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
Bixi Bankruptcy: What Does It Mean for American Bike-Share?
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The Montreal-based equipment supplier for several American bike-share systems, including Citi Bike, filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday. It’s unclear exactly how the restructuring or sale of the company known as Bixi will play out, but the bankruptcy filing could accelerate the transition to more robust and reliable hardware and software for Citi Bike and other […]
Bratton’s Pedestrian Ticket Blitz Won’t Save Lives
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Police Commissioner Bill Bratton’s claim last week that 66 percent of pedestrian injuries “are directly related to the actions of pedestrians” was unsourced and at odds with existing research, but already it seems to be shaping NYPD’s enforcement efforts. On a horrifically violent weekend during which three pedestrians and one cyclist were killed by motorists on NYC […]
Cuomo Announces $67M for Bike/Ped Projects, Including Pulaski Bridge
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[Editor’s note: Streetsblog will not be publishing Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.] Via the Tri-State Transportation Campaign: Earlier this week Governor Andrew Cuomo announced $67 million in funding for walking and biking infrastructure statewide, after advocates had pressed the state to follow through on the recently passed complete streets law with […]
How Liberating Is Your Transit System? An Interview With Jarrett Walker
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I first became aware of Jarrett Walker’s work through his blog, Human Transit, a few years ago. Here was someone writing about transit in a completely refreshing way, framing questions not in terms of mode or technology but through the prism of values and desires. To call Walker’s site a transit blog doesn’t quite do […]
Is Ydanis Rodriguez the Right Transpo Chair for Vision Zero?
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Politicker is reporting that Upper Manhattan Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez has the inside track on securing the transportation committee chairmanship, which multiple sources have corroborated with Streetsblog. While the final decision won’t be announced until next week, sources say that council leadership will finalize the choice sooner than that, perhaps as early as today. The […]
First Highlights From de Blasio’s Vision Zero Announcement
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Mayor de Blasio is at PS 152 in Queens this afternoon with Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg to discuss the administration’s initiatives to sharply reduce traffic deaths and injuries. We’ll have a full report later today, but here’s what reporter Stephen Miller has broadcast on Twitter so far… De Blasio announces […]
De Blasio Traffic Safety Announcement Coming Up in Queens Today
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This afternoon, Mayor de Blasio is expected to be joined by Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg at a press conference about traffic safety. The event is at PS 152, near the site where 8-year-old Noshat Nahian was killed by an unlicensed tractor-trailer driver last month. TODAY de Blasio traffic safety announcement […]
We’re Hiring: Streetsblog Is Searching for a Managing Editor
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Streetsblog is looking for a talented journalist to shape and oversee coverage throughout our growing family of news sites. The Managing Editor will work with the Editor-in-Chief and our roster of editors and reporters to hone Streetsblog’s coverage of transportation and planning issues, grow our audience, and bring our brand of advocacy journalism to more […]
NYC’s New Council Speaker Is Melissa Mark-Viverito
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Melissa Mark-Viverito will serve as the next New York City Council speaker following a vote today by her peers in the council. She now holds the second most powerful position in New York City politics, after the mayor himself, and will set the agenda for the City Council for the next four years. The vote was […]
A New Era: The Sanitation Department Has Plowed the PPW Bike Lane
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We have some late-breaking news courtesy of the New York Cycle Club’s Twitter feed. The Prospect Park West bike lane has been plowed. Three years ago, this bike lane was impassable for days, maybe even weeks, after monster snowfall at the end of 2010. Now it’s 2014 and the lane was cleared the same day […]
Send Us Your Pics of Snowy Neckdowns and (Un)Plowed Bike Lanes
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How is the first snowstorm of the de Blasio era treating you? Clarence has been out on the streets, perhaps working on a sequel to his “Snowy Neckdowns” blockbuster from 2011 (which was itself a sequel to this 2007 video). After the streets have been plowed and drivers carve out their routes, all that snow […]
The 2013 NYC Streetsies, Part 3
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Happy New Year, and welcome to the third and final installment of the 2013 NYC Streetsies, also known as the Streetsblog Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Lifetime Achievement We take it for granted these days that NYC DOT is primed to make change happen — that every year, the department will roll out a fresh new […]