Streetsblog New York City

Come join the Mayoral Forum on public health issues in the coummunitties of Harlem and Upper Manhattan presented by The North of 96th Street Public Health Coalition.  NYC mayoral candidates will be speaking to the public about the health issues affecting our communities. Health topics to be addressed include: access to healthy food, health services for seniors, healthy housing policies, mental health services, programs for youth, and opportunities for physical activities and safe spaces.

Join DOT for a overview presentation on the NYC Plaza Program guidelines and application. DOT will outline the steps for taking part in the program and answer questions. Any nonprofit or community group is encouraged to attend.

Have you given to Streetsblog’s spring pledge drive yet? If not, may I suggest that this is the week to do so. In addition to supporting livable streets journalism and putting yourself in the running to win a Dahon folding bike, you could take home a sweet collection of books and zines courtesy of eminent bike-ologist Elly Blue.

If you make a habit of reading Streetsblog and you value the work we do to make the case for transforming our streets, please make a tax-deductible donation so we can keep on doing it.

We’ll send one donor who gives by midnight Friday this Elly Blue library, including Bikenomics, Taking the Lane, and the brand new Bikes in Space: A Feminist Science Fiction Anthology (sample story: “in Elizabeth Buchanan’s classic pulp tale of postapocalyptic Appalachia, a gripping bicycle-truck chase gives a young woman a surprising new hope”).

In summary: Channel your frustrations with the New York Post’s bike-share coverage by making a generous donation to Streetsblog. Thanks for supporting our tabloid fact-checking operation!

Thanks to everyone who’s given to Streetsblog and Streetfilms so far in our spring pledge drive — we’re nearly a quarter of the way to our fundraising goal of $40,000. I can’t emphasize enough how crucial it is for readers to chip in and help us reach our targets. Your contributions keep us going so we can deliver news and commentary about the transition to safer city streets that work for people, not cars. So keep those donations coming!

For the next two days, we have an extra set of goodies to give away to three lucky donors: a commuter pack courtesy of Planet Bike. This bicycle accessory horn-of-plenty includes all of the following:

• SuperFlash taillight and Blaze 1-watt headlight
• K.O.K.O. Rack – tubular aluminum rear rack
• Fenders of your choice
• Protege 5.0 five-function computer
• BRT Strap – LED safety light
• Planet Bike socks
• Courtesy bell, brass
• Blaze 2 watt Micro and Superflash Turbo set
• Planet Bike gloves
• Planet Bike shoe covers
• Snack sack

Give by Thursday at midnight to be eligible for this drawing. And don’t forget that anyone who gives $50 or more at any point during the pledge drive will be entered to a win a new Dahon folding bike.

Thank you for supporting Streetsblog and Streetfilms. If we could give all our donors a free bike, we totally would.

Every December since 2009, I have put together an annual memoriam post for NYC pedestrians and cyclists whose lives were taken by motorists. As Streetsblog readers know, media coverage of traffic crashes is notoriously uneven — there are simply too many to keep up with — so it used to take a couple of days to put this post together.

Last year the task was made a little easier, or as easy as such a job can be. In 2012 we began maintaining a database of fatal crashes. Based on reports filed by Streetsblog and other outlets, we now keep a running record of pedestrian and cyclist deaths. Along with the victims’ identities, inasmuch as they are made public, we categorize each fatality by borough, City Council district, NYPD precinct, and the type of vehicle involved. We note when summonses are issued, and we use the database to follow the relatively few criminal cases that are brought against deadly drivers.

Given the volume of traffic deaths, the random nature of media reportage, and NYPD indifference, we can’t track every pedestrian and cyclist fatality. But we do record most of them. And Streetsblog is the one news source that takes the time to report traffic crashes as an epidemic, rather than one “freak accident” after another.

Streetsblog is the only place you’ll find journalists working the traffic justice beat day in and day out. But without you, we can’t make the case for life-saving traffic tech, push to strengthen the state’s weak traffic code, or hold politicians and law enforcers accountable for the plague of vehicular violence.

Please help Streetsblog continue this vital work by contributing to our spring pledge drive. Our goal is to raise $40,000 by June 1. Remember that everyone who makes a tax-deductible gift of $50 or more (or a monthly gift of $5 or more) will be eligible to win a folding bike, courtesy of Dahon.

Thank you.

– Brad

Council Member Mathieu Eugene has scheduled a traffic calming forum to address speeding, parking and traffic safety on Coney Island Avenue. The forum was originally scheduled to be held in April.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Bike is a two part educational workshop and a spectacular group bike ride through Western Queens. Participants will leave with a new independence in traveling and a strong, conceptual understanding of bicycle design.

The first workshop will focus on understanding the basic workings of a bicycle. Participants will get their hands dirty with the gritty mechanics of ball bearings (both sealed and loose), springs, cables, housing and tires, and will have gained a new confidence in keeping a bike running under even the roughest circumstances.

In the second workshop, participants will address specific mechanical problems with their own bikes and go through various hypothetical situations. Then we will personalize the bikes (without causing detriment to their functionality) — painting, scratching, hand sewing, and accessorizing will be covered. Afterwards, we’ll celebrate with a group bike ride through Western Queens. Tour guides will provide historical perspective on the neighborhood, treating participants to eclectic stories long past and oddities easily missed.

Council Member Donovan Richards, Jr. (District 31) will be hosting a community forum with DOT and NYPD’s 105th Precinct to discuss speeding and drag racing in the Springfield Gardens neighborhood and throughout District 31.

Here we are with a few weeks to go before bike-share launches in NYC, and the volume of nonsense floating around is staggering. The tabloids think public bikes are a menace to life on Earth, and the respectable press barely has a better grip on reality. Thank goodness there’s Streetsblog, right?

Today we’re launching our spring pledge drive, and if you value the work we do please make a contribution to Streetsblog so we can keep bringing you the latest in livable streets.

Before you know it, New Yorkers are going to elect a new mayor, and we can’t take the city’s recent progress on street safety and surface transit for granted. Whoever’s in City Hall in 2014, Streetsblog needs to be there making the case for safer walking and biking and more effective transit. And we need you to help us.

Streetsblog depends on reader contributions to sustain our coverage of NYC transportation and planning issues. Without the generous support of our audience, we wouldn’t be able to fact-check those ridiculous bike-share stories, call out NYPD’s traffic safety apathy, or dive into the nitty-gritty of parking reform and other issues that no one else is covering.

For some extra motivation, we also have a very fine folding bike to give away at the end of the pledge drive. Everyone who makes a gift of $50 or more (or a monthly gift of $5 or more) will be entered into the drawing to take home this beauty, courtesy of Dahon:

Thanks to all our donors for making Streetsblog possible. Please make a tax-deductible gift to help us raise $40,000 by June 1 and keep us going through 2013 and beyond.

– Ben