Manhattan

(Photo by Will Sherman of Transportation Alternatives)

If you've seen those eerie white "ghost bikes" on Houston Street, you may know that three cyclists have been killed on "the Boulevard of Death" during the past two years: Derek Lake, Brandie Bailey and Andrew Morgan. In the wake of this loss of life, members of Community Board 2's Traffic & Transportation Committee are holding a rally on Wednesday to ask the DOT to install buffered bike lanes as part of the street's reconstruction, which is taking space away from pedestrian islands to create left-turn bays for cars.

It isn't just in California where SUV's are secretly banned from certain roadways. Right here in New York City, many SUVs are banned from the Brooklyn Bridge, but nobody seems to know it.

Bayard Street, Chinatown. Photo: SkyShaper

The New York Times printed an error in the news brief reporting the death of Darren Lewis, the 20-year-old bike messenger killed by a truck in Midtown on Thursday. The Times reported that twelve cyclists were killed in New York City last year. According to the NYPD, 24 cyclists were killed on the city's streets in 2005, twice as many as the Times claims.

A cyclist riding a red mountain bike was killed on Ninth Avenue and 29th Street at about 10 am this morning. The cyclist, a courier working for Urban Express, was traveling southbound in the right lane of 9th Ave. A 10-wheel truck carrying construction materials was driving in the lane to his left. At 29th Street, with the light green and both vehicles moving, the trucker made a right turn, directly into the path of the cyclist. With no no safety plating to prevent the cyclist from falling beneath the wheels of the truck, he was crushed and killed. Witnesses describe the crash as "horrific." Couriers at the scene say that the cyclist's name was Darrell.

Catching up today on some interesting items that I somehow missed over the couple of weeks. Here is a report on July's Critical Mass ride from Will at NYTurf:

With the news emerging that State Court employees are blocking off a public street in Lower Manhattan to run their own, private valet parking service while illegal government employee parking costs New York City $46 million in potential annual revenues, Streetsblog thought this might be a good time to let former DOT Deputy Commissioner "Gridlock" Sam Schwartz, the Yoda of New York City parking policy, explain why it matters: