Upper East Side

Here's a shot of the Park Avenue pedestrian mall at 88th Street, taken by reader BicyclesOnly last night. Thanks to sheer luck, it appears as though no one was caught between the car and the light pole. 

The biggest sustainable transportation story in New York right now is how DOT and the MTA plan to design Bus Rapid Transit corridors for the East Side of Manhattan. Will we get world-class avenues that attract more riders to the bus, relieve the jam-packed Lexington subway line, make cycling safer, and enhance the pedestrian environment? If so, the city will improve life for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers and set a tremendous precedent in sustainable street design. If not, the standard for BRT corridors will be set low as the city starts rolling out up to a dozen more routes.

A quick update on the status of bike infrastructure in the city's plans for the East Side. We asked DOT whether the agency is considering protected bike facilities as part of the Bus Rapid Transit corridor planned for First and Second avenues. The press office says:

Advocates and volunteers working for protected bike paths on the East Side, flush from last month's highly encouraging Community Board 8 vote, delivered more than a thousand handwritten letters yesterday to City Hall, supporting protected bike lanes on First and Second Avenues. Keep an eye on this story. It's a big one.

New York's trusty single-space parking meters are a dying breed. They've served commercial corridors admirably, but they're rapidly giving way to muni-meters (which are much better suited for innovations in curbside pricing, like DOT's PARKSmart program).

Manhattan Community Board 8 issued a strong call for safer streets on the Upper East Side last night, voting 38 to 1 for a resolution supporting protected bike lanes. The reso asks DOT to come back to the CB with a neighborhood bike plan that includes physically protected lanes, though it refrains from mentioning specific routes.

After the roll call at tonight's full Community Board 8 meeting, the tally for a resolution supporting protected bike lanes on the East Side stood at 38 yeas, 1 nay. Lots of hard work went into this vote -- congrats to all who made it happen. More details tomorrow.

There are two opportunities tonight to get behind livable streets efforts in Manhattan.

The Community Board 8 committee vote this month in support of protected bike lanes for Manhattan's Upper East Side was nothing short of momentous. Wednesday's full board decision presents an even bigger hurdle, though by no means an insurmountable one. The reason, says Caroline Samponaro, director of bicycle advocacy for Transportation Alternatives, is community input.