Eyes on the Street

Many commuters on the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge this morning noticed new markings going in on First Avenue for a short but critical extension of the protected bike lane between 59th and 61st Streets. The changes, part of a plan supported by Community Boards 6 and 8 last spring, bring safer connections to both First Avenue and 59th Street.

What strikes me about the Cops in Bike Lanes Tumblr, which we first wrote about last week, is the variety. Cruisers, vans, motorcycles, scooters -- regardless of vehicle type, NYPD will leave it in the path of cyclists.

A reader sent in this photo of what looks to be several dozen minivans in Williamsburg parked all over the sidewalk and bike lane on Kent Avenue.

Noah Budnick at TA tweeted this shot yesterday of a new pedestrian wayfinding sign at Flatbush Avenue and Empire Boulevard, between Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Unlike traditional maps, where north is up, WalkNYC maps are oriented to the direction the viewer is facing. Initial rollout areas include Chinatown, the Garment District, Herald Square, and Long Island City, and they've started popping up in Crown Heights and Prospect Heights. Forward-facing maps can also be found on most Citi Bike stations.

People looking to get from North Corona to Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Citi Field, and the Flushing Bay Promenade have to navigate the confusing intersection of 34th Avenue and 114th Street, find a small, poorly-maintained path, and cross a high-speed ramp from the Grand Central Parkway without even a crosswalk. Now construction has started on a DOT project to provide more space and clearer routes for pedestrians and cyclists.

Clarence took these shots of new pedestrian islands going in on College Point Boulevard in Flushing. "I counted seven or eight between between 33rd and Maple Avenues," he says.

Yesterday I observed the driver of this tanker truck do a U-turn at Broadway and 204th Street in order to pull up to a gas station.

DOT continues to make progress with the extension of the Columbus Avenue protected bike lane. Doug Gordon sent us these shots, taken this morning, of pedestrian island construction at 75th and 73rd Streets.

Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem isn't the only green space receiving traffic calming improvements this summer. In the Bronx, Friends of the Williamsbridge Oval waged a fight with DOT to get crosswalks and pedestrian space near their park in the Norwood neighborhood. Now, a plan [PDF] presented to Community Board 7 this spring has been implemented.