Ben Fried started as a Streetsblog reporter in 2008 and led the site as editor-in-chief from 2010 to 2018. He lives in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, with his wife.
Ben Fried
Recent Posts
As PPW Intrigue Mounts, Brooklyn Paper Defends the Completed Street
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The new Prospect Park West makes biking and walking safer for all ages. Photo: Jeff Prant Before I get to the "intrigue" part of this post (it’s juicy), first let me say that if you haven’t checked out the Prospect Park West re-design yet, you owe it to yourself to head on over and take […]
Parks Dept Allows Catering Hall to Fence Off Staten Island Greenway
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A Staten Island catering hall erected this jury-rigged greenway-blocking fence and laid down a makeshift paintjob that "erases" markings on the path. They added the courteous touch of caution tape after cyclist Gregory DeRespino slammed into the fence. Photo: SI Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel The New York City Parks Department has come up with a striking new […]
Talking Planning, Diversity, and Cycling With the Women Behind Velo City
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Naomi Doerner, Samelys Lopez, and Karyn Williams are planners, New Yorkers, and cyclists who set out about a year ago to change their profession. Responding to the lack of diversity in the planning and design fields — and within the bicycling community — the three of them formed the non-profit Velo City last September. Their […]
End of the Lines
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The B71 made its last run Saturday night. Photo: Aaron Naparstek Today, for the first time, New Yorkers braved the morning rush using our new, diminished transit system. With more than a dozen bus lines discontinued over the weekend, dozens more running less frequently, and subway service changes forcing straphangers to cope with longer rides […]
Federal Bike-Ped Funding Sets New High, With Much More Room to Grow
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Graph: FHWA [PDF] Federal funding for pedestrian and bicycle projects reached a new high last year, according to a report released yesterday by the Federal Highway Administration. In terms of dollars, federal investment in walking and biking more than doubled compared to the previous high, set in 2007, thanks largely to an infusion of $400 […]
Eyes in the Capitol: Four Seconds of Glory for Bus Cam Bill
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This clip from yesterday’s Assembly Transportation Committee meeting doesn’t quite live up to the hype. If you’re puzzled as to why we’re even showing this, allow me to set the scene: Two years ago, a bill enabling camera enforcement of New York City bus lanes died in this same committee under cloudy circumstances. In a […]
Yankee Stadium Parking Boondoggle Getting Worse Every Day
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The subsidy for the new Yankee Stadium’s 9,000 parking spaces keeps turning into a worse deal for New York City taxpayers. Juan Gonzalez reports in the Daily News that the garage operator is deep in the red, even after last year’s extended championship season: As of this month, Bronx Parking Development LLC owes the city […]
Double-Take Time: Bus Cam Bill Clears Assembly Transpo Committee
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You read that right. Don’t celebrate just yet, but legislation authorizing the use of camera enforcement to keep New York City bus lanes clear of traffic — a.k.a. the bus cam bill — just cleared the Assembly Transportation Committee. Sheldon Silver and David Gantt. While it might seem sort of pathetic to tout a committee […]
Traffic Injuries Plummet on Allen and Pike After Bike-Ped Overhaul
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Evidence continues to mount that NYCDOT’s street reclamation projects are making New York a safer city for walking and biking. The latest statistics come from Allen and Pike Streets, where DOT installed four pedestrian plazas and the city’s first center-median protected bikeway late last summer. The project followed a long campaign by local community groups […]
Weekend Walks 2010: Car-Free Streets Coming to 18 Nabes. L’Chaim!
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Taking in the Fab Fest fashion show on Fulton Street last week. Photo: NYCDOT The 2010 schedule for NYCDOT’s Weekend Walks is up, and there are 18 car-free streets to check out this summer. While some merchants managed to shrink one of the original neighborhood car-free events — Williamsburg Walks — down to one weekend, […]
Schumer, Labor Leaders Rally to Keep Buses and Trains Running
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L-r: Senator Chuck Schumer, ATU Vice President Larry Hanley, TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen, and City Council transportation chair James Vacca. Photo: Ben Fried Senator Chuck Schumer joined a coalition of labor unions and transportation advocates at Penn Station today to call for emergency federal funding for the nation’s transit systems. The rally made […]
Albany Update: Bill to Protect Peds and Cyclists One Step Closer to Law
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At yesterday’s meeting of the State Senate codes committee, Hayley and Diego’s Law passed in a 13-3 vote. The bill, which should give prosecutors greater leeway to bring charges against motorists who injure or kill pedestrians and cyclists, now moves to the finance committee. It passed the full Assembly earlier this week. Three Republicans, including […]