Streetsblog New York City

This was the scene in Washington Heights Friday evening, after this guy, along with two others, parked their gigantic rental truck directly in front of a trio of elderly people waiting for the M4 at W. 187th Street and Fort Washington Avenue. Rather than sit passively with the spewing behemoth a few feet from their faces, one of them, a woman shown after the jump, took out her cellphone and began taking pictures.

Since he didn't see a bus coming, the gentleman in the picture above sincerely couldn't understand what the problem was. But his co-worker, also pictured below, was incensed, screaming at the woman and, indirectly, at me, for taking photos. He was angry and aggressive enough that the guy above asked him several times to calm down.

After about 10 minutes, the third man returned (they had stopped so he could use an ATM), and they drove off, honking as they went.

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Election Day kicks off a week of talks and workshops, wrapped up with an East Side bike ride and a walking tour in Brooklyn.

• Tuesday: Remember to vote! Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Find your polling site here.
• Wednesday: Columbia University hosts a lecture by General Motors' former Vice President of Research and Development Larry Burns, entitled "Reinventing the Automobile: Personal Urban Mobility for the 21st Century." 6 p.m. Reception follows at 7:30 p.m.
• Thursday: The New York Transit Museum features a panel addressing recommendations offered by the recent Regional Plan Association study "Tomorrow's Transit: New Mobility for the Region's Urban Core." The study recommended various means to provide new and upgraded transit for the five boroughs and northern New Jersey, detailing new subway, bus, commuter rail, light rail and ferry projects. 6 p.m.
• Friday: RSVP by today for the joint Open Planning Project / Regional Plan Association workshop to brainstorm new technologies for participatory urban planning, to be held Nov. 13. 5 p.m.
• Saturday: The Institute for Urban Design will host a day-long event titled "Arrested Development: Do Megaprojects Have a Future?" The symposium will examine the effects of the global recession on large-scale developments and the ramifications of the re-emergence of mega-projects. As mega-projects like New York City's Atlantic Yards and the UK's "eco towns" slow down, stall, and even stop, local and national leaders are rethinking the nature of these projects with respect to social and environmental sustainability. 9:30 a.m.
• Sunday: The Transportation Alternatives East Side Committee will lead a bike ride of the U.N.-area gaps in the East River Greenway. 11 a.m. Also on Sunday, in conjunction with its ongoing exhibition "The Last Days of the Myrtle Avenue El," the Transit Museum presents a walking tour of its former route.

Keep an eye on the calendar for updated listings. Got an event we should know about? Drop us a line.

There's a lot of buzz about bike lanes around the network today.

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia links to a local TV news story about how illegally parked cars and even construction materials are frequently blocking newly created bike lanes in that city.

Old news, right?  Drivers use bike lanes as parking spots all the time. But what's really remarkable about the relatively in-depth news segment is that it treats motorists' bad behavior seriously as a safety issue, acknowledging that vehicles parked in a designated bike lane can endanger the lives of cyclists. It's worth watching, if only as evidence of a potential shift in attitude in the mainstream media when it comes to the right of bikes to share the road.

Meanwhile, our Twitter friend @keg41 linked this morning to an LA Times story about the growing number of cyclists in that city and the debate over how best to integrate bikes into an overwhelming car culture. The piece is pegged to the ongoing trial of a Brentwood physician who allegedly used his car to assault two cyclists on the road where he lived, but it goes on to provide a fairly thorough overview of some public health issues associated with biking, including the debate over whether bike lanes are good for bikers. Perhaps the most significant thing about the article is that it doesn't treat biking as something cute or quirky or trendy.

Meanwhile, Twin Cities Streets for People calls out a Prius driver who couldn't seem to stay out of a Minneapolis bike lane. And The WashCycle breaks down a proposed DC zoning change that could mean more bike parking.

Wow.

Our call for pictures of work bikes elicited such an overwhelming response -- more than 300 photos -- that we almost didn't know where to begin. It's truly inspirational and delightful to see how people around the world use bicycles for work (and in some cases to haul some serious gear for play). There seems to be no limit to the inventiveness and resourcefulness of cyclists.

