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
Pledge to Streetsblog and This Awesome Elly Blue Collection Could Be Yours
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Have you given to Streetsblog’s spring pledge drive yet? If not, may I suggest that this is the week to do so. In addition to supporting livable streets journalism and putting yourself in the running to win a Dahon folding bike, you could take home a sweet collection of books and zines courtesy of eminent […]
Citi Bike Member Packets Include Cycling-Near-Trucks Safety Tips
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Yesterday we had a feisty exchange of posts between Charles Komanoff and Nicole Gelinas about what the city should do to enhance safety for Citi Bike users (and everyone else). One of Gelinas’s main suggestions is to educate bike-share users about how to interact safely with trucks, and it turns that there’s a big graphic […]
Earth to New York Post: Citi Bike Stations Are Designed to Be Flexible
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Hats off to Matt Flegenheimer for the enlightening piece in today’s Times describing the lessons from other bike-share systems that informed New York’s big decisions about Citi Bike. This passage stood out, given the recent tabloid coverage about station placement: In London and Paris, stations are trenched in the ground, rendering them difficult to remove. Kiosks in […]
Q Poll: Support for Cycling a Vote Winner for Mayoral Candidates
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Mayoral candidates stand to gain votes if they support increased bicycling, according to the latest Quinnipiac poll. The last question of the poll, which surveyed 1,082 NYC voters via land lines and cell phones the week of May 14-20, asked: “If a candidate for Mayor supports – encouraging increased use of bicycles, would you be more likely […]
Keys to the Citi Bike: Bike-Share Fobs Start to Arrive in Members’ Mailboxes
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With a week to go until Citi Bike launches, we’re hearing from readers who received their annual member keys in the mail over the weekend. Here’s a look at the packet that reader “dporpentine” opened on Saturday. If you haven’t received your member key yet, I wouldn’t worry. Citi Bike has to send out about 13,000 […]
A Smugger Version of This Weekend’s Backstabbing in the Daily News
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This weekend you might have come across the anonymous Daily News editorial in which Arthur Browne’s opinion team called Paul Steely White “smug” for defending bike-share (in an opinion piece solicited by Arthur Browne’s opinion team). But is it smug to point out that New Yorkers who don’t own cars also deserve to have a […]
T-Minus 10 Days to Citi Bike Launch
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The Rob Ford crack-smoking video is sucking the oxygen from every other bike-related story on this Bike to Work Day, but it looks like a good number of New Yorkers are keeping their eyes on the prize: Today is the last day to get a Citi Bike membership in time to ride on the day the […]
Greetings From the Manhattan Bridge on Bike to Work Day
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Happy Bike to Work Day, everyone. How about this sunshine? My gut assessment of the bike traffic this morning, based on watching the Manhattan Bridge for a few minutes at around 8:45: More people biking than on a typical day, but the scene was not so different than what you’d see on other clear, spring […]
Give to Streetsblog By Thursday and You Could Win Goodies From Planet Bike
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Thanks to everyone who’s given to Streetsblog and Streetfilms so far in our spring pledge drive — we’re nearly a quarter of the way to our fundraising goal of $40,000. I can’t emphasize enough how crucial it is for readers to chip in and help us reach our targets. Your contributions keep us going so […]
Bike-Share and the Mistake of Placing Too Much Stock in NIMBY Sentiment
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The wisdom in Matt Flegenheimer’s bike-share NIMBY opus comes across nicely in the kicker: Nearby, on University Place, Alfred Haffenden, 71, sat between a bike station and his table of available consumer items — two Al Franken books, a baby-care advice book, and VHS copies of “The Shawshank Redemption” and “Wuthering Heights.” The stations would […]
Sadik-Khan: NYC Bike-Share Will Launch May 27
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At city council hearing, DOT Commissioner Sadik-Khan announces that Citi Bike will launch on May 27. — Streetsblog New York (@StreetsblogNYC) May 9, 2013 It’s official. America’s largest public bike system will launch Monday, May 27, DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan announced at a City Council transportation committee hearing this morning. According to the Citi […]
Watch: Steve Vaccaro vs. Anti-Bike-Share Lawyer Jeffrey Barr on Fox 5
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On Fox 5’s Good Day program with Rosanna Scotto and Greg Kelly (son of Ray) this morning, Streetsblog columnist Steve Vaccaro skillfully, smoothly debated Jeffrey Barr, the lawyer representing Manhattan’s anti-bike-share NIMBYs. Steve’s performance speaks for itself. All I have to say is, put this man on TV more. Okay, I also have to say, […]