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
Give to Streetsblog and Streetfilms and You Could Win a New Bike
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Hello Streetsblog readers. As you may have noticed, we recently launched our year-end online pledge drive. What I’m pleased to announce in this post is that, thanks to our friends at Bicycle Habitat, everyone who gives $50 or more online will be entered to win a new Specialized hybrid bike. The lucky winner will choose between […]
Eyes on the Street: A Refresher on the Carlton Ave Bike Lane
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Reader Joanna Oltman Smith sends this pic of the guys who recently refurbished the Carlton Avenue bike lane in Prospect Heights. The bike lane got a fresh coat of Thermoplast from Flatbush to Atlantic. Since the Carlton Avenue Bridge re-opened in September — after an absence of nearly five years due to Barclays Center construction […]
NY Mag Fumbles Chance to Hold NYPD’s Feet to the Fire on Street Safety
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Robert Kolker’s New York Magazine feature on traffic deaths and injuries brings some welcome attention to NYPD’s miserable enforcement record. But readers — and the WNYC listeners who heard Kolker on the air yesterday — will probably still come away with a warped view of what determines street safety in NYC. Before I go any […]
Q&A With John Raskin of the Riders Alliance, NYC’s New Transit Advocates
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New York City transit riders haven’t had much to be thankful for recently. Sure, countdown clocks have arrived on some subway lines, and buses are moving faster on the routes where the MTA and NYC DOT have implemented Select Bus Service. But overall, the story of NYC transit the last few years has been about […]
City Receives Federal Funding for Full Nostrand Avenue Select Bus Route
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The first Select Bus Service route in Brooklyn is on track to start speeding bus trips next year, after Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and NYC Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan announced yesterday afternoon that the project has secured a $28 million federal grant. The B44 route on Nostrand, Rogers, and Bedford Avenues, which runs between Sheepshead Bay […]
The Problem With Managing the West Side Greenway as a Park, Not a Street
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New Yorkers looking to get somewhere on the city-owned portion of the Hudson River Greenway yesterday were blocked by barricades like this one. Along with the rest of the city park system, the greenway was officially closed from noon Wednesday until Friday morning, a precaution the Parks Department took to guard against the risk of […]
70th Precinct Has a Suggestion During the Gas Shortage: Bike
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The Flatbush Bicycle Coalition tipped us off to this piece of advice, which was issued a week ago but feels just as relevant today, from Deputy Inspector Eric Rodriguez, commanding officer of NYPD’s 70th Precinct: You don’t hear that from Ray Kelly’s NYPD very often. We emailed the department’s public information office to see if […]
Pedestrian Seriously Hurt By National Guard Truck Driver on Canal Street
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An unidentified man was struck by a National Guard truck driver at the intersection of Canal Street and Centre Street in Lower Manhattan at around 1:30 this afternoon. Witnesses seemed certain that the victim was killed, though an officer at the scene would only say that “a pedestrian got hit” and refused to provide further […]
This Weekend’s Post Editorial, Explained!
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The New York Post editorial board isn’t known for enlightened positions on transportation policy and street design. Even so, I was kind of floored to read this tone-deaf screed published over the weekend, blaming the city’s post-Sandy transportation disruptions on bike lanes, pedestrian plazas, and traffic-calming measures. While the mainstream business press quickly caught on to […]
Election Day Open Thread
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Leave your hopes, fears, predictions, and polling place observations in the comments.
How New Yorkers Are Getting Around After Sandy
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With the heart of the subway system knocked out of commission, this morning the Streetfilms crew — Clarence Eckerson, Elizabeth Press, and Robin Urban Smith — headed out to the bridge crossings that link Brooklyn and Queens to Manhattan, to document how New Yorkers are getting around under emergency conditions. The huge crowds massing in […]
Trick or Treat in the Street
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We interrupt our post-Sandy coverage to bring you these pictures from Halloween last night at the 78th Street Play Street in Jackson Heights. The Jackson Heights Green Alliance put on the event, “Trick or Treat in the Street,” and Streetfilms’ Clarence Eckerson sent over these photos. This is the kind of thing residents can do in the […]