Brad Aaron
Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York's dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.
Recent Posts
Making Urban Cemeteries More Urban
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Should urban cemeteries be more accessible to the public? Alex Cecchini at Streets.mn thinks so. Cecchini points out that many city cemeteries are fenced off save for a single entrance point, effectively disrupting the street grid more than any superblock. A graveyard in his Minneapolis neighborhood, for instance, allows motorists to drive through but requires cyclists to […]
Council Calls on de Blasio to Double “Great Streets” Redesign Funds
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The City Council wants Mayor de Blasio to double funding for DOT capital projects to overhaul the city’s most dangerous streets and save more lives, faster. At a council budget hearing last week, transportation chair Ydanis Rodriguez called for additional funds in the executive budget for the “Great Streets” program. As of now the mayor’s budget proposes $250 million […]
The San Diego Leaders Who Sacrificed People for Parking
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Earlier this year a street safety plan for Hillcrest and other San Diego neighborhoods was derailed after NIMBYs complained about the loss of curbside parking. The plan was prompted to prevent incidents like the 2012 crash when a driver hit a mother and her 3-year-old daughter in a Hillcrest crosswalk at an intersection with a history of […]
NYPD Bike Crackdown Season Has Nothing to Do With Vision Zero
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Heads up #BikeNYC: NYPD stopped me in 1st Ave bike lane @ 70th to tell me there’ll be a “crackdown” starting Wed. pic.twitter.com/2DrUWkwMwx — Keegan Stephan (@KeeganNYC) June 9, 2015 When the weather warms up you can count on two things: more New Yorkers riding bikes, and NYPD bike ticket blitzes. Keegan Stephan of Right […]
Virginia’s Chance to Improve Commutes Without Building More Roads
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A Virginia state agency is weighing how to allocate new transportation funds, presenting an opportunity for the state to do more than widen and build roads. David Alpert at Greater Greater Washington reports that the Commonwealth Transportation Board is developing a formula to allocate funds approved by the state legislature in 2013. Though a new […]
After 45 Years, the Car-Free High Bridge Reopens to the Public Tomorrow
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The wait is just about over. Tomorrow the car-free High Bridge will be opened to the general public for the first time in 45 years. The High Bridge spans the Harlem River between Washington Heights and the Highbridge neighborhood in the Bronx. Built as part of the Croton Aqueduct in 1848, it is the city’s oldest bridge. […]
Would Jesus Blame the Crash Victim?
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Last year New York City made it a misdemeanor for a driver to harm a pedestrian or cyclist who is walking or biking with the right of way. Since then, the Right of Way Law has come under attack from the MTA bus drivers union and members of the City Council, many of whom helped […]
Ethan Villavicencio, 7, Killed by Motorist Inside Bronx Restaurant [Updated]
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A motorist drove into a Bronx restaurant Thursday, killing 7-year-old Ethan Villavicencio and injuring the boy’s sister and father. [Update: According to court records, Oduro was charged with one D felony count and two misdemeanor counts of leaving the scene of an accident with injury, plus one traffic infraction. Class D felonies carry penalties ranging from probation to […]
Transit Scrooge Larry Hogan Wants to Spend $10B on DC-Baltimore Maglev
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Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has criticized the Purple Line and Red Line light rail projects, planned for Montgomery County and Baltimore, respectively, as too costly. Though he’s threatened to kill long-standing plans to expand the real-life DC and Baltimore transit systems, Hogan is totally into a flashy and very pricey non-existent project. David Alpert at Greater […]
Will the Parks Department Let Another Sinkhole Swallow the Greenway?
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Remember the sinkhole in the Hudson River Greenway that took almost a year for the Parks Department to fix? Now there’s another one. Streetsblog reader Ed Boyak alerted us and Parks to the new hole, located a few hundred yards south of Dyckman Street. Boyak said it opened up last week. “There has been a wide depression collecting dirt […]
Family and Friends Dedicate Cooper Stock Way
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On Wednesday dozens of kids joined family members of Cooper Stock to designate W. 97th Street at West End Avenue as Cooper Stock Way. Cooper’s mother, Dana Lerner, shared memories of Cooper, along with classmates — “Cooper’s Troopers” — who waved signs imploring motorists to drive safely. Cooper, 9, was killed by a turning cab driver […]
Richard Brown: No Charges for Driver Who Killed Boy on Neighborhood Street
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An 8-year-old boy hit by a driver on a neighborhood street in Queens on Memorial Day died from his injuries. NYPD and Queens District Attorney Richard Brown filed no charges. Sincere Atkins was playing with his cousin outside his grandmother’s apartment, on Sutphin Boulevard near 125th Avenue, when a 21-year-old man hit him with a Toyota Corolla, […]