Streetsblog New York City

Another NYPD high-speed pursuit ended in a crash over the weekend. This time, an innocent bystander is dead.

The Daily News reports that on Saturday, a Range Rover driven by Martin Ocasio struck and killed cyclist Pablo Pasaras in Long Island City. Ocasio, who had nine prior arrests, was fleeing police after he was seen buying drugs. As cops in an unmarked car chased him on 21st Street, Ocasio was reportedly driving on the wrong side of the road. When he tried to get back in the right lane Ocasio hit a parked car and Pasaras, who was pronounced dead at Elmhurst Hospital Center.

Pasaras, 27, was on a food delivery run to a housing police precinct. He had three kids.

A witness said the police cruiser did not have its lights or sirens on. In April, several witnesses reported that police driving without lights and sirens were chasing the mini-van driver who hit and killed pedestrian Violetta Kryzak on Manhattan Avenue in Brooklyn. The commanding officer of the precinct denies that a chase occurred.

In June, nine people, including five pedestrians, were injured when officers responding to a call in a marked NYPD squad car collided with another car and careened onto an East Village sidewalk. Witnesses said the cruiser's lights and sirens were off, though NYPD claims otherwise.

Last month, a pedestrian and motorcyclist were struck by a man fleeing the NYPD in Washington Heights following an armed mugging. Police opened fire after the car hit a line of parked vehicles on 188th Street, shooting the driver dead.

A zoning change that would provide better bike parking options in new buildings is wending its way through the city's public review process, which means 59 community boards have a chance to vote on it. The Queens Gazette reports from the goings on at CB1, which encompasses Astoria and Long Island City:

"I see no purpose to this [zoning] text change," said Community Board 1 chairperson Vinicio Donato. Board 1 voted down the zoning amendment, 25 to 8 (one abstention). The bicycle parking proposal is being voted on citywide by all community boards. After the boards' vote, DCP will hold a public hearing in January and the City Council has the final vote.

There you have it. Even after hearing a City Planning presentation explaining how better bike parking options would reduce congestion, improve air quality, and boost public health, Donato -- who has chaired CB1 since 1975 -- claims not to see the point of providing secure places for people to put their bikes. His stance may carry no binding authority, but Donato's board is assumed to speak for the community at large.

Note that CB1's zoning and variance committee did approve the bike parking measure. The whole situation is reminiscent of the Vernon Boulevard bike lane discussion last summer. Back then, CB1 refused to put the measure to a vote in a general meeting, opting instead to send a letter of opposition to DOT and local electeds.

We've seen determined activism from the Inwood and Washington Heights Livable Streets Group gradually pay dividends in northern Manhattan's CB12. Transportation Alternatives' Queens Committee has been just as active in western Queens. Will persistent local support for livable streets start to sway CB1?

From Transportation Alternatives' Queens Committee Chair Mike Heffron:

At the Queens Community Board 2 general meeting on Thursday, May 1, with no vote by board members, Chair Joe Conley delayed the board's input on the Department of Transportation's planned pedestrian and cyclist improvements to Vernon Boulevard, an important link in the proposed Queens East River Greenway. DOT can move forward with the Greenway plan with or without CB 2's approval.

The DOT plan [PDF] calls for removal of the majority of parking along the East River side of Vernon from 45th Ave to its termination at Main St. In place of parking the DOT plans to put down a painted bike lane in both directions, with painted buffers between the lanes and auto traffic. Also proposed are additional traffic calming improvements along Vernon and a pedestrian relief Green Street to be installed at Queensbridge Park. Two weeks prior the proposal was unveiled to CB 2's Land Use Committee, which voted unanimously in favor.

Read more...

2008 quickly bring good news for commuters in Downtown Brooklyn and Long Island City, Queens. Eric Chang of Transportation Alternatives' Queens Committee snapped these photos of the new covered bike shelter that was just installed at the Vernon Blvd /Jackson Avenue station on the 7 line in Long Island City.  The third photo is from Fort Greene where Gil Ronen (pictured) along with T.A. and Green Fort Greene & Clinton Hill were instrumental in bringing over 70 new CityRacks to the historic Brooklyn neighborhood.

 

Though reporters weren't invited, Streetsblog managed to get a stringer into this morning's On-and-Off-the-Record transportation policy talk with Congressman Anthony Weiner at Commerce Bank in Midtown.

During the hour-long Q&A hosted by Edward Isaac-Dovere of City Hall News, Weiner hit on familiar themes:

• Something needs to be done about traffic but the mayor's plan is too costly.
• Though low and middle income New Yorkers overwhelmingly travel into Manhattan via transit, Weiner pounded away at the idea that congestion pricing is unfair to the city's middle class and would hit city residents harder than suburban commuters.
• Rather than imposing a fee to drive into Manhattan's Central Business District, he would opt for improved transit and ferry service, higher truck tolls and better enforcement of blocking-the-box regulations.
• He says that he would pay for these improvements with a federal gas tax increase.
  

While Weiner believes, "The Mayor got the solution wrong," he praised Bloomberg for being "innovative" and appeared to back off a bit from total opposition to pricing.

"There is a version of congestion pricing that will work," Weiner said. "My plan has 'congestion pricing' by increasing tolls and increasing parking fees." Unfortunately, this is probably not a version of congestion pricing for which the federal government will grant $354.5 million in start-up funds.

About 75 people showed up to the breakfast event including Queens Civic Congress president Corey Bearak, Northern Manhattan Council member Robert Jackson, the Durst Organization's Jordan Barowitz and an assortment of advocacy people from Transportation Alternatives, Tri-State Transportation Campaign and the newly-formed SWIM Coalition.

The event started with "on-the-record" questions from Isaac-Dovere and "off-the-record" questions from audience members. Here, in reporter's notebook format, are a bunch of Weiner's responses to both sets of questions:

• When asked about his theory that the Bloomberg Administration has purposely ordered the NYPD not to enforce traffic regulations to aid the passage of its congestion pricing plan, he ducked the question.

Read more...

Saturday, September 9, 9 am to 5 pm.
Recycle-A-Bicycle Queens Shop
Fifth Street at 46th Avenue, Long Island City

Savvy Cyclist Class

Bike New York's Savvy Cyclist Class Would-be cyclists daunted by the challenges of riding in New York City can bolster their confidence and sharpen their skills in this FREE one-day class for adults courtesy of Bike New York. Ideal for beginning or re-beginning cyclists as well as riders accustomed to bike paths and back roads, this hands-on class teaches terminology, maintenance, repair, and how to ride in city traffic. Participants receive literature and accessories to ensure continued safe and enjoyable riding.

Free registration at www.bikenewyork.org or by contacting Bike New York's Bicycle Education Program Manager, Rich Conroy, at richc@bikenewyork.org or 212-932-2453 x 159.

Other times:
This one-day class will be offered three times in the coming months: August 12, September 9, or October 14 (all Saturdays) 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

# # #

Bike New York is a non-profit organization that promotes and encourages bicycling and bicycle safety education through education, public events, and collaboration with community and government organizations. Proceeds from Bike New York support the Five Boro Bike Tour, the Harlem Valley Rail Ride, the Twin Lights Ride, Bike New York's Bicycle Education Program, and other non-profit organizations such as Recycle-A-Bicycle and the New York City Department of Transportation's Traffic Safety Program. For more information on Bike New York's rides and programs, visit www.bikenewyork.org.