Flashback Friday: ReMOOOve the Barricades!

Clarence has been unearthing old footage from the Streetfilms vault this summer in preparation for Transportation Alternatives’ 40th anniversary bash. This week’s installment takes us back to the end of 1997, when the Giuliani administration and NYPD erected pedestrian barricades in Midtown, preventing people from crossing major avenues to make way for turning traffic. TA’s protest got covered on all seven local newscasts, but Giuliani went ahead and made the barricades permanent. They remain to this day.

Before you hit play, guess which network led off its segment by proclaiming that “jaywalking is dangerous, slows down ambulances, and is downright rude.” Hint: It’s kind of surprising.

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Celebrating a Car-Free Afternoon In Prospect Park

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Yesterday was the first day of a car-free evening rush hour on Prospect Park’s East Drive. Car-Free Park advocates and Transportation Alternatives members manned the barricades at the Park Circle entrance, reminiscing over more than a dozen years of activism and organizing. That’s StreetFilms’ Clarence Eckerson holding the "Thank you DOT" sign above. Below, T.A.’s […]