Aaron Naparstek

New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan unveiled plans to pedestrianize a large swath of Broadway in Midtown Manhattan at a small briefing in City Hall this morning. Intended to improve motor vehicle traffic flow, enhance safety and provide more and better public space to pedestrians, the plan seeks to solve what Sadik-Khan called a "problem hidden in plain sight for 200 years."

If you are a regular visitor then you've probably noticed that we made some design changes yesterday afternoon. The transition went off without a hitch thanks to The Open Planning Project's Anil Makhijani, Andy Cochran and Rob Marianski. I just wanted to take a moment to walk you through the new design and provide another opportunity for feedback here in the comments section.

I just want to give all of you regular readers a heads up that you'll soon be seeing some design and branding changes implemented on Streetsblog and the Livable Streets Network web sites.

Here's some good news: The Brooklyn Paper reports that livable streets advocate Teresa Toro has been reinstated as chair of the transportation committee at Brooklyn Community Board 1. 

Today we are launching the Streetsblog Network "Action Widget." The Streetsblog Network, as you may already know, is a collection of about 200 bloggers from all around the United States who focus on livable streets, sustainable transport and smart growth issues, usually with a local focus.

I generally avoid cable news like the plague but I've been tuning in lately hoping to find some interesting discussion of the federal stimulus bill. Despite my low expectations of the medium I've been amazed by the inanity, the lack of substance and the incredible amount of Republican demagoguery being allowed to make it onto the airwaves.

The New York City Department of Transportation is posting a job ad seeking a new Deputy Commissioner of Traffic Operations. That's because Michael Primeggia is retiring. After 30+ years in city government, New York City's chief traffic engineer, a man who referred to the city's streets as "my streets," will work his last day on Friday, February 13. DOT staff threw a party for him on Friday evening.

I hate to nitpick at an outstanding and historic speech but it's January 21 and time to start talking about the stimulus bill, so, well, I'll let James Howard Kunstler do the nitpicking...

Looking to circumvent a citywide bike lane injunction or avoid bike lane-related Community Board histrionics? Alex Tee and Evan Gant from the product design firm Altitude Inc. have a novel solution for you: Use laser beams to project your own lane from the back of your bicycle. Gant tells me that he and Tee developed their LightLane concept for a design competition aimed at encouraging bike commuting. For now, the idea exists only on paper but the duo has received so much positive feedback, they are planning to build a prototype.