Aaron Naparstek

Streetfilms' Clarence Eckerson has been spending a lot of time in Portland learning about the politics, planning, engineering and culture behind that city's phenomenal bike network. Working closely with Greg Raisman from Portland's Dept. of Transportation Clarence produced a half hour documentary called "A Celebration of Portland Transportation." On Saturday, the film was shown on the big screen at Portland's Bagdad Theater.

These burned-out cars on Washington Square Park were the result of:a) A rowdy Halloween Critical Mass ride on Friday.b) An alternate side of street parking mishap. c) The filming of the next Will Smith movie

Trunk or Treat: Halloween Moves to the Parking Lot (NYT) The Next Governor’s Transit Challenges (AMNY) Down Bound Train (NYT) Using American Tragedies to Sell Trucks (NYT) Paving a Parking Lot To Put Up a Paradise (Queens Ledger) Climate Change May Cost World $9.6 Trillion (Bloomberg) SUVs Escape Guzzler Tax (Wired) Insulating a Melting Glacier … Continued

Sorry to have been offline all day Monday. Streetsblog's server crashed and it took a long time to get back up and running. 

Before Enrique Peñalosa took over as Mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, this thriving downtown plaza was a decrepit, crime-ridden, traffic-congested slum. Peñalosa cleared out the old shacks, banned private motor vehicles, launched the Transmilenio bus service, created the plaza, and returned this public space to his city's people. Granted, the neighborhood pictured above clearly lacks the First World "vibrancy" that we boast of here in New York City, but it seems pleasant enough, no?

Last night the Tri-State Transportation Campaign honored Elliot "Lee" Sander, at its annual gala. Sander was Commissioner of New York City's Department of Transportation for two years during the Giuliani administration, he is a vice president at DMJM Harris, co-chairman of the Empire State Transportation Alliance, and Director of the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy & Management at NYU's Wagner School. A lot of the more progressive players and policy wonks I chatted with last night believe -- and hope -- that Sander will be the Metropolitan Transit Authority's next chairman.

Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, (Prospect Park, North) and Bklyn End of Williamsburg Bridge Critical Mass Brooklyn

March 1996: Residents in Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, and Boerum Hill are tired of their streets absorbing overflow from the nearby Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Neighborhood groups have tried repeatedly to convince the City to protect the neighborhoods from rush hour through traffic. So far, the City has done nothing but promise further study. DOT officials have even criticized residents for not wanting to serve as doormats for Manhattan-bound motorists. Residents are now considering civil disobedience to protect their safety and quality of life....

More evidence that hockey -- and livable streets -- aren't just "a white thing." From the New York Times' Metropolitan Diary (along with a photo sent in by the author)...