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
Should Alta Be Running NYC Bike-Share?
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With today’s report in the Daily News that Citi Bike operator Alta Bicycle Share is failing to meet several key performance targets, a short run-down of the current state of bike-share operations in New York City is in order. What we’ve learned since Citi Bike launched last May is that bike-share works in NYC. It […]
What Transit Riders Could Get If Cuomo’s Transit Raid Doesn’t Go Through
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How much transit service could the MTA add if Governor Cuomo’s proposed $40 million transit raid doesn’t make Albany’s final budget? Here’s a taste, courtesy of the Straphangers Campaign and the Riders Alliance. Service that was cut from seven subway lines in 2010, serving 300,000 weekday riders, could be restored. More than a dozen weekday bus […]
Tonight: Crucial Meeting on Lafayette Street Protected Bike Lane
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NYC DOT’s proposal to upgrade the northbound buffered bike lane on Lafayette Street and Fourth Avenue to a protected lane is up for a vote at Community Board 2 tonight, and while the plan sailed through the board’s transportation committee earlier this month, a “Yes” vote is far from a sure thing. Redesign opponents who didn’t […]
Should Streets Be Designed for Easy Double-Parking or Safe Bicycling?
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After removing a downtown Providence highway segment, Rhode Island officials are figuring out how to redevelop 20 acres of prime city land. One outcome that local advocates are pushing for is a redesign of South Main Street with a two-way protected bike lane, reports James Kennedy at Transport Providence. In this proposal, most of the […]
Parking Politics Take a Bite Out of Downtown Raleigh
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Donald Shoup, the godfather of parking policy, likes to point out that city planners make decisions about parking based on the politics of avoiding on-street parking squabbles, instead of broad public policy concerns like the affordability of housing, the viability of transit, or the health of downtown. Today on the Streetsblog Network, Leo Suarez at the […]
Eyes on the Street: Real-Time Bus Arrival Display on Nostrand Ave [Updated]
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New York finally has real-time bus arrival information and excellent route maps posted at bus stops. Or rather, at least one bus stop has this info, and it looks like the kind of thing that should spread to a lot more bus stops. NYC DOT policy director Jon Orcutt posted this photo on Twitter over […]
NYPD’s Superb New Double-Parking Flyer
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Don't be the cause a collision, injury or death of somebody's loved one. #VisionZero pic.twitter.com/f1QMgzL64c — NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) March 10, 2014 Here’s a message we’re not used to seeing from NYPD: Double-parking is dangerous. Reader Brendan Gray reports spotting this flyer in the window of a Dunkin’ Donuts on Eighth Avenue in Midtown a […]
Monday: Reimagine the Mess That Is Jay Street
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It’s filled with double-parked cars. On just about every block, drivers stand illegally in bus stops, block the bike lane, and make illegal U-turns. If you’ve ever walked to jury duty in Brooklyn or biked over the Manhattan Bridge, you know Jay Street is chaos incarnate. What can be done? Well, here’s a chance to […]
32 Assembly Members Want to Reverse Cuomo’s Transit Raid. Where’s Shelly?
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It’s crunch time for the state budget, and so far Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has not said a word about undoing the $40 million MTA raid in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s executive budget, even though 32 Assembly members have called on Cuomo to restore the funds [PDF]. Cuomo’s budget proposal shifts $40 million in bond obligations to […]
Tonight: Support a Safer Lafayette Street at Manhattan CB 2
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One of the first new street redesigns of the de Blasio administration calls for upgrading the northbound section of the Lafayette Street bike lane, between Spring and 14th Street, from a buffered lane to a protected lane. Manhattan Community Board 2 will consider the proposal tonight, and if you want a safer Lafayette Street it’s […]
Sneckdowns: The Early Years
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Before there were hashtags and #sneckdowns, there was Michael King, taking pictures of residual snow on NYC street corners. A principal with Nelson\Nygaard, King is an architect by training and a pioneer of traffic calming street design in the United States. He captured these images to show how much asphalt can easily be claimed to […]
It’s Not the Bike Lane, Stupid: Double-Parking Caused By Poor Curb Policies
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Probably the dumbest part of a stupendously dumb Post story about double-parking tickets and the Columbus Avenue bike lane is this: The controversial bike path from West 110th Street down to West 77th Street claimed a lane of traffic — even though it is parallel to more preferable cycling routes on Riverside Drive or in […]