Because of the richness and variety of the pictures you sent (and keep sending), we'll be running at least one and maybe two more slide shows on this theme. Keep watching this space.

For now, here's a selection of some of our favorites, spanning the globe from Beijing to Bogotá to San Francisco.

Many thanks to all our contributors, including those at ITDP, Cyclelicious, Tucson Bike Lawyer, Bikejuju, Bikes and the City, Utility Cycling, Cenas a Pedal and Rock the Bike.

If you've missed our past slide shows, on bike traffic and space hogs, you might want to check them out.

In September, dozens of people turned out for the Livable Streets Initiative's first bike rack hunt in North Brooklyn, where we identified about 70 spots that are begging for some nice bike parking. The locations will be submitted to DOT as a bulk order for bike racks. But first, we're raising the stakes.

With your help, LSI and Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG) will suggest 300 locations for new bike racks in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Finding good locations for bike parking is tougher than you'd think. The trick is to verify that all 300 spots are actually suitable for racks. This handy "How to Get Your NYC Bike Racks" Streetfilm by Robin Urban Smith explains it all.

So here's the plan: This Sunday, you're invited to join us on a "Tag or Treat" ride. We're going to spread the word by scouring the streets for bikes and attaching notes that explain how to suggest bike rack locations using the FixCity: Bike Racks site. Then on November 22, we're going to collect all the locations submitted through the website and put on a contest. Top prize goes to the person who verifies the most locations as suitable for bike racks (details to come).

If you can't make it to either event, you can still suggest a rack location and verify that it is appropriate online. And starting Monday, if you have a smart phone you'll be able to submit rack suggestions via email, on the spot. Simply snap a photo and send it to racks@fixcity.org. Include the address and name of the nearest establishment in the subject line and any further description in the message body (use the format at right). But first, watch the Streetfilm so you can suggest spots that DOT will actually take advantage of.

The bulk order for North Brooklyn is a pilot project of FixCity. If you'd like to get more involved in this bulk order or organize another one in your neighborhood, contact info@fixcity.org.

When are the police finally going to reclaim the streets from speeding and dangerous driving?

For decades New Yorkers feared public spaces like Times Square, Herald Square and Bryant Park. They feared the people who congregated in these spaces and opposed efforts to create new public spaces or expand existing ones. Then, things changed. Crime rates plummeted, and the police worked with community groups -- and, in the case of the great squares and parks, Business Improvement Districts and conservancies -- to restore a sense of order and control. According to Tim Tompkins of the Times Square BID, that "paradigm shift" is what has allowed the premier public gathering places like Central Park and Times Square to flourish.

In a recent interview with Streetsblog, Tompkins evokes "Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs," a traditional marketing and psychology concept, to explain why ensuring public safety was the crucial first step in the renaissance of Times Square, and a pre-requisite for reclaiming sections of Broadway for pedestrians and public space.

You need to take care of the basics of comfort and security first before you can even think about anything else. That played out with respect to nature and parks, but wasn't really playing out in the streets and sidewalks. I think not only in Times Square and in New York City, but in a bunch of places... we've been paying attention to that. And that's been the paradigm shift that's driving a lot of this.

Tompkins' assessment has important implications for the movement to tame the streets. If establishing basic security is a fundamental prerequisite for widespread public use of any space, what about creating order and safety on our streets?

Crime and the perception of disorder have plummeted in public spaces like parks, squares, and sidewalks. But it is abundantly clear to anyone who bicycles, walks or drives in New York City that this isn’t true in the streets. Speeding and dangerous driving are epidemic. This perception is backed by study after study and by the reality that thousands of cyclists and pedestrians are struck every year. The dangerous chaos on the streets also means very few children or older people feel comfortable bicycling, and only a small portion of people who consider cycling actually ride regularly.

It will take decades before the Department of Transportation can re-engineer most of the city's big streets for cyclists and pedestrians. Even then, laws must be enforced. New York City has changed the equation in parks and on the sidewalks. What about the streets?

