Eyes on the Street: Safer Crossings in North Corona
When we last checked in on the intersection of 114th Street and 34th Avenue in September, construction was about to start on a new pedestrian island and crosswalk leading to an existing path next to the Whitestone Expressway [PDF]. Now, work is nearly complete as winter sets in, and pedestrians and cyclists have a safer crossing to the path.
November 27, 2013
TA Outlines a Traffic Enforcement Strategy as NYPD Feels the Heat
Following up on its report highlighting NYPD's lack of meaningful traffic enforcement and a street safety forum featuring former police commissioner Bill Bratton, Transportation Alternatives released a report yesterday [PDF] outlining case studies of effective traffic enforcement. The report gives Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio and his next police commissioner a broad strategy to help achieve de Blasio's stated goal of eliminating traffic fatalities within 10 years.
November 27, 2013
Ped Plazas in Low-Income Neighborhoods Get $800,000 Boost From Chase
Under cloudy skies this morning at Corona Plaza, elected officials and community members gathered to announce an $800,000 contribution from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation to help fund the upkeep of pedestrian plazas in low-income communities. The funds are going to the Neighborhood Plaza Partnership (NPP), a program of the Horticultural Society of New York that works with merchant associations and non-profits to maintain plazas in neighborhoods including Corona, Jackson Heights, East New York, and Ridgewood.
November 26, 2013
Eyes on the Street: Reading in Ozone Park’s New Plaza
The intersection of Liberty Avenue and 101st Avenue sits on the border of Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, and Ozone Park, Queens. A few blocks from the A train and surrounded by small businesses, it's a natural hub for the neighborhood, but the road configuration gave over large areas of the angled intersection to cars. Last year, the Bangladeshi American Community Development and Youth Services Corp. (BACDYS) applied to DOT's plaza program, and last month, the finishing touches were put on the new plaza space.
November 25, 2013
DOT Capstone Report Looks Back, Offers Advice to Next Administration
Yesterday, DOT released "Sustainable Streets: 2013 and Beyond," a 212-page report and accompanying website outlining the department's achievements over the past six years and providing guidance for the next administration. Last night, Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan was joined by a panel of council members and New York Magazine architecture critic Justin Davidson for a discussion of the document and the future of sustainable streets in New York.
November 22, 2013
Tonight: Manhattan CB 9 Set to Vote on Morningside Avenue Traffic Calming
A plan to slow drivers and provide safer crossings for pedestrians along Morningside Avenue in Harlem is on the agenda for Manhattan Community Board 9's full board meeting tonight. A positive vote would set the stage for CB 10, which also covers the project area and has a history of stalling livable streets projects, to take action.
November 21, 2013
DOT Cuts Community-Endorsed Harlem Pedestrian Space for Double Parking
A big new pedestrian space next to a busy Harlem park, installed last summer as part of a community board-backed traffic calming plan, is being scaled down by the agency that created it. Why the change? DOT says it’s responding to complaints that the original design created too much space for pedestrians, and not enough for double-parked drivers.
November 21, 2013