Eyes on the Street: The Press Get a Working Cyclist’s Perspective on DSK

This was the scene outside 153 Franklin Street last night. Yes, that is a reporter’s notebook, but they’re not talking about what it’s like to bike all day in the midst of speeding cabbies, aggressive SUV drivers, and trucks a hundred times bigger than you, delivering food to impatient customers while getting demonized in the press with startling frequency. A tipster writes:

What’s this, a reporter interviewing a cyclist to get a balanced perspective on the livable streets movement?

No, they’re finding out what Dominique Strauss-Kahn had delivered for dinner.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Eyes on the Street: The New 215th Step-Street Officially Opens Today

By Brad Aaron |
Over a decade after the project’s first expected delivery date, the reconstruction of Inwood’s 215th Step-Street is complete. West 215th Street crosses the width of Manhattan island’s northernmost neighborhood, from Inwood Hill Park to the Harlem River. Between Park Terrace East and Broadway, W. 215 is a step-street — one of many car-free street segments in Upper Manhattan and other parts of […]

Eyes on the Street: Williamsburg’s “Lively,” “Beautiful” New Garage Wall

By Stephen Miller |
An apartment building in Williamsburg perfectly illustrates how parking minimums in New York’s zoning code make the city’s streets and sidewalks worse. Last year, a joint venture of Alex. Brown Realty and Largo Investments finished construction on a 33-unit rental project at 281 Union Avenue in Williamsburg. The seven-story building, roughly the same size as its neighbors, has something those older buildings don’t: 17 parking spaces. […]

Eyes on the Street: New Bike Lanes Around Union Square

By David Meyer |
DOT began installing new bike lanes leading to and around Union Square this week. The project — which will eventually include a two-way protected lane around the park’s eastern and northern edges — is not nearly complete, but fresh paint along Fourth Avenue between 12th and 15th heralds bigger changes on the way. In addition […]

Eyes on the Street: Bushwick Sidewalk Driver Gets a Pass

By Brad Aaron |
From a tipster on Bogart Street in Bushwick, Brooklyn: I thought you might appreciate this picture. It was taken today out of my bedroom window. A car drove up onto the sidewalk, and the man in the car promptly got on his cell phone while sitting in the driver’s seat. Two police cars drove by […]