Minutes after posting the latest installment of The Weekly Carnage, we came across the story of another NYPD-involved pedestrian fatality, this time an elderly woman, killed by an off-duty cop this morning in the Bronx. The Daily News reports:

Kevin Spellman, a 22-year department veteran, was taken into custody after the deadly 6:30 a.m. accident at W. 232nd St. and Kingsbridge Ave., police said.

Spellman, 42, was driving south when his 2009 Chevrolet Impala slammed into the unidentified woman. She was pronounced dead at St. Barnabas Hospital.

Like Andrew Kelly, the officer who killed Brooklyn pedestrian Vionique Valnord four weeks ago, Spellman reportedly refused a Breathalyzer test. The News says Spellman "was not immediately charged," though NY1 says he was "taken into custody for DWI." WABC says there may have been two victims.

The Weekly Carnage is a Friday round-up of motor vehicle mayhem across the metro region. For more on the origins and purpose of this column, please read About the Weekly Carnage.

Fatal Crashes (5 Killed This Week, 232 This Year*, 23 Drivers Charged**)

• Queens: Crack-Smoking Driver Charged With Manslaughter for Killing 2 Kids (News 1, 2, Post, NY1)
• Staten Island: Unlicensed 16-Year-Old Kills Self, Injures Friend in One-Car Crash (Advance 1, 2, 3)
• Spotswood, NJ: 1 Killed, 2 Hurt in Three-Car Collision (S-L)
• Barnegat, NJ: Collision Between Two SUVs Kills 1, Injures 4 (S-L)
  

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Whenever the prospect of funding our transit system with bridge tolls or congestion pricing arises, you can count on a hue and cry from aggrieved motorists about subsidizing other people's commutes. But if the bridges stay free, who's really paying for somebody else's ride? Today's Times story about the last phase of Manhattan Bridge reconstruction is a welcome reminder that the city's bridges are already costly:

All told, about $830 million has been spent repairing the bridge, which suffered from neglect during the city’s financial crisis in the 1970s, said Brian Gill, the chief engineer of Manhattan Bridge reconstruction for the Transportation Department.

As long as there's no price on these bridges, we all pay for those free rides.

Today on the Streetsblog Network, St. Louis Urban Workshop looks at the concept of "agriburbia" -- a way to bring some meaningful food production to suburban sprawl:

In St. Louis, some farming goes on right next to the airport.

[It's] basically the integration of agri-business and suburban development. The idea is introduced in three ways: introducing food gardens into yards of less than one acre, utilizing land awaiting the next economic boom and developing "farm-cultured" communities...

But St. Louis offers many opportunities to bring agriculture close to our homes. Flying into and out of St. Louis on a regular basis I often have an excellent view of suburban agriculture. A wedge of land on the east side of I-170 at the eastern end of Lambert's main runway is being used as an active farm.

Whether it be corners of underutilized land near our airport, wedges of land next to an Interstate or vacant lots awaiting development, there is a great opportunity to create sustainable and locally produced food. 

More from around the network: World Streets rounds up the always rich seasonal report from the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, which this time includes a crucial study of consumer housing preferences and the implications for future development.

And we have two tales of suburban churches. One, according to Greater Greater Washington, is looking to possibly raise funds by repurposing its huge suburban lot, perhaps as a walkable neighborhood. Another, we learn from Indianapolis's Circles and Squares, is considering surrendering its historic building to the wrecking ball and selling its prime location to a CVS.

Very different visions of the suburban future are emerging. Which will prevail?

When it opened its doors this spring, the Gateway Center mall was plugged as a boon to the South Bronx. So invested was the Bloomberg administration -- along with city taxpayers, thanks to subsidies granted by the NYC Economic Development Corporation -- that the mayor himself participated in the grand opening of the center's Home Depot store.

