Ben Fried

Here's a rather alarming update from Jef Nickerson at Greater City Providence, who alerts us to one of the not-so-imaginative responses to the current fiscal distress affecting many American cities. Providence is selling its streets:

Update! Streetsblog and Streetfilms are about three-quarters of the way to our goal of raising $60,000 by the end of the year. Thanks to everyone who's contributed so far -- we need that support to keep on delivering news, commentary, and videos that make the case for more livable streets.

Angie reported this morning that Washington, DC, is moving to reduce mandatory parking requirements in much of the city, which should lower the cost of housing and curb traffic. Meanwhile, despite talk last year of wide-ranging parking reforms for New York's "inner ring" encircling the Manhattan core, the Department of City Planning has so far only managed to put forward a reduction of parking minimums in transit-saturated Downtown Brooklyn, the most screamingly obvious location.

We've got a heads up for an event early next week. There's a public plaza in the works for the triangle where Bedford Avenue meets Broadway in Brooklyn, right by the Williamsburg Bridge. As you can see, there's currently a lake of asphalt occupying some space that could be doing a whole lot more for the neighborhood than it is now.

More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill

So, Streetsblog is well past the point of bothering to rationally rebut anything that Post columnist Steve Cuozzo has to say on the subject of re-engineering streets for greater safety. The man clearly has a few screws loose, and, in the words of midtown BID impresario Dan Biederman, "He doesn’t know this field. He just loves to scream and rant about it."

This just in from NYC DOT: After bike-share equipment stored in the Brooklyn Navy Yard sustained damage in the Sandy storm surge, the city's public bike system is now set to launch in May, not March. The initial service area will also be about three-quarters as large as the plan before the storm. Instead of beginning with 7,000 bikes at 420 stations, then ramping up to 10,000 bikes, the May launch will consist of 5,500 bikes at 293 stations, expanding to 7,000 bikes by the end of 2013. The city still intends to implement a 10,000-bike system, though in 2014, a new administration will be in place.

More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill

Via BikeBlogNYC, the Miami Bike Scene recently posted this post-game clip of Dwyane Wade in which the All-Star Heat guard shares his fondness for going on bike rides with thousands of other people. On Friday, it seems, Wade and teammates LeBron James and Mario Chalmers warmed up for the next day's match against the Brooklyn Nets by going on a 20-mile Critical Mass jaunt through the streets of Miami.

Hello Streetsblog readers. As you may have noticed, we recently launched our year-end online pledge drive. What I'm pleased to announce in this post is that, thanks to our friends at Bicycle Habitat, everyone who gives $50 or more online will be entered to win a new Specialized hybrid bike. The lucky winner will choose between a Sirrus or a Vita. Take a look: