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
Who Will be the Next DOT Commissioner?
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People are starting to kick around the names of potential successors to outgoing DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall. This morning, Crain’s Insider reports: Insiders believe that Mayor Mike Bloomberg will look inside his administration for Iris Weinshall’s replacement as transportation commissioner. But because Bloomberg will be out in 2009, top transportation people may favor state jobs: […]
Weinshall Upheld a “Cars-First Status Quo,” T.A. Says
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Transportation Alternatives has come out with its statement on the resignation of DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall along with a brief to-do list for the next commissioner. Executive Director Paul White isn’t pulling punches. From T.A.: Iris Weinshall upheld the cars-first status quo at a time when New York City streets desperately needed innovation and change. […]
Weinshall Resignation Letter to Staff
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It’s not as exciting as former DOT Bike Program Director Andrew Vesselenovitch’s mass e-mailed resignation letter, but here is Commissioner Weinshall’s: —–Original Message—–From: DOT Announcements Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 3:24 PMTo: #All DOT UsersSubject: From Commissioner WeinshallImportance: High Dear Friends and Colleagues: As many of you have heard, I resigned my post yesterday to […]
NYC DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall Resigns
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Commissioner Iris Weinshall is leaving New York City’s Department of Transportation for a job as Vice Chancellor for Facilities Planning, Construction and Management at the City University of New York. The Department of Transportation press office says that Weinshall will stay on for another ten weeks. Her last day on the job will be Friday, […]
Breaking: DOT Commissioner Weinshall Gets a New Job
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It looks like Streetsblog’s Weinshall Watch may be over. City University of New York just announced that New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshall has been appointed as Vice Chancellor for Facilities Planning, Construction and Management. There has been no resignation announcement from the Department of Transportation. And there is no word as […]
New York City 2030. London Today.
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On Thursday, as New York City’s highest ranking transportation officials argued before City Council that the city’s increasing traffic congestion and automobile dependence is "an indication of the vitality and the growth of the city of New York," London’s Mayor Ken Livingstone was in Davos, Switzerland announcing that he aims "to make London the world’s […]
The City That Never Walks
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The messenger is unexpected — Robert Sullivan, a contributing editor at Vogue magazine — but the message to Mayor Bloomberg on today’s New York Times op/ed page is clear: It is time to act. When it comes to building a more livable urban environment and reversing automobile domination, New York City is falling behind other […]
Pedestrian Interference
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Left to right: New York City Department of Transportation Deputy Commissioner/Senior Policy Advisor David Woloch, Commissioner Iris Weinshall, a procurement and technical servicea aide and City Councilmembers John Liu and Gale Brewer. As I saw it, the three big bullet points to come out of yesterday’s City Council Transportation Committee hearing on Intro. 199, […]
StreetFilms: Berkeley’s Bike Boulevards
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Berkeley’s Bike BoulevardsRunning time: 8 minutes 12 seconds "Bicycle Boulevards really gives the cyclist the sense of owning the road and being able to take the lane and being able to be in the middle of the street where they can avoid the door zone. Cars are expecting that they’re going to have to wait […]
Ding Dong Bruce Smolka’s Gone
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Newsday is reporting that NYPD Assistant Chief Bruce Smolka has filed for retirement. Smolka is reknowned for his needlessly aggressive tactics in breaking up peaceful political demonstrations, his disregard of basic civil rights and his all-too-frequent abusiveness towards women. In one infamous video he was caught kicking a female demonstrator in the head at a […]
The Known Unknowns of New York City’s Streets
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Unlike New York, Copenhagen, Denmark’s planners measure city streets for much more than "Vehicular Level of Service." This map, for example, quantifies stationary activities on a summer weekday in the city center. From Public Spaces Public Life by Lars Gemzoe and Jan Gehl, 1996. As former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld would say, Schaller Consulting’s new […]
Teaching City Gov’t to Count More Than Just Cars and Trucks
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Transportation Alternatives issued a new study by transportation consultant Bruce Schaller today called Traffic Information in NYC (PDF file). The report, according to T.A., "uncovers large gaps in what is known about traffic and transportation in New York City." "The City," says Schaller, "is not collecting the basic information necessary to redress current gridlock, much […]