In modeling the sprawling complex on the typical suburban big box slum, developer Related Companies seems to have made a tactical error. From a Times piece featuring Related honcho Glenn Goldstein:

Mr. Goldstein said that Related originally expected about 40 percent of the mall’s customers to arrive by public transportation, but so far a majority of customers had been traveling this way. Livery cab service is available for shoppers who make bulky purchases, and some stores, like Best Buy and Home Depot, provide delivery for a fee.

Who would have thought that a shopping center served by subway lines and city buses would attract so many transit-riding customers? Not Goldstein and company, whose 2,800 parking spots are proving to this point to be a lot of wasted space (likely in part because parking isn't free). Unfortunately, Related went all in with its auto-driven design by making entrance points unwelcoming to shoppers arriving on foot, as shown in these Streetsblog photo pool contributions from Jacob-uptown. Imagine how many more people would walk here if they had actually made this a walkable environment.

Today, in a Times feature story on the Bloomberg administration’s development policies, former planning commissioner Ron Shiffman said the mayor has “failed to steer” the city’s most recent building boom. The real estate cycle may be cratering now, but eventually it will swing back up. When it does, will New York be ready to steer investment toward walkable development that matches the sustainability and transportation goals of PlaNYC? Or will we get swamped by even more Gateway Centers?

More pics, with commentary from the photographer, after the jump.

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Jessie Singer has a great feature in the latest issue of TA's Reclaim magazine (now available online), examining the NYPD's failure to curb dangerous driving. After pushing down violent crime rates so effectively based on data-driven analysis, she asks, why don't police use the same techniques to tame the life-threatening hazards of New York City traffic?

Much of the answer, says Peter Moskos, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former Baltimore cop, boils down to the way police perceive their work:

Photo: Wiley Norvell.

The NYPD fails to enforce traffic crime in part because the NYPD does not track traffic crime. And part of the reason the NYPD doesn't track traffic crime is because deterring it doesn't bring the same clear rewards as more traditional law enforcement.

"It doesn't draw on the skills police see themselves as having. It is annoying and time-consuming for officers to do traffic stops," Moskos says. "Partly because the people you are helping aren't there to appreciate how you are helping them. There is not much gratification for traffic work on a personal or professional level, because the people you are helping are not there to thank you."

To make the benefits of law-abiding behavior behind the wheel more apparent, perhaps a good first step would be to strengthen the NYPD's working relationships with advocates for street safety. (Case in point: San Francisco's new police chief, George Gascon, said he would consider creating a liaison to cyclists in an interview with Streetsblog San Francisco last month.)

Drawing on the "broken windows" school of policing that NYPD has famously employed for two decades as a core strategy to deter crime, Singer notes that New York's streets will remain hazardous as long as motorists perceive the consequences of reckless driving to be arbitrary and rare:

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The City Council on Wednesday approved a bill that could prevent future disasters like last January's Chinatown tragedy, which claimed the lives of preschoolers Hayley Ng and Diego Martinez.

Queens Council Member Elizabeth Crowley's Intro 947 raises the fine for leaving an idling, unattended vehicle to $250, up from $5. Crowley introduced the bill in response to the deaths of Martinez and Ng, as well as Robert Ogle and Alex Paul, who were run down by a driver who had stolen an unattended car in Middle Village. Having cleared the council's transportation committee with widespread support early this month, the measure also eliminates a three-minute idling "grace period."

The obvious question: What good is it to jack up idling fines, even by a factor of 50, when police can't be counted on to ticket for traffic fatalities? That's where Council Member Dan Garodnick comes in. Last year he introduced legislation that would allow Traffic Enforcement Agents to issue idling tickets using their hand-held computers. The bill stalled some time ago, but a Garodnick spokesperson says it hasn't been forgotten. Since learning that such a change can be handled administratively, Garodnick's office has been waiting for NYPD to carry it out.

Streetsblog has word that the department has completed programming and testing the hand-held units, and now plans to begin training agents, though no timetable was available.

"Obviously it's still something we'd like to see done," Garodnick's spokesperson said, adding that unattended vehicles should be covered under the new protocol. At $250 a pop, it probably wouldn't take many tickets before companies start telling drivers to take two seconds to shut down their trucks.