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
Flashback Friday: TA’s 1997 Car-Free Park/Earth Day Ride (With Chants!)
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After news broke that the east and west drives of Central Park will be car-free for two months this summer, this seemed like a fitting installment from the vault of Clarence Eckerson this week: The Transportation Alternatives 1997 Earth Day ride, which held up the goal of a car-free park Central Park as a symbol […]
The Citi Bike Story No One’s Talking About: Only 3 Injuries in 500,000 Rides
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It seems like the local press has run through so many permutations of the Citi Bike story that now it’s time to recycle Citi Bike stories from a year ago. One month after the system launched, the AP ran a story about the lack of a helmet requirement for Citi Bike riders (because helmet requirements […]
Leonardo DiCaprio Rides Citi Bike With Extraordinary Sense of Purpose
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Everything I want to say about this event is in the headline. Enjoy 26 more photos of Leo riding a Citi Bike over at Fan Girl.
The Times Seeks a “Dialogue” About Bikes Clogging NYC Streets
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Who can resist this tasty New York Times linkbait? Not us. The paper wants responses to this preposterous rant from reader Gary Taustine. Mr. Taustine sees Amsterdam, with its 32 percent bike mode-share and minuscule pedestrian death rate, as a cautionary tale for NYC, with its 1 percent bike mode-share and 150+ pedestrian deaths per year: […]
The Bronx Gets Its Second Select Bus Service Route
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Yesterday marked the launch of Select Bus Service on Webster Avenue, speeding transit trips on a critical north-south corridor that lacks convenient subway access. To keep buses in motion, NYC DOT and the MTA upgraded the Bx41 route with dedicated bus lanes, pre-paid fare collection, and all-door boarding. Bus bulbs will be constructed at SBS […]
Streetfilms Flashback: The 2 AM Ride Across the Verrazano Bridge
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Clarence has been rifling through the vault for old footage as he prepares a montage for Transportation Alternatives’ 40th birthday bash. He’s turned up some classic clips going back to the mid-90s, and we’ll be sharing some of them this summer on Friday afternoons. Some background: Before there was Streetfilms, Clarence made a cable access […]
NYC Voters Pleased That Totalitarians Have Begrimed City With Bike-Share
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After seeing Citi Bike in action for a few weeks, New York City voters support bike-share by a margin of 2.5 to 1, according to a new Quinnipiac poll — the first public opinion survey about NYC bike-share since the system launched. The land line and cell phone survey of 1,238 city voters found that 50 […]
De Blasio: Bike Lanes That Replace Parking Spots, Travel Lanes Are Worth It
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Elevated from the headline stack: CBS radio reporter Steve Scott elicited the following response from mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio on the subject of bike lanes. It’s got a touch more specificity than the norm: Scott ended the interview on the subject of bike lanes, asking if they are worth the parking spots and vehicular traffic […]
Iris Weinshall’s Anti-Bike Lawyer, Jim Walden, Is Back
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The lawyer who spent a good chunk of 2011 deceiving the press and the public about the safety effect of the Prospect Park West bike lane is back in the news. Jim Walden made an appearance in the Post this weekend on behalf of clients who are suing the city to remove a bike-share station […]
Bike Activism Wins Championships
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I normally root for the underdog in the NBA Finals unless the Knicks are the favorites (like that will ever happen). And I would have enjoyed seeing Tim Duncan claim one more ring. But I’ve had a soft spot for LeBron, Dwyane Wade, and Mario Chalmers since the news broke last year that they like […]
De Blasio Lays Out Ambitious Goals for Street Safety, Better Buses, Bicycling
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Bill de Blasio’s mayoral campaign released a wide-ranging policy book today, with a transportation platform that emphasizes the expansion of Select Bus Service, a “Vision Zero” approach to street safety, and the continued growth of the city’s bike lane and bike-share networks. De Blasio also pledges to target upzonings and new housing near transit and […]
Lander and Levin to DOT: A Safer Fourth Avenue Can’t Wait
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City Council members Brad Lander and Steve Levin are urging NYC DOT to move forward with safety improvements for Fourth Avenue in Park Slope despite a vote against the proposal by Brooklyn Community Board 6. The Daily News reported today that in response to the CB 6 vote, DOT might take out some of the left-turn […]