We have a few still shots for now, and some archival footage of the old Petrosino from the Streetfilms vault, featuring Streetsblog publisher Mark Gorton and Project for Public Spaces' Ethan Kent. Yes, they filmed this just four years ago:

After the jump, a shot from Robin showing the square's spiffy new bike parking.

A view of the new Petrosino from Spring Street.

MacPherson claims he's innocent.

Well, in addition to running the aforementioned shell game and bondage business, he pens a blog called Soho Politics, where he's been known to rail against car-free streets, bike lanes, and other measures to make the public right-of-way more pleasant for pedestrians, cyclists, and bus riders. Followers of the downtown community board scene knew MacPherson as an ally of the Soho Alliance's Sean Sweeney on CB 2, from which the alleged scammer recently resigned. Now the world knows him as the whips-n-chains guy who made a fraudulent fortune off the real estate bubble.

This stencil appeared on the corner of Manhattan's Duane and Greenwich Streets late last month. Our source tells us the message -- "DOT what will it be, traffic light or dead like me" -- stems from years of fruitless neighborhood efforts, as documented in this Streetfilm from 2006, to persuade the agency to install a signal at what residents say is a dangerous intersection. Community Board 1, Council Member Alan Gerson and Borough President Scott Stringer have joined the call, but to no avail.

Our tipster also speculates that this latest attempt could be the work of the SoHo Alliance, which we're told has also demonstrated for the cause. What say you, Mr. Sweeney? 

Sean Sweeney, the one-man show known as the Soho Alliance, has been sending this video around to the media, continuing his quest to preserve Soho streets for the convenience of motorists. What we basically have here is a careless truck driver butting grilles with a sociopath behind the wheel of an SUV. Sweeney's conclusion: Give these vehicles more street space and forget about providing cyclists with a basic safety amenity.

The head-scratching logic continues on his website, which bemoans congestion on Soho streets while railing against bike lanes, pedestrian zones, sidewalk cafes, and, in general, any measure that would actually mitigate traffic and improve conditions for people who walk and bike. The site touts clips of media outlets eating up Sweeney's act. Like the time Fox 5 put him on camera in a Grand Street hatchet job.

But where was Sean Sweeney and his media crusade in October, when a Con Ed worker was struck and killed by a truck on Grand Street? About that tragedy, the Soho Alliance site is silent.

Before Streetfilms were called Streetfilms, Clarence Eckerson and Streetsblog Publisher Mark Gorton identified Grand Street, with its expanse of asphalt forcing pedestrians to the margins, as a prime spot for space reclamation. Now home to a conniption-inducing parking-protected bike lane, check out this 2005 vid to see why Grand was due for a livable streets makeover.

Visit the old New York Streets Renaissance page for more goodies from the Streetfilms vault.

Don't be fooled: No one on a bike was quoted for this story.

"By putting in a bike lane protected by a row of parked cars, the city has essentially turned Grand Street into a single lane," correspondent Ti-Hua Chang tells us, neglecting to mention that Grand Street already had a bike lane and a single moving lane before the parking protection went into effect (in fact, drivers have more space in the new design to make right turns). The difference now is that double-parking actually has consequences for other drivers instead of cyclists, but you don't see any motorist-on-motorist recriminations here. Also unmentioned in this traffic blame-fest: free East River bridges and the low, low price of on-street parking.

What we get instead is a parting shot from Sean Sweeney -- the man who fought tooth and nail against the Prince Street bike lane -- invoking the specter of people burning to death as a result of this safety improvement. Good thing Fox 5 put him on camera.

Though modest by comparison, here's another first for this historic day. Manhattan Community Board 2's Ian Dutton sent over photos of the new Grand Street cycle track, the city's initial attempt at a parking-protected design.

Says Ian:

With a one-block exception, from Varick St. to Centre St. seems to be open for business, only lacking the bicycle symbols on the lane itself. The section through Little Italy and Chinatown is nearly complete, with a few minor surface details remaining.

My experience on two circuits today was that it worked beautifully. Cars were parked as expected and the "mixing zones" accommodating turning vehicles across the bike lane were handled unusually respectfully from drivers, who were probably not sure how to treat them. Not bad for the first (or maybe second) day.

There were a few pedestrians who stepped off the curb to cross the street and waited in the bike lane, but that is no different than any other bike lane. I'm very hopeful that we're off to a good start.

Photo pool contributor Jacob-uptown had similar things to say after cruising the new Grand: "Cars have learned where to park ... This is a huge precedent for creating these cheap yet highly effective bike lanes."

More pics after the jump. Note the overhead signage.

Snapped by Streetsblog regular Ian Dutton this afternoon: Crews prep Grand Street for the city's first physically-protected crosstown bike lane [PDF]. Stretching from Varick to Chrystie, the Grand Street cycle track features some new design touches on account of its placement on the right side of a narrow street. The guys on the crew say the finished markings will be in place by next Tuesday.

Manhattan Community Board 2's Ian Dutton sends along this shot of a motorist about to be ticketed for blocking the box on Broome Street at W. Broadway in SoHo. Yesterday, police and traffic agents stepped up enforcement of what is a normally ignored traffic regulation. However, writes Ian:

Note that blocking the box only applies to getting in the way of other cars, not blocking the crosswalk making it dangerous for pedestrians.

Commenter ddartley elaborates:

The bigger problem is blocking pedestrian crosswalks. It's a bigger problem because it happens more often, it affects more people (pedestrians outnumber motorists), and the risks of harm are far greater than mere car-obstructing (peds are forced to walk out into moving traffic every minute of ever day all around town). Nevertheless, the new law, while great, only deals specifically with cars in the middle of the intersection. It does not define ped crosswalks as part of "the box," so I wonder if TEAs are now ticketing cars blocking crosswalks.

Anyone else who witnessed yesterday's action notice whether agents were also ticketing for crosswalk violations?

DOT has unveiled plans for a Grand Street cycle track [PDF] that bear the fingerprints of Danish planner Jan Gehl. It would be Manhattan's first cross-town protected bike path.

Grand Street is narrower than Ninth Avenue, where the existing protected path runs. Whereas the Ninth Avenue cycle track uses signal timing to prevent conflicts between bikes and turning vehicles, the Grand Street plan uses what DOT is calling a "mixing zone," a space shared by cyclists and drivers at the approach to an intersection (shown above).

In an unusually thorough and bike-positive story about cycle tracks (headline: "Streets are on track for safer bike lanes"), Villager reporter Gabriel Zucker explains:

The narrow-street pilot on Grand St. lacks these special lights; instead, a 90-foot “mixing zone” where the bike lane merges with a right-turn bay will allow cyclists and motorists to negotiate the intersection themselves. The mixing zone, like the entire cycle track design, was copied from Copenhagen, Denmark. According to Josh Benson, New York City D.O.T. bicycle program coordinator, the zones have led to a steep decrease in intersection crashes in Copenhagen.

The Grand Street cycle track would run from Varick Street to Chrystie Street, making the lack of a protected path on Chrystie, a north-south route, look like an even bigger missed opportunity. As DOT creates a network-within-a-network of safer bike lanes, what's holding back protected paths? Community Board politics seem to be the determining factor. While the Grand Street path falls almost entirely within the boundaries of CB2, which recently approved an Eighth Avenue cycle track, Chrystie Street is the domain of CB3. Community Board votes are not binding, but they are seen as a proxy for public opinion.

CB2 voted on the Grand Street cycle track last night. A CB2 representative was not able to retrieve the results of the vote this morning.

Image: NYCDOT 

Mister Softee set up shop on the Prince Street bike lane near the corner of Broadway this weekend. Note the pedestrians squeezing through the narrow strip of sidewalk between the ice cream truck and the subway railing. Prince Street, you may recall, was slated to go car-free on Sunday's all summer long until the SoHo Alliance scuttled the deal back in March.

Have you got a good Eyes on the Street photo? Send it along.

A tipster sends this shot from earlier today of a newly-painted bike lane on Prince Street.

After the jump, DOT bike program coordinator Josh Benson answers a question from a City Room reader about painted lanes.

