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
Tonight: Speak Up for the 34th Street Transitway
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The big event for the week of Thanksgiving (and the only calendar item we’re highlighting) is the public forum on the 34th Street Transitway put on by Community Board 5 tonight. It’s a critical moment to speak up for prioritizing walking and transit on one of NYC’s busiest, most iconic streets. Passengers on 34th Street […]
Eric Adams Talks Speeding and Street Safety on a Neighborhood Walkabout
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In September, State Senator Eric Adams introduced a bill that would add a component about interacting with pedestrians and cyclists to the licensing course for first-time New York State drivers. He said he’s pushing for better driver education to “make the roads safer for those who use the roads other than vehicles.” Adams’ interest in […]
Eyes on the Street, 83 Years Ago: The Brooklyn Death-O-Meter
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This is how our forebears raised awareness about the dangers of speeding and reckless driving, and it seemed appropriate to share while the Stop Speeding Summit is going on today. The Death-O-Meter, installed by the Brooklyn Safety Council at Grand Army Plaza in 1927, tracked serious injuries and fatalities in Brooklyn and put the information […]
Video: A View of NYC Cycling From Montreal
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Noah and I are busy with meetings and the Stop Speeding Summit today, so posting may be a little light until the afternoon. I do have a couple of items to share, including this short video from EcoMobility.tv. I know the title is over-the-top and there’s some egregious wrong-way riding, but I like the outsider’s […]
East Side SBS Shaving 15 Minutes Off M15 Trips; Bus Cams Go Live Monday
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This just in from the MTA and NYC DOT. Select Bus Service has shaved off between 12 and 16 minutes of travel time on rush hour runs along the M15 corridor from 125th Street to South Ferry. That’s before the debut of camera enforcement. Update: Here are some more specific numbers on trip times from […]
Cyclists Blindsided By City’s Erasure of Father Capodanno Bike Lane
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For the second time in 12 months, the Bloomberg administration will remove a link in the bicycle network after receiving complaints from bike lane opponents. The Staten Island Advance reports that the bike lane on Father Capodanno Boulevard will not be striped again after the street is repaved. The news comes two months after the […]
Cuomo on MTA Raids: Transit Funds Are “Fungible”
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WNYC’s Andrea Bernstein reports on the most troubling sign yet that Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo is not willing to stop Albany’s practice of raiding dedicated transit funds to plug gaps in the state budget. From a press conference yesterday: Cuomo: “I understand the concern. Everyone — especially in a declining budget environment, where we are now, […]
Fourth Graders Start Spreading the News: Stop Speeding Today
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Students at Brooklyn’s PS 261 have clocked motorists traveling on Atlantic Avenue at an average midday speed of 38 mph — and as high as 50 mph. While the city’s 30 mph speed limit is a mystery to most New Yorkers, the students knew they were watching people break the law and put others in […]
Still No Guarantee That East Side Bike Lanes Will Be Completed Next Year
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Earlier today, Kate Hinds at Transportation Nation asked Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan about the status of extending the East Side bike lanes north of 34th Street. She received an open-ended but not-so-encouraging response: KH: You said in the summer it wouldn’t happen in 2010; is it on the table for 2011? JSK: Not at the […]
Tonight’s the Night for Streetfilms: A Reel Celebration
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If you haven’t snapped up a spot at Streetfilms’ fall fundraiser, there are still a handful of tickets left. On tap for the evening: food and drink, previews of Streetfilms in the making, and a few words from special guest Randy Cohen, “The Ethicist.” The festivities start at 6:30 at 148 Lafayette Street in Manhattan, […]
Police, Prosecutors Continue to Let Curb-Jumping Motorists Off the Hook
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Twice in the last two days, motorists have injured people after driving off New York City streets, over sidewalks, and into private property. Despite a new law on the books designed to hold motorists more accountable for reckless driving, police have not issued so much as a traffic summons to either driver. Yesterday afternoon, two […]
Eyes on the Street: A Bike-Friendly Approach to the Q’Boro
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We’ve got another highlight from 2010 construction season to share with you. A two-way, protected approach to the Queens side of the Queensboro Bridge bike-ped path has been paved, striped and open for business since the end of October. Clarence took these photos of the new approach, part of a package of bicycle and pedestrian […]