Wheels: The New York Times’ New Auto Blog

2:13 PM EST on January 9, 2007

Just when it seemed like congestion pricing proponent Carolyn Curiel and Portland native David Shipley were helping to steer the the New York Times in a greener more urban environmentally aware direction, the Times launches Wheels, their new Auto Blog. Its mission: Cover the Detroit Auto Show and help drivers and auto enthusiasts know new cars to watch for and which new concept car that is turning heads.

New York Times reporter Ezra Dyer, pictured right, is the man assigned to make that happen. Towards that end, he plays a Jeep bongo at the Daimler-Chrysler party and muses on the journalistic ethics of accepting party favors from automakers:

I imagine there are practical considerations for the journalists who walked away with the "Jeep" drums. I know I didn't allow for bongo-sized extra space in my luggage when I packed. And once you do get your bongo home, what are you going to do with it? Take up bongoing on a regular basis? Maybe find a friend with a steel drum? Perhaps someone will use his bongo drum to torment the fellow denizens of the Holiday Inn Express later on tonight.

Too bad Keith Bradsher is too busy doing great journalism. He'd be an awesome blogger for Wheels and I'd love to see him with a lampshade on his head.

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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