Noah Kazis

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This weekend marks the sixth annual set of Jane's Walks, walking tours about urban history and planning held in honor of the patron saint of 20th century urbanism, Jane Jacobs. In New York, the Municipal Art Society has catalogued more than 70 tours, all of them free, in all five boroughs. In most cases, there's no RSVP required.

When Brooklyn's Barclays Center opens with a Jay-Z concert this September, it will be one of the most transit-accessible arenas in the United States. But as Streetsblog has noted before, the transportation planning for the stadium is excessively car-oriented. Developer Forest City Ratner had been planning to build an 1,100-space surface parking lot, marring the pedestrian environment and inducing more driving to the stadium. As opening day nears, there's good news and bad when it comes to parking.

On-Duty Secret Service Agent, Trying to Beat the Light, Kills Bed-Stuy Pedestrian Maria Tripp (News) Sidewalk Extensions, Ped Plazas Coming to Financial District’s Whitehall and State Streets (DNAinfo) First Phase of Queens Greenway, From LIC to Astoria, to Open This Fall (News) Cuomo Won’t Tell New Yorkers How He Hopes to Pay for Tappan Zee (Transpo … Continued

Here's a cool, funny, and genuinely effective public service announcement out of Belgium. According to Gizmodo, non-profit Responsible Young Drivers essentially pranked a bunch of people taking their drivers license exam. To pass, they were told, they'd have to show they could adequately send text messages while keeping control of the car.

New Yorkers got an unusual taste of what car-free streets feel like yesterday, thanks to the combination of Occupy Wall Street's May Day march and the New York Police Department.

More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill

The general shape of the pricing scheme for New York's bike-share system -- an annual membership cheaper than a monthly Metrocard, according to the early buzz from DOT -- has been floating out there for a while. Now, with the system set to go live in July, the details are starting to get nailed down.

A "shake-up" is underway at the top levels of the MTA, reported Crain's Insider this morning. Two top executives, Charles Monheim and Linda Kleinbaum, are on their way out the door. Moving into the agency is Steve Morello, a political operative with deep ties to the Cuomo family.

Top transportation officials from three global cities -- London, Singapore and Stockholm -- shared their experiences in expanding the use of transit at a panel at the Regional Plan Association's annual conference last Friday. Eyeing those cities, it's easy for New Yorkers to get jealous.