Whoa — our colleague from Streetfilms, Clarence Eckerson Jr., just got an award from the United Nations.
No joke — the real United Nations.
As part of its promotion of World Bicycle Day on June 3, the UN's General Assembly — we're talking the whole freakin' UN! — handed Eckerson a "lifetime achievement" award for his 1,000-plus films advocating the car-free lifestyle from all over the world.
Twenty-five people or NGOs were named bike day laureates this year, including only three Americans and one U.S.-based relief group. Eckerson was only filmmaker on the esteemed list (see bottom of this story for the full list).
It's a well-deserved honor. And to refresh your memory about why it's so deserved, check out Eckerson's film about getting an award for his films:
We're just so proud to know him and will continue to publish his work whenever we can. The U.N.! Think about that.
Meanwhile, here's the rest of the news from the Easter/Passover/Ramadan weekend:
- The new Sanitation Commissioner — yes, Jessica Tisch's ascension to the heights of trash was announced super early this morning — will get a fast start on the job, appearing with DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez in Crown Heights at 1:45 p.m. to "make a major Earth Week announcement," according to the DSNY press release.
- The Post did a feature about other people victimized by failing subway cameras.
- Gridlock Sam reminded us all that drivers are likely to be even more reckless and dangerous on Wednesday, which all pot consumers know as 4/20.
- Here's a well-deserved hat-tip to Hells Kitchen's Litter Legion. (NY Post)
- And, whaddaya know, editors at the pro-car New York Times somehow let this pro-cargo-bike story through the sausage mill.
- The head of the National Transportation Safety Board was in town to check out the Staten Island Ferry:
- The Times did a bit of a rowback on its earlier coverage of New York as "simmering" in fear, this time acknowledging that most New Yorkers are going about their business — and using the subway — after last week's shooting in Brooklyn. (NYC Transit President Craig Cipriano used the same word — "resilient" — in an amNY op-ed.
- But speaking of fear-mongering, the raw numbers on subway crime are up this year, but there are also a lot more riders now than in the same period last year, not that the Post mentioned that, of course.
- Clarence Eckerson Jr. - USA - filmmaker
- Lake Sagaris - Chile - professor/advocate
- Mikel Delagrange - USA - human rights lawyer
- Firoza Suresh - India - Bicycle Mayor of Mumbai
- Maud de Vries - The Netherlands - Global Bicycle NGO
- Iain Treloar - Australia - journalist
- Vicky Liu Yang - Taiwan - cycling executive/advocate
- World Bicycle Relief - USA - Global Bicycle NGO
- Nepal Cycle Society - Nepal - NGO
- Manfred G. Neun - Germany - cycling executive/advocate
- Manuel de Araujo - Mozambique - Mayor of Quelimane
- Yuzaki Hidehiko - Japan - Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture
- Nakamura Tokihiro - Japan - Governor of Ehime Prefecture
- Julianne Idlet - USA - cycling advocate for all children
- Czesaw Lang - Poland - cycling organizer, former Olympic and professional cyclist
- Felipe Targa - Colombia - World Bank - transport expert
- Adam Pawlicki - Poland - Mayor of Jarocin
- Pinar Pinzuti - Italy - cycling advocate for women
- Sema Gür - Turkey - cycling advocate for women
- Amanda Ngabirano - Uganda - advocate
- King Liu - Taiwan - retired executive of a bicycles manufacturing corporation
- Kwon Heog-Chul - the Republic of Korea - cycling advocate
- Bicibús escolar a l'Eixample de Barcelona - Spain - children cycling initiative
- London Ambulance Service's Cycle Response Unit - UK
- Marianne Vos - The Netherlands - Olympic Road, CX, Mountain, track cyclist
