Aaron Naparstek
AARON NAPARSTEK is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparsteks journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. Naparstek is the author of "Honku: The Zen Antidote for Road Rage" (Villard, 2003), a book of humorous haiku poetry inspired by the endless motorist sociopathy observed from his apartment window. Prior to launching Streetsblog, Naparstek worked as an interactive media producer, pioneering some of the Web's first music web sites, online communities, live webcasts and social networking services. Naparstek is currently in Cambridge with his wife and two young sons where he is enjoying a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. He has a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Naparstek is a co-founder of the Park Slope Neighbors community group and the Grand Army Plaza Coalition. You can find more of his work here: http://www.naparstek.com.
Recent Posts
Change is Coming to Streetsblog and the Livable Streets Network
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I just want to give all of you regular readers a heads up that you’ll soon be seeing some design and branding changes implemented on Streetsblog and the Livable Streets Network web sites. Over the last few months we’ve created Streetsblog San Francisco, the Streetsblog.net national blog network and an entirely new program called Livable […]
Livable Streets Leaders Are NY’s Most Beautiful Politicos
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Move on over, Bar Refaeli and make room on the newsstand for Paul Steely White and Janette Sadik-Khan. City Hall, a free monthly newspaper, has named the pair of leading transportation policy wonks to its "30 Most Beautiful People in New York Politics" list. While Sadik-Khan was a shoo-in, we hear that Steely White just barely […]
Teresa Toro is Back in the Saddle at Community Board 1
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Here’s some good news: The Brooklyn Paper reports that livable streets advocate Teresa Toro has been reinstated as chair of the transportation committee at Brooklyn Community Board 1.
Install a Widget. Build a Movement.
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Today we are launching the Streetsblog Network "Action Widget." The Streetsblog Network, as you may already know, is a collection of about 200 bloggers from all around the United States who focus on livable streets, sustainable transport and smart growth issues, usually with a local focus. The Action Widget is a tool that members of […]
Stimulus + Mass Transit = Opportunity
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I generally avoid cable news like the plague but I’ve been tuning in lately hoping to find some interesting discussion of the federal stimulus bill. Despite my low expectations of the medium I’ve been amazed by the inanity, the lack of substance and the incredible amount of Republican demagoguery being allowed to make it onto […]
Wanted: A New Traffic Boss for New York City
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You won’t have Primeggia to kick around anymore. The New York City Department of Transportation is posting a job ad seeking a new Deputy Commissioner of Traffic Operations. That’s because Michael Primeggia is retiring. After 30+ years in city government, New York City’s chief traffic engineer, a man who referred to the city’s streets as […]
The Last Thing This Nation Needs
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I hate to nitpick at an outstanding and historic speech but it’s January 21 and time to start talking about the stimulus bill, so, well, I’ll let James Howard Kunstler do the nitpicking… “We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars…” — Barack Obama’s inaugural address.“The last thing […]
BYO Bike Lane
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Looking to circumvent a citywide bike lane injunction or avoid bike lane-related Community Board histrionics? Alex Tee and Evan Gant from the product design firm Altitude Inc. have a novel solution for you: Use laser beams to project your own lane from the back of your bicycle. Gant tells me that he and Tee developed […]
New York City Wins the 2009 Sustainable Transport Award
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Madison Square: Before and After. Take a moment to appreciate how far we’ve come in the last few years. New York City is being honored tonight in Washington D.C. as the first U.S. city to win the ITDP Sustainable Transport Award. Here is an excerpt from the press release: New York City has demonstrated that […]
Streetsblog San Francisco is Online!
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I’m pleased to announce the launch of Streetsblog San Francisco. We opened the doors to the site yesterday and, from now on, you’ll be able to find it at this RSS feed and this address: SF.Streetsblog.org Streetsblog seems to be arriving in the Bay Area not a moment too soon. As Streetsblog San Francisco editor […]
Metro-North Makes Its M-7 Train Cars More Bike-Friendly
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The Metro-North Railroad’s M-7 train cars now offer special accommodations for passengers traveling with bicycles, the MTA announced yesterday. The railroad is just testing this out for now, so if you’re a Metro-North rider, management wants to know what you think of the new bike hooks. From the press release: The railroad is seeking feedback […]
Brennan Center: Albany’s “Still Broken”
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NYU’s Brennan Center for Justice just published an update of the famous 2004 report that described in excruciatingly precise detail just how deeply lousy New York State government has become. I haven’t had the chance to read it yet but the title of the 2008 edition pretty much sums it up: "Still Broken." The New […]