Transportation Alternatives

This past August, a young cyclist and a beloved Transportation Alternatives volunteer, James Langergaard, was struck and killed by a car at Queens Boulevard and 69th Street.

Chalk up more bikeway innovation to the folks at the NYC Department of Transportation. Nearly complete, the Sands Street approach to the Manhattan Bridge is now safer and more enjoyable thanks to a New York City first: a center-median, two-way protected bike path. The facility is a perfect solution to counter the dangers posed by a tangle of roads and highway on-ramps that burden the area. Dramatic before-and-afters tell the delicious story.

Street safety wasn't mentioned in today's Daily News piece about Cy Vance, but Manhattan's next district attorney made clear that he intends to pursue, as the News put it, a "fresh agenda." And after Transportation Alternatives literally brought Vance and his opponents to the table to discuss the plague of traffic crime, livable streets advocates have cause to expect major changes come January.

Team Amsterdam won running away at Saturday night's New Amsterdam Bike Slam design battle, the two-team competition to devise the best plan for boosting bicycle modeshare in New York City. But Team New York could go home with their heads high -- they presented a lot of ideas that would work wonders on New York City streets.

Tomorrow night's the main event for the New Amsterdam Bike Slam, the weekend-long extravaganza hosted by Transportation Alternatives and Vélo Mondial. Two teams will face off Iron Chef-style to devise the most effective plan to raise cycling in New York City to Amsterdam-esque levels. I'm not quite sure what to expect, but a planning contest "inspired by poetry slams, reality television competitions, and celebrity death matches" promises to not be dull.

Outgoing Council Member John Liu has been a fickle legislator when it comes to livable streets. While the transportation committee chair might endorse congestion pricing, he was also a staunch defender of the mythical put-upon working stiff whose very survival depended on free bridge crossings. And we can't forget his fidgeting when it came time to act on the all-important issue of bike access, his skepticism of landmark street reclamations (while scolding DOT on pedestrian safety), or his repeatedly debunked "two sets of books" claim -- if for no other reason than Liu himself has made it a cornerstone of his current campaign for city comptroller.

The most telling answers at Transportation Alternatives' District 33 City Council candidates forum came after an audience member asked point blank for the debaters' stance on congestion pricing. "I can’t support a candidate who’ll support congestion pricing," said the questioner, Dave Reina. "I think it's punitive, and there are more creative solutions out there. Who’ll stand up against it?"

Tonight's candidate forum for the 33rd City Council district, which covers the Brooklyn neighborhoods closest to the East River, bears special significance for livable streets policy. Outgoing rep David Yassky was an early supporter of congestion pricing in the City Council and later carried the banner for the Bicycle Access Bill, which passed earlier this summer. Will the next council member from the 33rd build on that legacy?