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
Moving on From Vandalism Fears, Times Tries New Bike-Share Scare Tactics
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In its apparently boundless desire to see transportation innovation fail in New York City, the Times ran a remarkably shoddy and one-sided piece over the weekend on the city’s developing bike-share plans. Perhaps having realized that successful bike-share systems are cropping up in too many cities to keep on referring to the same image of […]
Lander and Former CB6 Chair File Amicus Brief Supporting PPW Bike Lane
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City Council Member Brad Lander and Brooklyn Community Board 6 member Richard Bashner have filed an amicus brief in support of the Prospect Park West redesign carried out by NYC DOT. The brief recounts the extensive public process that preceded the installation of the bike lane in 2010 and DOT’s ongoing engagement with the community […]
Car Crash in Harlem Kills Pedestrian, Hospitalizes Five Others
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One person is dead and at least five others have been hurt after a pick-up truck and livery cab collided at 145th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard in Harlem this afternoon. After impact, the truck driver jumped a curb and careened into an elderly woman and the man she was pushing in a wheelchair, […]
Eyes on the Street: Bike Lane Stripes on Washington Avenue
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It looks like DOT is exercising its option to stripe a bike lane on Washington Avenue, imposing some order on street markings from Eastern Parkway to Atlantic Avenue. Previously it wasn’t really clear whether this part of Washington was one traffic lane or two traffic lanes in each direction, leading to a lot of double-parking, […]
Kramer and Hikind Exaggerate Victory in War on Pedestrians
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Last night Marcia Kramer served up more of her unique brand of public service journalism, triumphantly reporting that the city will remove pedestrian safety measures designed to prevent seniors from getting killed and maimed in Borough Park traffic. Touring Fort Hamilton Parkway with Dov Hikind, the State Assembly rep who threatened last month to sue […]
Tonight: Streetfilms on the Big Screen at the Brooklyn Museum
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They say you can’t be a prophet in your own land. I guess that’s why Clarence had to move to Queens before the timing was right for tonight’s blockbuster Streetfilms screening at the Brooklyn Museum. Assorted works from Clarence, Elizabeth and Robin will be projected on the big screen, including a few Streetfilms that no […]
Eyes on the Street: The Press Get a Working Cyclist’s Perspective on DSK
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This was the scene outside 153 Franklin Street last night. Yes, that is a reporter’s notebook, but they’re not talking about what it’s like to bike all day in the midst of speeding cabbies, aggressive SUV drivers, and trucks a hundred times bigger than you, delivering food to impatient customers while getting demonized in the […]
ITDP: American Bus Rapid Transit Can Catch Up to the Rest of the World
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Attempts by U.S. cities to build Bus Rapid Transit systems tend to get stymied by a Catch-22: Most Americans have no experience riding great BRT, so mustering the political will to build full-fledged systems — and reallocate the necessary street space from cars to buses — is often fiendishly difficult. The results — incremental bus […]
Eyes on the Street: A Clearer Path for the Adams Street Bike Lane?
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A reader sends this shot of the freshly paved surface of Adams Street, heading toward the Brooklyn Bridge just south of Johnson Street. The parking regulations have switched sides, so it looks like the old curbside bike lane on the right side of the street — a notorious double-parking zone — will be shifting over, […]
Here’s the Chinatown Intersection Where NIMBYs Killed a Pedestrian Overhaul
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Just a reminder: Chatham Square, the intersection where Chinatown NIMBYs have fended off the reclamation of street space for pedestrians, is a huge expanse of asphalt with chaotic traffic patterns and a terrible safety record. According to CrashStat, dozens of pedestrians and cyclists were injured in traffic crashes at Chatham Square from 1995 to 2005, […]
Bike to Work Day Open Thread
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Happy National Bike to Work Day, Streetsbloggers. Anyone ride in to the office for the first time today? Share your stories about today’s commute and those friendly TransAlt breakfast stations in the comments.
Prediction: Brooklyn CB10 Will Vote for Bike Lanes Sooner Than You Think
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Earlier this week, Brooklyn Community Board 10 voted to stick with their stance against adding a painted bike lane to Bay Ridge Parkway. Since the project [PDF] would simply impose a little order on an extra-wide street without removing any traffic lanes or parking spots, it’s tempting to write off the whole board as hostile […]