 dollar express bus fee. There is a lot of promise and potential with expanding express bus service that needs to be capitalized upon to win over the outer-outer boroughs.)

I know Staten Island loves its little piece of suburbia in NYC. Fine. Then Staten Islanders should deal with the trade-offs and consequences of its decisions. You're not going to see passenger rail on the North Shore, or "fast ferry" service, or whatever carrot is being dangled around these days until Staten Island makes some tough decisions about the way it chooses to grow and develop.

As an aside, I should note that these problems are obviously not unique to SI and are the center of a very real transportation crisis that is beginning to unfold in this country...

Another option: Take your nearly 100% tax payer subsidized Staten Island ferry into Lower Manhattan and then hop on the NY Water Taxi up to Midtown on the West Side. You can walk, bike or bus it over to the park from there.

Of course, you might also just consider using the subway line that isn't suffering weekend construction. You've got access to virtually every subway line in the city down there in Lower Manhattan and pretty much all of them are going past Central Park.

So, you've got plenty of good options, Boris. But, hey, if you really want to drive to Central Park from Staten Island -- if that's really your version of a fun weekend activity, be my guest. Do us all a favor though. Try to keep your road rage, your aggressive driving, your exhaust fumes and your bitching about gas prices and scarce parking to yourself.

So before some of you say things like cars "are such an expression of vanity and ego in our culture at the expense of so many different things. things like safety, fresh air, space..." think a little bit about what the alternatives are.

Apologies to White from TA if I misunderstood his analogy. But I think the point about the hero treatment given to hardcore cyclsits out chasing PRs and the casual contempt for stroller "moms" stands. (I'm slightly puzzled that the hedge fund guys threats to take their toys and tax dollars and move to Greenwich isn't seen as a bit more absurd and politically questionable in this space.) Also, getting rid of cars in the park, while certainly desirable, doesn't completely resolve the conflicts. Prospect Park on weekends can still be a pretty scary and conflict-ridden place.

it's depressing to hear an alternative-transportation advocate casually disparaging self-powered folks just because they are tend to be women rolling with four wheels rather than men rolling with two.

I can't see how any reader could interpret Paul Steely White's quote as being disparaging to stroller-pushing moms.

It seems to me that he's saying that pedestrians and cyclists ought to be allies. Whether in Central Park or Park Slope, it's the motor vehicles that are hogging up all of New York City's street space. The cyclists get the blame in the park and the stroller moms get all kinds of criticism in the Slope. But we'd have plenty of space for bikes and strollers if our public right-of-way wasn't entirely filled by gargantuan single-passenger SUV's, both moving and parked.

I mean... the quote seems pretty clear to me.

Hmmmm, might there be a gender issue here? I love my bike and want the city to do more to keep me from getting killed on it, but it's depressing to hear an alternative-transportation advocate casually disparaging self-powered folks just because they are tend to be women rolling with four wheels rather than men rolling with two....