Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Streetfilms

The Second Most Influential Streetfilm of All Time

With the 10-year benefit for Streetsblog and Streetfilms coming up on November 14 (get your tickets here!), we are counting down the 12 most influential Streetfilms of all time, as determined by Clarence Eckerson Jr.

Cycling Copenhagen, Through North American Eyes

Number of plays: 308,000

Publish date: July 15, 2010

Why is it here? This video was shot during the Velo City bike conference in Copenhagen in 2010. While watching the opening plenaries, the idea hit me: To convey what makes Copenhagen's bike network so incredible, why not get attendees from the United States to talk on camera about their experiences biking in this city for the first time? This was the first Streetfilm to ever hit 10,000 plays in one month, and I hear it's a great tool from advocates all over the world.

Fun fact: I spent my entire five days in Copenhagen shooting while hobbling around on a badly sprained ankle. Why? Within minutes of my arrival and picking up a rental bike, I looked up and saw a group of 25-30 people biking toward me in a protected bike lane. I’d NEVER seen so many bikes! So I leapt off my bike to get this special shot -- and that’s when my ankle went sideways. Ouch! As I spent the days icing, elevating, gobbling ibuprofen, and biking as much as I could handle (walking actually hurt more), I realized that wonderful scene I was in such a hurry to capture gets repeated dozens of times per hour all around Copenhagen. Yeah, there was really no need to rush.

The Streetfilms Countdown so far:

#12: Lakewood, Ohio: The Suburb Where Everyone Can Walk to School

#11: Mark Gorton Interviews Enrique Peñalosa

#10: Zurich: Where People Are Welcome and Cars Are Not

#9: Sneckdowns

#8: Complete Streets: It’s About More Than Bike Lanes

#7: Park(ing) Day

#6: NYC Streets Metamorphosis

#5: Bogotá BRT/Transmilenio

#4: Groningen: The World’s Cycling City

#3: The Case for Physically Separated Bike Lanes

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Staten Islanders Fight To Keep Park Car-free

Politicians believe cars will make the park safer, but the opposite is the case.

April 18, 2025

Friday Headlines: Trump’s Revenge Tour Now Includes a Stop at Penn Station

U.S. DOT Secretary Sean Duffy is so eager to own the libs at the MTA that he's now taken himself hostage. Plus other news.

April 18, 2025

Exclusive: Cops Writing 15% of Their Red Light Tix to Cyclists, Who are Just 2% of Road Users

We received data from a Freedom of Information Law request showing that the NYPD is intent on writing red-light tickets to the lightest, slowest-moving vehicles instead of doubling-down on enforcement against 3,000-pound-plus killing machines.

April 18, 2025

OPINION: DOT’s Argument Against Universal Daylighting Has a Fatal Flaw

Hydrant zones and bus stops are not a suitable stand-in for universal daylighting — yet DOT is using them to argue against safety, our contributors write.

April 18, 2025

Helicopter Deaths, Fast and Slow

Choppers harm us. Suddenly but also steadily.

April 17, 2025
See all posts