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
More Scenes from Park(ing) Day 2008 New York City
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I biked from Park Slope to Chelsea this morning and managed to visit eight Park(ing) spots along the way. Here’s what I found… Four strangers engaged in an intense Scrabble game at the busy corner of Atlantic Ave. and Court St. in Downtown Brooklyn, my first stop. The Park(ing) spot on Montague St. in Brooklyn […]
Culture War on Wheels
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Having dispensed with the question of whether an African-American or woman will ever make it to the White House, conservative Culture Warriors have moved on to defining and dividing Americans over their chosen mode of transportation. These two images have been floating around the right wing blogosphere under the shrieky, all-caps headline, "THIS IS ALL […]
Pin it on Shelly!
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With New York City’s mostly uncontested primary elections less than a week away, attention turns to the 64th State Assembly district in Lower Manhattan, where New York Times-endorsed insurgent Paul Newell is running a long-shot campaign against Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Facing his first Democratic challenge since the coining of the word “cyberspace,” the decidedly […]
Cartoon Tuesday: Back to School
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With rising gas prices crippling school bus fleets across the U.S., Clarion-Ledger editorial cartoonist Marshall Ramsay offers an intriguing new school transportation idea. Click through to see it.
Is NYC’s “Sustainable Streets” Plan a Communist Plot?
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This week’s Observer is running a profile of DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. It focuses on the speed with which many of DOT’s Sustainable Streets projects are moving ahead and seems to suggest either: a) Improving conditions for New York City’s pedestrians, cyclists and bus riders is a Communist plot. Or,b) The change that Sadik-Khan is […]
Cartoon Tuesday: Conventional Wisdom
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As the Democratic convention convenes in Denver, Matt Davies of the Journal News drills down on the national energy policy debate. Click through for the punchline.
Budnick v. Anderson on “Talk of the Nation” This Afternoon
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Transportation Alternatives’ Noah Budnick will be on NPR’s "Talk of the Nation" this afternoon at 3 p.m. EST. He’ll be debating Rob Anderson, the one-man wrecking crew who filed the 2006 environmental impact law suit that stopped San Francisco from building out its citywide bicycle network. I don’t think "Talk of the Nation" is available […]
Sadik-Khan to Discuss Transpo Funding at the Democratic Convention
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A dozen transportation policy heavy-hitters are getting together for a round table discussion on transportation infrastructure at the Democratic Convention in Denver this afternoon. The panel is titled, "Funding is the Alpha and Omega of all Transportation Needs — Can Public/Private Partnerships Fill the Funding Gap?" New York City’s Janette Sadik-Khan has a seat at […]
Orioles Pitcher Throws a High Hard One at Car Commuting
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Via Smart Growth America, I’m finally catching up to this great little story in last month’s Baltimore Sun about all of the Orioles players who are commuting to the ballpark by bike these days: Fans are accustomed to the players’ lot being filled with expensive rides — sports cars, HUVs, private jets. But you should […]
Juan Valdez and Jay-Z Invite New Yorkers to Take to the Streets
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The City’s official Summer Streets web site and press release hit our inbox this morning. Jay-Z is joining Mayor Bloomberg and DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan in inviting New Yorkers to hit seven miles worth of car-free streets in Manhattan this Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bringing it back full circle to Bogotá’s Ciclovia, […]
Energy Policy Straight Talk From Elizabeth Kolbert
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Back in his Straight Talkin’ days Senator John McCain acknowledged that offshore drilling wasn’t a viable solution for America’s energy troubles. In 2003, he broke with the Bush Administration and co-introduced legislation to reduce carbon emissions, by, in effect, imposing a price on them. McCain had a reputation for being a politician who told the […]
Williamsburg Walks in the Rain
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My friend Jonathan and I loaded up our 70 pounds-worth of pre-schoolers into the "Batmobike" on Sunday and headed over to Williamsburg Walks. My brother Abe joined us as well. Ominous looking clouds were rolling in from the west as we left Park Slope around noon. By the time we hit Fort Greene the rain […]