Today’s Headlines

  • Manhattan Electeds Have Some Ideas to Improve Times Square and Keep the Plazas (News)
  • State Judge Vehemently Declines to Protect Medallion Industry From Uber Et Al (Crain’s, Post, AMNY)
  • Staten Island Ferris Wheel Developers Nix Wind Turbines, Keep the 950 Parking Spaces (Advance)
  • How Clean Is the Air You Breathe While Biking in NYC? (WNYC)
  • Brooklyn Paper Reviews the New Bike Racks on the S53
  • Thinking Big About Biking on Staten Island (Advance)
  • A Large Share of NYC’s Most Decrepit Subway Stations Are in Queens (TL)
  • Rush Hour Subway Service Returns to Normal on Queens Blvd Lines as Repairs Wrap Up (AMNY)
  • Mixed-Use, Parking-Free Apartment Building to Replace 4th Avenue Auto Body Shop By R Train (YIMBY)
  • Westchester Judge Busted for Driving Drunk in NYC Still Thinks He Should Dispense Justice (Post)

More headlines at Streetsblog USA

  • Jonathan R

    I like how David Shear in the Advance blithely suggests that on narrow streets, Staten Islanders should “ride facing traffic so you can see the oncoming traffic and time your swerves.”

    Mr. Shear, which way should one swerve when riding facing traffic on a two-way street?

  • Air pollution while biking is an interesting subject, having asthma, I can tell when the air is poor. I always go running on off street routes to avoid pollution, but biking I don’t have so many options. Our air here is pretty good, but if I’m riding beside a diesel truck or bus, I’ll begin to notice it. Worse yet, any time they’re laying asphalt, terrible. Of course, I still think I’m vastly better off being fitter from riding a bike than I would be breathing slightly cleaner air. Of course, I see some people who apparently don’t want to make the trade off and bike around wearing full filtration face masks.

  • Joe R.

    I think the study being done will vindicate my desire to ride between about 10 PM and 5 or 6 AM. I rarely even go out walking before about 8 in the summers on account of the air quality. I don’t have asthma, but I have an aromatic hydrocarbon allergy which in my opinion is worse. If i’m exposed to significant levels of car exhaust, I might feel ill for days. Just this Sunday I had to ride in a car to go to a relative’s event. It was my mom’s 2006 vehicle which still has some :”new car smell”. That combined with the car exhaust made me feel drained by the time we got back. It was only about an hour each way, but I’m still suffering the effects of this. I’ve noticed it’s not as bad riding in my brother’s old car, perhaps because plastics weren’t used as extensively in the interior. Nevertheless, I experience this riding in any motor vehicle, and to a lesser extent walking or biking.

    I do hope the study will compare air quality at different times of day. I personally notice a major improvement between 10 PM and midnight compared to the rest of the day. And in winter the air is much better than summer.

  • Alexander Vucelic

    re: Times Square article

    they also want to create a extortion racket with a nice slush Fund for Their cronies

    read the bit about the Community Court carefully

    also be extrememly wary of any Pol yammering on about reducing congestion – usually means wider & faster motor traffic

  • Matthias

    I didn’t read it as advice, but as an explanation of why people do this (so they can see traffic).