Highlights From the Latest <i>Mobilizing the Region</i>

11:51 AM EST on December 22, 2006

The latest issue of Tri-State Transportation Campaign's Mobilizing the Region newsletter just came out. Here are some of the highlights:

The Bloomberg Sustainability Agenda: Reading the Transportation Tea Leaves
The mayor mentioned only two broad transportation-related goals: bring the subway system to a state of good repair, and improve travel times over today's levels by adding mass transit capacity. Urbanists and pedestrian advocates looking for a statement about more efficient and convivial use of city street space were disappointed.

Congestion Pricing: What's the Problem With Queens?
Strangely, six of the seven bridges or tunnels that connect Queens to other boroughs (and most of Queens to the Rockaways) already have tolls. So is the big fuss in Queens really just about keeping the chronically-clogged Queensboro Bridge toll-free? It is true that Queens connections to some of the free bridges in Brooklyn are pretty direct (if one were driving from eastern Queens to City Hall, for example) but the big shifts in free versus paid car access to the central business district under the Manhattan Institute plan would be in Brooklyn and The Bronx, rather than in Queens.

Earth to Staten Island: Stop Voting for Worse Traffic
Recent news from Staten Island clearly manifests the Island's split personality. One headline announced the start of construction of a new mall along the West Shore Expressway that is slated to be the "second-largest shopping center" on the Island and looks like it would fit into any sprawling suburban retail landscape across the U.S., while within just a few days, the NASCAR track proposed for a site near the Goethals Bridge went down to defeat because of traffic fears.

Aaron Naparstek

AARON NAPARSTEK is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparsteks journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. Naparstek is the author of "Honku: The Zen Antidote for Road Rage" (Villard, 2003), a book of humorous haiku poetry inspired by the endless motorist sociopathy observed from his apartment window. Prior to launching Streetsblog, Naparstek worked as an interactive media producer, pioneering some of the Web's first music web sites, online communities, live webcasts and social networking services. Naparstek is currently in Cambridge with his wife and two young sons where he is enjoying a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. He has a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Naparstek is a co-founder of the Park Slope Neighbors community group and the Grand Army Plaza Coalition. You can find more of his work here: http://www.naparstek.com.

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