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
Only One Week Left Until The Streets Ball — Get Your Tickets Now
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A quick reminder: The annual fundraiser for Streetsblog and Streetfilms is just seven days away and space is limited. Lock up your spot and get a ticket today — prices start at $50 or just $25 for students. If you’ve come to the Streets Ball before, you know it’s a special night where hundreds of […]
City Gets the Word Out: 25 MPH Speed Limit Takes Effect November 7
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After a powerful advocacy campaign that convinced Albany and the City Council to lower NYC’s default speed limit to 25 mph, the new law is set to take effect November 7. City officials and street safety advocates launched a public awareness campaign today at the intersection of Vanderbilt Avenue and Park Place in Prospect Heights […]
Two Weeks Until The Streets Ball — Get Your Tickets Today
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If you haven’t bought your tickets to the annual benefit for Streetsblog and Streetfilms on October 23, there’s no time like the present. Come join us at The Streets Ball and support media that makes a difference. Tickets start at just $50 ($25 for students). We’ll be honoring the work of former DOT policy director […]
An Open Invite for Diane Savino to See NYC Streets From a Bike Saddle
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After State Senator Diane Savino’s remarks about yelling at bicyclists to “find a fucking bike lane” ricocheted around online NYC media yesterday, we’re hearing that some constituents and other New Yorkers have contacted her to see if she’s up for getting a bicycle rider’s perspective on city streets. It’s pretty tough to find a bike […]
Diane Savino: “Hey, Find a F—ing Bike Lane and Get in It”
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When someone is seriously hurt in traffic, which happens several times a day in New York, it should prompt an effort to figure out exactly what happened and prevent it from happening again. For some reason, though, when a motorist does the injuring, it usually gets a collective shrug from police and the NYC press […]
Where Is Andrew Cuomo’s Climate Plan?
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Mayor Bill de Blasio was one of the estimated 400,000 people marching in Manhattan Sunday to urge world leaders to avert catastrophic climate change before it’s too late. And he backed it up by having his administration commit to reducing New York City’s carbon emissions 80 percent from 2005 levels by 2050. Andrew Cuomo, meanwhile, […]
Cyclist Strikes Woman in Central Park — Victim on Life Support
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A cyclist in Central Park struck a woman yesterday afternoon, inflicting life-threatening injuries. The victim, 59-year-old Jill Tarlov of Fairfield, is on life support, according to the Daily News. The Post reports that she has been declared brain-dead. The collision happened on the West Drive of the park at around 4:30 p.m. Tarlov was in a […]
Join Us for The Streets Ball 2014 on October 23
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Save the date — our annual benefit, The Streets Ball, is happening October 23 and tickets are on sale now, starting at just $50 ($25 for students). The Streets Ball is a great time to connect with other New Yorkers who care about livable streets, mark this year’s advocacy successes, and support the work we do […]
What’s the Matter With NYC Community Boards
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It’s 2014. For at least 50 years, it’s been apparent that wider streets don’t make congestion go away. For about a decade, the work of UCLA professor Donald Shoup has popularized the notion that parking prices are key to the efficient operation of commercial streets, and London has shown the English-speaking world how to cut […]
Driving in Manhattan Stank Yesterday, It Stinks Today, It Will Stink Tomorrow
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This just in from the crack investigative team at ABC 7: Driving in Manhattan stinks! Why is this news? Because a recent NYC DOT report suggested that driving became a little more fluid on some streets where bike lanes were recently added. Unlike when a driver kills a pedestrian or cyclist and anonymous police sources blame […]
The Link Between Northeast Ohio’s Flooding and Its Sprawl
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After a string of major flooding events, residents of Northeast Ohio are looking for someone to blame, reports Tim Kovach. Are local governments at fault for the property damage from these floods? Or should residents, as a great poet once said, blame it on the rain? Neither question really gets to the heart of the […]
Miami Highway Builders Try to Sell a New Sprawl Project to the Public
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The Miami Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) wants to build a highway extension in the southwest fringes of the city, near the edge of the Everglades, and to do that it needs to ingratiate itself with the public. At an open house to kick off the public-facing phase of the planning process, agency staff were well-prepared […]