Manhattan

Borough presidents have limited power, but the influence they wield can still make a big difference for livable streets, especially by making community board appointments and weighing in during the city's land use review process. The four Democratic candidates for Manhattan borough president -- City Council members Gale Brewer, Robert Jackson, and Jessica Lappin, plus former Community Board 1 chair Julie Menin -- often sound very similar to each other, and few distinctions emerged at a forum hosted last night by the Center for Architecture featuring Brewer, Jackson, and Menin. But telling differences emerged when the candidates were asked for their thoughts about the bike-share program and the planning process that preceded the launch of the system.

Saturday was the second of three Summer Streets this August, with car-free streets along Park Avenue and Lafayette Street from 72nd Street to the Brooklyn Bridge. Couldn't make it yourself? Clarence Eckerson Jr. from Streetfilms, as always, has got you covered.

This afternoon, the City Council passed the Manhattan Core parking text amendment with a vote of 47-0, with one abstention (Jessica Lappin). The zoning change, which modifies off-street parking rules in the densest parts of Manhattan, is as good as law now, with Mayor Michael Bloomberg's approval basically a given.

It's easy to see why the New York City Housing Authority's recent proposal to develop new housing on some of its property in Manhattan has aroused strong passions.

Yesterday, the City Planning Commission approved modifications to off-street parking regulations in the Manhattan Core, below East 96th Street and West 110th Street. Significant changes to the city's only parking maximums, which have helped cut down on traffic in the city's congested core since 1982, are on track for final approval from the City Council. Although the final proposal itself has not been released to the public by the Department of City Planning, the commission gave its unanimous approval.

Did you hear? It didn't get press coverage, but a week ago rates for on-street parking in Manhattan below 110th Street increased by 50 cents. The lack of attention this story has gotten is truly amazing, given the media's usual windshield perspective.

The protected bike and pedestrian space on Broadway between 42nd and 35th Streets will be redesigned in 2013 to give more space to pedestrians, removing a motor vehicle lane. The alterations will also change the bike lane from a protected route often used by pedestrians as a de facto sidewalk extension to a buffered lane between curbside parking and moving cars.

As part of the safety improvements on Delancey Street that DOT is installing, the evening rush hour ban on left turns at the intersection of Essex and Delancey Streets was extended to prohibit left turns at all times. To educate motorists, DOT installed reflective overhead signs and temporary electronic signage.

Manhattan's Fifth and Sixth Avenues are two of the busiest bicycle routes in the city, even without protected bike infrastructure to make cycling appealing to a broader range of New Yorkers. They are also major pedestrian thoroughfares in need of safety upgrades. While DOT's "6½ Avenue" project can help relieve some of the crowding, both avenues devote wide expanses to motor traffic and could use the kind of overhaul that the city has used to improve conditions for walking and biking on other major streets.