Aaron Naparstek

...and why it's so urgent that we work for a better future.

We asked our founding editor to reflect on how far — and how not far at all! — the livable streets movement has come in 15 years of doing this.

Cross-posted from Naparstek.com

This will be difficult news for those of you who are already reeling from Oprah's retirement, Simon Cowell's abandonment of "American Idol" and Sewell Chan's departure from City Room, but here it is: I am leaving my job as editor-in-chief of Streetsblog.

The NYPD's 94th Precinct in Williamsburg, Brooklyn is working hard to build on its reputation for being New York City's most infamous bike thieves. Too much demand for bike parking in the neighborhood? "I know what to do," says the 94's commanding officer Dennis M. Fulton. "Bust out the circular saw!"

Sorry for the late start this morning, folks. Elana has more headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill.

More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill

If you live in New York City you've probably been conditioned to believe your vote doesn't count all that much. Fundraising and media appearances aside, presidential campaigns mostly ignore New York while the Electoral College ensures that the votes of people who live in places like North Dakota and Wyoming are nearly three times more valuable than our own. Every once in a while we see a contested Congressional race but even the most shockingly useless incumbents are impossible to get rid of. U.S. Senators, these days, are machine-picked like non-organic industrial produce. And in the New York state legislature, incumbents are re-elected more than 90 percent of the time. Assembly Members and State Senators leave office in handcuffs and pine boxes.

More national heddies at Streetsblog Capitol Hill