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
Wednesday: Join Us for a Winter Warmer at Building on Bond
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The winter of #sneckdown isn’t done with us yet. After the weekend thaw, freezing temps and snow are coming later this week. So after you wrap up at the office on Wednesday, head over to Building on Bond in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, to warm up with Streetsblog and Streetfilms. We’re looking forward to catching up […]
Trottenberg on WNYC: “We’re Going to Focus on the Major Arterials”
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NYC DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg was on the Brian Lehrer Show this morning to talk about Vision Zero, improving surface transit, and expanding Citi Bike. And filling potholes. It was Trottenberg’s first major solo media appearance, I believe, and she’s still in the broad strokes phase of talking about the DOT’s agenda. Here’s a look […]
There Is No Doubt That Automated Traffic Enforcement Saves Lives
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Taking up one of the contrarian slots in today’s “Room for Debate” segment about Vision Zero and pedestrian safety in NYC, Jennifer Lynch of The Electronic Frontier Foundation staked out the civil libertarian position against automated traffic enforcement. EFF does great legal and policy work in general, but Lynch is way off base here. At […]
First Look at Bill de Blasio’s Vision Zero Report and Street Safety Agenda
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Mayor Bill de Blasio and several of his agency commissioners released the administration’s Vision Zero report at a school on West End Avenue this afternoon. Streetsblog’s Stephen Miller will have more from the mayor’s event later today. In the meantime, here’s a quick rundown of the major takeaways from the report [PDF], which outlines both an […]
Special Offer for Streetsblog Readers: Free Tickets to “Bikeman”
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Thanks to a friend of the blog, we have 10 pairs of tickets to the next week of shows for “Bikeman: A 9/11 Play” to give away to Streetsblog readers on a first-come, first-serve basis. Bikeman is the first-person account of Tom Flynn, a CBS News producer who followed his journalistic instincts on September 11, […]
Nature’s Parking Turnover Calculator
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Since the theme of the week is snowy streets and what we can learn from them, I thought I would share this photo of snow-covered windshields I took this morning on Park Place in Prospect Heights. The last significant snowfall came down during the wee hours of Wednesday morning, so these cars clearly have not […]
De Blasio Appoints Carl Weisbrod to Head Up the Planning Department
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Mayor Bill de Blasio has named Carl Weisbrod to lead the Department of City Planning. Weisbrod, who co-chaired de Blasio’s transition team and has deep experience in city government, now commands a post with tremendous power to shape the quality of New York City’s built environment. Of particular interest for the city’s transportation and housing […]
Cuomo Electioneering: Robbing From Transit to Pay Staten Island Motorists
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Which governor is worse on transit issues, Chris Christie or Andrew Cuomo? Amazingly, New York’s chief executive could win this race to the bottom. The latest move from Cuomo would cut a guaranteed source of revenue for the MTA that Albany can never raid for its own purposes. Ken Lovett at the Daily News had […]
Streetsblog Capitol Hill Is Now Streetsblog USA
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I’m pleased to announce that our national news site has a new name: Streetsblog USA. Say it with pride. Why the change? Simply put, “Streetsblog USA” is a better reflection of the nationwide coverage that Tanya Snyder and Angie Schmitt are producing. The new name was a long time coming. Streetsblog Capitol Hill launched five […]
78th Precinct Starts Up Monthly Community Meetings on Street Safety
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Here’s an idea that should start spreading to police precincts all over the city as NYPD focuses more attention and resources on preventing traffic violence: Brooklyn’s 78th Precinct is starting a new monthly public meeting devoted exclusively to how to improve street safety. An hour before the regularly scheduled precinct community council meeting, anyone can […]
Gridlock Sam’s Street Safety Fumble in the Daily News
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Sam Schwartz is out with a list of street safety recommendations in the Daily News today, which he prefaces with a bizarre warning against lower citywide speed limits: Today, there’s an outcry to lower speed limits to combat pedestrian fatalities. Wouldn’t it be great if just putting up signs worked? But it probably won’t. I […]
Why TIME Magazine Got the Bixi Story Wrong
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Major media have a habit of blowing bike-share problems out of proportion. Witness the 2009 BBC story that cast theft and vandalism as an existential threat to Velib in Paris. Five years later, Velib is still going strong. The most recent entry in the genre is Christopher Matthews’ misguided story on the Bixi bankruptcy in TIME. Headline: […]