Quality of Life

Last night, Brooklyn's Community Board 6 narrowly voted in favor of a resolution supporting the Department of Transportation's plan to put Park Slope's 9th Street on a "Road Diet."

The Municipal Art Society of New York, City Council member Dan Garodnick, and Manhattan's Community Board 6 ran an intensive day-long workshop last Wednesday to develop a new vision for Midtown's inaccessible East River waterfront. On Sunday, MAS unveiled some of the results. From the MAS press release:

A third-grader was hit on her way to school here two weeks ago.

Chicago's Department of Transportation started the Green Alleys Program to use the city's many alleyways to conserve natural resources and improve the environment. Although New York City doesn't have too many alleys, the beautifully-designed, 47-page Green Alleys Program booklet (PDF) offers several techniques that could still be useful in making New York City streets perform better environmentally.

In the early 1990's three and a half miles of the Grand Concourse, a major arterial roadway in the Bronx, was closed to cars every Sunday from July through November (kind of like Bogota Colombia's Ciclovia). The closures provided residents with much-needed open space to bike, walk, play and develop a sense of community with neighbors. Despite its popularity, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani killed the program in 1996.

This was the scene along the Edward L. Grant Highway in the Bronx on May 27, where the southbound buffered bike lane near Jerome Avenue was being blocked by SUVs from Florida and New Jersey and assorted other vehicles. The bike lane markings here are worn out by the constant wear and tear of automobile tires. A complete lack of enforcement makes this bike lane inadequate for cycling and a great benefit for auto mechanics and double-parkers.

With a successful Bike Month now behind us and a spectacular Tour de Brooklyn completed, we perhaps have an opportunity to dream bigger for how we can celebrate our bicyclists, our streets and communities in this city.

In order to foster ideas on how to reclaim 9th Avenue from Lincoln Tunnel traffic, the Clinton/Hell's Kitchen Pedestrian Safety Coalition (CHEKPEDS) sponsored a six month community input process designed by Project for Public Spaces. The process began with a design workshop in January, and has evolved into an impressive final report (PDF). Some highlights from the report:

On Saturday, seventeen New York City and State elected officials stood with the Campaign for New York's Future and officially endorsed PlaNYC. They are: