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
The Toll Map That Should Pique the Interest of Every Staten Island Elected
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In case you missed it, today the Staten Island Advance rounded up outraged quotes from local politicos in response to the MTA’s proposed fare and toll hikes. Big emphasis on “toll hikes” — it’s the prospect of paying more to cross the Verrazano Bridge that has State Senator Andrew Lanza vowing to somehow defeat the […]
Instead of More Fare Hikes, How About Bridge Tolls That Make Sense?
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Since the beginning of 2008 — right around the time that Albany legislators failed to enact congestion pricing — NYC subway and bus fares have been hiked three times. Now the fourth fare hike in five years is on the horizon, and with Albany lawmakers sitting on their hands as MTA revenues fail to keep […]
Want to Vote for Mayor in 2013? There’s an Important Deadline Tomorrow
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There’s some sort of political debate happening tonight, but let’s skip over the November 2012 business for a minute and cut to the chase. Are you ready for September 2013? In NYC elections — where, notwithstanding the last five mayoral races, Democrats hold an enormous citywide advantage — most of the real action happens on […]
October 26: Support Streetsblog and Streetfilms at Our Annual Benefit
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Mark your calendars everybody: Three weeks from today Streetsblog and Streefilms are putting on our annual benefit. We’d love to celebrate with you as we mark a year of progress toward livable streets and look ahead to the changes and challenges to come. Tickets start at $50 and are on sale now. The theme this year is […]
The Daily News Settles It: NYC Needs More Protected Bike Lanes
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Strip the conclusions from Alex Nazaryan’s bike lane review in yesterday’s Daily News — by my count, the 434th “Vicious Cycle” headline of the past three years — and you actually come away with some observations about NYC streets that I think most people who bike in the city would agree with. Nazaryan, you may […]
Streetfilms Shorties: DMV Driving Exam FAIL on 20th Avenue
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Clarence sends along this short video of student drivers double-parked in the 20th Avenue bike lane, near the Astoria waterfront. What makes this blockage all the more galling, he reports, is that the students are about to embark on an exam that will, in all likelihood, confer a lifetime of more-or-less irrevocable driving privileges: While […]
State Judge Rules MTA Payroll Tax Unconstitutional
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Well, this is just crazy. A State Supreme Court judge has ruled that the MTA payroll mobility tax, which collects more than a billion dollars a year to keep the NYC region’s transit system running, was enacted in a way that violated the state constitution. The payroll tax was passed in 2009 to avert devastating […]
Will New Yorkers Elect Our Own Rob Ford in 2013?
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As the 2013 mayoral race gradually shudders to life, the city New Yorkers should look to as a cautionary tale is Toronto. It was in Jane Jacobs’ adopted home town that a progressive mayor, David Miller, laid plans to prioritize pedestrian safety, surface transit, and bicycling, only to see his successor Rob Ford assume office, […]
Hasty Vote on Cuomo’s TZ Bridge May Violate Federal Rules [Updated]
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Now that the Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam county executives have signaled their support for a new Tappan Zee Bridge, the Cuomo administration is again pushing the project forward at a furious pace. So fast, in fact, that it may violate federal rules. Notice went out this afternoon that the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council will […]
The Guerrilla Bike Lane’s Gone — Back to Business as Usual on Bergen
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Local resident Ian Dutton’s ingenious method of keeping the Bergen Street bike lane clear of parked vehicles near the 78th Precinct has run its course, apparently. With Con-Ed’s construction having wrapped up, the plastic posts that Dutton arranged to create some make-shift separation are no longer there. As of yesterday, it’s back to an illegal […]
Citi Bike Launch Re-Scheduled for March [Updated]
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Making his weekly appearance on WOR with John Gambling this morning, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the software problems affecting Citi Bike equipment won’t be resolved in time to launch New York’s bike-share system this year. The Public Bike System Company, which makes the stations and bikes that NYC will use, recently dropped the company that […]