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Aaron Naparstek

AARON NAPARSTEK is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparstek’s 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

Drunk Driver Kills Cyclist on Hudson River Greenway

By Aaron Naparstek | Dec 2, 2006 | 32 Comments
Gothamist has the sad, outrageous story.

Safe Routes to Schools: Yesterday’s Press Event

By Aaron Naparstek | Dec 1, 2006 | 3 Comments
Mayor Bloomberg and a P.S. 21 student at yesterday’s Safe Routes to Schools announcement in the Bronx. The advocacy work that helped make this event happen: Paper and Balloons Don’t Save Children’s Lives (PDF file), an article from Transportation Alternatives Magazine. And here’s a Safe Routes to Schools timeline.  

NASCAR Parade Rolls Through Midtown This Morning

By Aaron Naparstek | Nov 29, 2006 | 7 Comments
The top 10 NASCAR drivers drove a "victory lap" around Midtown Manhattan this morning as a part of "Championship Week." While Streetsblog would like to interpret this as an elaborate promotion for the creation of a congestion relief zone, it seems more likely that this is more about selling spaghetti sauce, laundry detergent and mayonnaise and getting […]

Dutch Wheelchair

By Aaron Naparstek | Nov 28, 2006 | 4 Comments
Drachten, Netherlands. October, 2, 2006 Photo: Aaron Naparstek

45% of New Yorkers Receptive to a Congestion Charge

By Aaron Naparstek | Nov 27, 2006 | 30 Comments
The congestion charging policy roll-out is officially on the move. Today the Tri-State Transportation Campaign released the findings of a detailed telephone survey conducted last spring in an effort to learn more about how New Yorkers feel about traffic congestion and the idea of making motorists pay more to drive in to the most gridlocked […]

Merry Gridlock: A Celebration of “Atlantic Yards” Traffic Congestion

By Aaron Naparstek | Nov 24, 2006 | No Comments
An opportunity to point out how the "Atlantic Yards" plan is likely to exacerbate the already traffic-packed intersection of Atlantic, Flatbush, and Fourth Avenues.

Happy Holiday

By Aaron Naparstek | Nov 22, 2006 | 1 Comment
Sunday Afternoon Traffic: Copenhagen, Denmark. Sunday, October 1, 2006 Photo: Aaron Naparstek

A CRISPier Way to Build NYC’s 200+ Miles of New Bike Lanes?

By Aaron Naparstek | Nov 21, 2006 | 17 Comments
See the world’s first music video about shared-lane bike markings by Streetfilms Clarence Eckerson. At times over the last two and a half years I have done quite a bit of organizing and advocacy work to help get new bicycle lanes and shared-lane markings installed on Fifth Avenue in Brooklyn, my neighborhood’s main bike route. Though […]

Speed Hump

By Aaron Naparstek | Nov 21, 2006 | 1 Comment
Cutting-edge European traffic calming techniques seem to be having a bit of an American zeitgeist moment. Two pieces of evidence: A German newspaper story about Hans Monderman, the Dutch traffic engineer who is, with great success, banishing signs, signals, stripes and all other forms of traffic governance at busy, complicated intersections earned a prominent link on the Drudge Report this weekend. And […]

Speak Up to Keep the Willoughby Street Pedestrian Plaza

By Aaron Naparstek | Nov 20, 2006 | 1 Comment
 Before being transformed into a public plaza, Willoughby Street was filled with illegally parked cars. Tomorrow evening there will be an important public meeting at St. Francis College, Room 7402, 180 Remsen Street, Brooklyn, 5:00 to 6:00 pm, to help determine the fate of the new Willoughby Street Pedestrian Plaza in Downtown Brooklyn. If you are someone […]

The Debate Over Physically-Separated Bike Lanes Continues

By Aaron Naparstek | Nov 20, 2006 | 59 Comments
A physically-separated bike lane on a shopping street in Copenhangen, Denmark Two weeks ago "Gridlock" Sam Schwartz wrote an op/ed for the Sunday Times advocating for physically-separated bike lanes in New York City. The next weekend, John Allen, a Waltham-based regional director for the League of American Bicyclists replied that separated bike lanes are dangerous and bad idea. […]

The Traffic is the Mitigation

By Aaron Naparstek | Nov 20, 2006 | 11 Comments
mitigate, verb[Latin stem of mitigare, from mitis, mild, gentle]1. Make milder in manner or attitude, make less hostile, mollify.2. Give relief from pain. Lessen the suffering caused by an evil or difficulty.3. Make less oppressive. Make more humane, more bearable. How Orwellian is this? The New York City Department of Transportation’s Holiday Traffic Mitigation Plan went […]
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