Q: I’ve seen green paint in the bike lanes in some neighborhoods (like Brooklyn Heights). How do I get them painted in my neighborhood? — Posted by Adamsky

A [Benson]: The high-visibility green bicycle lane on Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights is an experimental treatment we are testing on bicycle lanes where the potential for bicycle/motor vehicle conflict is high. It is our belief that the green markings will improve motorist awareness of bicycle lanes at key conflict points. Test locations include curbside bicycle lanes, such as Henry Street and Adams Street in Brooklyn, and Prince and Bleecker Streets in Manhattan and complex intersections such as Ninth Avenue and 14th Street in Manhattan. We are continuing to collect data on how the high-visibility green treatment affects driver and cyclist behavior as well as the durability of the treatment itself. If the treatment proves effective and durable, it will be integrated regularly into new bicycle lane projects to highlight points of potential conflict to motorists and cyclists. 

Here's some levity for a dreary Monday -- and an appropriate way to kick off bike month. Following up on a video from 2003, Streetfilms' Clarence Eckerson recently took to the streets with bike mechanic Hal Ruzal of Bicycle Habitat, checking up on how effective city cyclists are in securing their rigs. Writes Clarence:

As with most sequels you need a new wrinkle. This time we thought we’d give Hal some company and invited former Recycle a Bicycle mechanic Kerri Martin (and founder of The Bike Church in Asbury Park, NJ) to weigh in with her expertise. Once again, bikes on the streets of SoHo provide lots of fodder for laughs and lessons to learn.

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Here is the slide show outlining the DOT proposal to open Prince Street to pedestrians on summer Sundays. As we reported yesterday, the plan isn't popular with some SoHo residents, who say it will turn Prince into another Mulberry Street.

But Community Board 2's Ian Dutton, a supporter of the concept, doesn't intend to let that happen.

"I don't want to go in that direction with Prince Street, and that's certainly not the direction the neighborhood wants to go," says Dutton. "Prince Street is already a destination."

Dutton believes the goal of "Open Sundays" should not be to bring more people to the neighborhood, but to alleviate the current public space crunch. To that end, the CB 2 Traffic and Transportation Committee wants to form a group of stakeholders and community board members to look at problems, like sidewalk vending, and figure out how to incorporate pedestrianization as an acceptable remedy. This might include selecting a different street, says Dutton, or adding more streets to the program (which could equal less overall traffic). It might also mean allowing vehicles to pass in certain instances, like to provide elderly or disabled access.

"I really was disappointed that DOT didn't have a more full-bodied approach," Dutton says, but adds: "I think the level of outcry was based on a campaign of misinformation."

If you read the comments on the previous post, then you know something interesting is in the works for Prince Street. Next Tuesday, Community Board 2's Transportation Committee will consider a proposal to turn a six-block stretch of Prince Street, from Lafayette to West Broadway, into a car-free zone on Sundays from 11am to 6pm. The pilot project would likely run from Memorial to Labor Day. The idea for this long-sought reallocation of street space emerged from discussions between DOT and the SoHo Partnership, the neighborhood's innovative welfare-to-work program.

Not surprisingly, an opposition movement has already sprung into action. Faithful Streetsblog readers will recall the SoHo Alliance as the neighborhood group that seems to specialize in fighting street vendors, new bike lanes, sidewalk widenings and, generally, any livable street improvement that threatens to diminish long-time SoHo residents' access to on-street parking.

A tipster reports that the Alliance is papering the neighborhood with flyers arguing against the pilot project. Here's a sample bullet point from the flyer, which can be found in its entirety, below:

The current do-wop group will attract other noisy street performers to entertain the increased crowds of tourists. Food vendors will likely spring up. Will Jugglers and mimes be far behind?

Though the specter of mime-filled streets truly is terrifying (and quite politically savvy -- I mean, who's going to speak up for the mimes?) does a bad case of coulrophobia outweigh the potential benefits of car-free Sundays?

As it is, Prince Street is jam-packed with pedestrians and vendors on the weekend yet the majority of the public right-of-way is hogged up by a horn-honking, exhaust-spewing, barely-moving armada of SUV's and luxury sedans. When London pedestrianized some of its most popular shopping streets, it led to a bonanza for local businesses, a PR coup for the city's sustainability agenda and a generally nicer, more pleasant public realm for residents and tourists to enjoy.

If you want to help make a car-free Prince Street a reality, then speak up at Community Board 2's Transportation Committee meeting next Tuesday, March 11 at 7:30pm. The meeting will be at the NYU Silver Building, 32 Waverly Place, room 713. You can be sure the other guys will be there.

