Parks

Just in case you thought all of the bike-related news today was good, a Streetsblog tipster in Queens reports that Parks and Recreation Dept. agents were clipping bike locks and seizing bicycles in Forest Hills, Queens yesterday. She was told by a city employee that the bike seizures are part of a new, citywide Parks Dept. policy. I have a call in to the Parks Department public information office to confirm this story and find out what's going on. Here is her letter to Streetsblog:

The Boston Globe ran a front-page story yesterday about confrontations among users of the super-popular tree-lined Minuteman Bikeway in Boston. Police have already filed more reports of clashes between users of the bikeway this year than the previous two combined. As the Arlington Police Chief noted, "We have road rage, and now we have bikeway rage."

Go to Governor's Island! A StreetFilm by Clarence Eckerson Jr. and Trorb Productions Running Time: 4 minutes 18 seconds

A restored High Bridge will be open to commuting cyclists and pedestrians, but access time could be limited, officials said last week.

When I first met Brian McCormick, Milton Puryear and Meg Fellerath in the spring of 2002, they were picking up trash and planting tulips alongside a Brooklyn-Queens Expressway off-ramp in Cobble Hill. I asked them what they were up to and they told me they were working to create a waterfront greenway for Brooklyn -- a linear park running from Greenpoint to Red Hook. I didn't have the heart to tell them they looked like a gang of juvenile delinquents paying off 40 hours of community service for shop-lifting. Clearly, these people were either insane or visionary.

A tipster sends along this snapshot of the parking lot... I mean, sidewalk, outside the High Bridge Recreational Center prior to the meeting last night to discuss plans for the revitalized High Bridge. The talk inside, she says, "was much more encouraging" than the government employee parking situation outside.

This is a guest post by Susan Murray, author of the Urban Naturalist.

This Thursday will be the opening reception of "Livable Streets in Brooklyn," an exhibition at the Brooklyn Public Library. There will be a presentation by the Grand Army Plaza Coalition (GAPco) about the community-driven process that has been underway to re-envision Grand Army Plaza. And the Department of Transportation will discuss its recently announced plans for bike and pedestrian improvements.