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
Get the Facts About Congestion Pricing in Your District Right Here
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Bookmark these factsheets from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign to share with your State Senate and Assembly reps.
NYC Bus Drivers Want to Get Cars Out of the Way of Transit
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The improvements that would speed up trips for NYC bus riders are largely the same changes that would make bus drivers' jobs less stressful and aggravating, according to a survey released today by TWU Local 100.
Driver Strikes and Kills Phil O’Reilly on Union Turnpike — NYPD Files No Charges
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On Tuesday night, a driver struck and killed Phil O'Reilly on Union Turnpike at 175th Street in Hillcrest. O'Reilly led rides with the Five Borough Bike Club and remembrances have been pouring in on social media.
The MTA Board Standing Up for Riders? It Could Happen.
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The board often acts as a rubber stamp, but the action at today's meeting hints at the more muscular oversight role it can and should play.
Not This Time, David Weprin
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Advocates with the Riders Alliance chanted over Weprin's anti-congestion pricing press conference, calling on him to get out of the way of a policy to reduce traffic and raise funds for transit.
What You Need to Know About the Congestion Pricing Plan From Cuomo’s Fix NYC Panel
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The centerpiece is a cordon zone in Manhattan below 60th Street where drivers would pay for the use of scarce street space. Here's an overview of how it would all come together.
Cuomo Reveals His Congestion Pricing Plan — And It’s Legit
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The governor is proposing a well-constructed congestion pricing plan that will make tangible reductions in car trips and relieve the city's worst traffic jams.
Can Cuomo Deliver an Effective Congestion Pricing Plan Without East River Bridge Tolls?
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A plan that doesn't toll drivers crossing the East River - drawing a cordon around the heart of Midtown, for instance - might appease congestion pricing opponents like Eastern Queens Assembly Member David Weprin, but it won't deliver the regionally significant traffic reduction that a plan like Move NY would.
Sneckdowns 2018: Bomb Sneckdowns
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Clarence put out the call for sneckdown pictures while winter storm Grayson was still bomb cycloning through the region, and Streetfilms tweeps did not disappoint.
Cuomo Fails to Deliver the Hard Charge at Traffic and Transit Reform That New York Desperately Needs
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After a year in which subway service reached appalling new lows, jeopardizing the economic health of the entire state, Cuomo spent a scant few minutes discussing the city's transit system in his annual State of the State Address.
The 2017 NYC Streetsies, Part 3
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This is it folks, the final Streetsies installment and the last Streetsblog NYC post of 2017. We're going out with a look at the best advocacy and the best elected officials of the year, plus a curated assortment of highs and lows (mostly highs).
The 2017 NYC Streetsies, Part 2
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The second round of Streetsies is all about our faltering transit system and the elected officials who've failed to steer out of this mess.