The Soho Alliance flyer can be found after the jump...

It looks like at least one local merchant isn't complaining about the loss of on-street parking. Note the bicycles in the window of the shop at lower left...

The street re-surfacing men and machinery were out in force in Soho last night. Houston Street Bike Safety Initiative Director Ian Dutton snapped this photo on Prince Street. Once the street is repaved, the Department of Transportation will stripe the hotly debated Prince and Bleecker Street bike lanes.

Lower Manhattan's newest east-west bike route is an alternative to the physically-separated bike lane that activists have long been pushing for on deadly Houston Street. In a presentation to Community Board 2 in March, DOT made the case that parallel bike lanes on either side of Houston Street is the better choice. DOT says its parallel route plan is based on successful projects in Berkeley, California and the Bergen/Dean Street bike lanes that run alongside busy Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. After extended debate, CB2 approved DOT's plan in April.

As a side benefit of the re-surfacing project, around 200 parking spaces will be eliminated to make way for the new bike lanes. Needless to say, the Soho Alliance will not be pleased.

Jan Gehl tried hard not to reveal any secrets during his Upper West Side Streets Renaissance presentation Tuesday night, but if you took a close look at his maps, it was apparent that Prince and Spring Streets have been part of his team's study area. What are the odds that Gehl will recommend that Mayor Bloomberg try out a car-free weekend pilot project for Soho next year? Pretty high, I'm guessing. If that moves ahead, how would a pedestrianized Prince Street fit with the new bike lane plan? Perhaps we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves here.

Dutton says there will be a ribbon-cutting for the new Lower Manhattan bike route at the end of the month.

Related:

• StreetFilms: Curbing Cars in Soho. 

It may not have been Mayor Bloomberg's intention when he proposed congestion pricing, but he has put reforming curbside parking policies front and center. Desperate for "alternatives" to pricing, opponents have borrowed proposals to hike curbside parking rates, and price free curb spaces. These parking reforms which would significantly reduce double-parking and traffic snarling cruising, are championed by Transportation Alternatives, and its former consultant Bruce Schaller, who is now a Deputy Commissioner at the city DOT.

Regardless of whether congestion pricing meets legislative approval in March, it has laid the groundwork for significant changes in city parking policy. The first hint came this week in a DOT press release announcing community parking workshops in neighborhoods on the edge of the congestion pricing zone. Says DOT:

The study areas, which display a range of parking-related conditions, were selected based on their representative characteristics and their ability to inform parking strategies that can be applied citywide…DOT (is working) to develop a toolbox of potential parking solutions that can be applied to neighborhoods citywide.

Traffic is a hot issue because of the mayor. But on-street parking reform has been percolating for a number of years thanks to Transportation Alternatives. The advocates at T.A. commissioned key studies by Schaller which revealed that 28 percent of Soho traffic and 45 percent of Park Slope traffic is made up entirely of motorists cruising for parking space.

T.A. also brought UCLA parking guru Don Shoup to New York City to meet with business leaders, police and DOT officials. Shoup's message that curbside parking prices should be based on occupancy targets -- typically 85 percent of curb spots filled -- was very well received. Despite being posed by some as an "alternative" to congestion pricing, ideally on-street parking reforms would work in concert with pricing, as they do in London, to reduce traffic and create more space for pedestrians, cyclists and buses. However, with or without road pricing, much needed changes in curbside parking are coming to New York City.

Tuesday, September 11, 6:30 pm
LGBT Community Services Center
208 W. 13th St. bet. 7th & Greenwich Aves.

The bike parking issue is the last item on the agenda so it is probably safe to show up around 7:30 or 8:00 pm.

Make Music New York
A Streetfilm by Clarence Eckerson, Jr.
Running Time: 3 minutes 18 seconds

Make Music New York is New York City's version of the international Fête de la Musique, which took place yesterday in 340 cities around the world. Clarence Eckerson, the bicycling videographer of StreetFilms, endured two thunderstorms to bring you these highlights. The first band you see playing on Houston Street is the Professional Basketball Players with Streetsblog tech guru Nick Grossman banging the drums. 

Did people get to see any of the bands playing yesterday? Did it feel like Make Music New York had an impact on the urban environment or is New York so big that it just sort of swallowed up all of these bands?