Events

After the great success of our first event last month, we'll be having a second meetup to continue the effort to make up-to-date New York public transit data easily and freely available.

It's an exciting time. The values that have been championed for decades by the free software movement — values of sharing, participation, and freedom — have over the past several years spread well beyond the confines of computer software and are permeating everything from the arts to government.

REZONING HARLEM follows longtime members of the Harlem community as they fight a 2008 rezoning that threatens to erase the history and culture of their legendary neighborhood and replace it with luxury housing, offices, and big-box retail. A shocking expose of how a group of ordinary citizens, who are passionate about the future of one the city’s most treasured neighborhoods, are systematically shut out of the city’s decision-making process, revealing New York City’s broken public review system and provoking discussion on what we can do about it.

Crain's Insider has the most detailed look yet at the odds that the City Council will pass a congestion pricing bill [PDF]. The good news is that pricing stands a decent chance of getting through committee, thanks in part to some maneuvering by Speaker Christine Quinn. As things progress, expect to hear more about uncommitted council members like Larry Seabrook (right), who may cast the deciding vote in committee. Via The Politicker, here's the scoop from Crain's:

Ted Kheel and the research team that created the Kheel report (George Haikalis, Charles Komanoff, Brian Ketcham, Carolyn Konheim) invite you to join them at The Carriage House for a light discussion of the report, and a demonstration of an exciting new tool, The Balanced Transportation Analyzer, designed to facilitate policy choices about fares and cordon tolls.

Item #1 is a presentation from DOT on the reconfiguration of Washington and Greenwich Sts. in the West Village. The proposal reduces the number of travel lanes on both streets to one (which has already been marked, though without a formal CB review) and creates bicycle lanes on both streets. Parking rules would be adjusted to create "daylighted" intersections, removing spaces so that crosswalks are more visible, and other rules changed to increase the amount of daytime parking.

The Pratt Design Incubator for Sustainable Innovation, Pratt industrial design students, and the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership will hold a community design workshop tonight, Tuesday, November 13 from 6 to 8 p.m. in Pratt Institute’s Higgins Hall as part of the Myrtle Avenue Street Furniture Design Initiative. The workshop, during which designers will present preliminary concepts for seating, bike racks, tree guards, and other possible street elements, is open to the public and members of the community are encouraged to attend.

How should NYC plan for transportation, land use and public safety while facing huge uncertainties about energy and climate?