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
Eyes on the Street: NYPD Sanctions Bike Lane Blocking on Henry Street
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Looks like Assembly member Joan Millman’s efforts to keep the Henry Street bike lane clear of cars belonging to church-going motorists yielded only a Pyrrhic, pre-primary day victory. For those who are just tuning into this saga, Ink Lake blogger and Brooklyn Heights resident Peter Kaufman has been trying to get the 84th Precinct to […]
Eyes on the Street: Motorist Wrecks Brooklyn Monument to Slain Veterans
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A reader alerted us to this video taken just before midnight yesterday. The scene is at Bartel Pritchard Square, the traffic circle in Brooklyn where Prospect Park West meets 15th Street and Prospect Park Southwest. Apparently the driver of this black BMW was proceeding south on PPW carelessly enough not to notice the trees, benches, […]
Cities Are Doin’ It for Themselves
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Between Chris Christie’s decision to wind down construction on the ARC tunnel and the fare-hiking aftereffects of Albany’s political malevolence/incompetence, it was a rough week for sustainable transportation in the New York City region. Governors and legislatures may call a lot of the shots when it comes to transportation policy, but thankfully not all of […]
Ray LaHood, Chris Christie Extend ARC Talks
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Well, we’ve now entered a phase of the ARC drama where I think it’s fair to wonder whether Chris Christie may simply be adept at brinkmanship. After having a sit-down with Ray LaHood in Trenton today, Christie agreed to reconsider his decision to kill the trans-Hudson rail tunnel project. Sprawl vs. compact development, traffic vs. […]
Stringer Calls for NYPD, TLC to Protect the Integrity of Bike Lanes
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With the new protected bike lane on Second Avenue as a backdrop earlier today, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer called for a stepped-up campaign to keep bike lanes clear of obstructions and show New Yorkers how to use their re-designed streets the right way. While many Manhattan streets have been re-engineered for improved safety, he […]
ARC Post-Mortem: Chris Christie Afraid to Bite the Bullet
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After yesterday’s ARC decision, I couldn’t help thinking of this morsel of wisdom from New York Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch last April: The difficulty, politically, in my judgment, is very obvious. There are very few short-term dividends, for people who run for office, in long-term investments. They don’t get the benefit out of it… The […]
Fare Hike 2011: It’s Official
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The monthly unlimited Metrocard will break the $100 barrier on January 1, following today’s 12-2 MTA Board vote to balance the agency’s budget by enacting a package of fare increases. (Get full details on the fare hike package from Ben Kabak.) NY1’s John Mancini reports that the MTA Board faced some predictably withering public testimony […]
Take a Look at Eric Adams’ Bike Safety Bill (and a German Driving Test)
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For everyone curious about the bike safety bill from State Senator Eric Adams that we mentioned on Monday, here are the basics. The bill would add a bike and pedestrian safety component to the five-hour course that New Yorkers must take before obtaining their first drivers license. This course currently includes sections educating prospective motorists […]
Waiting for Raymond: New Yorkers Want Zero Tolerance for Speeding
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Have a look at the un-scientific poll nested inside Michael Daly’s excellent Daily News column on speeding enforcement (penned in response to the case of Eric Hakimisefat, the 16-year-old un-licensed driver who killed a passenger after reaching 63 mph on a Midwood street and crashing into a tree). Currently, two-thirds of respondents think that all […]
Introducing Tanya Snyder, Streetsblog’s New National Reporter
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You may have noticed a new byline popping up on Streetsblog lately, and it’s time to finally make it official: We’re pleased to announce the arrival of Tanya Snyder as our new reporter tracking the national transportation policy beat. Before joining Streetsblog, Tanya covered Congress for Pacifica Radio’s Washington Bureau and for public radio stations […]
New York’s Next Generation of Vehicular Cyclists
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This video critique of the new bike lane on First Avenue has been making the rounds, and it must give some comfort to John Forester and the vehicular cycling school. Vehicular cyclists reject all forms of bicycle-specific infrastructure and believe all cycling should be done in traffic. In this vid they can see a young […]
DiNapoli’s Press Release Obscures Biggest Source of MTA Budget Woes
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Earlier this week State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli came out with his latest report on the MTA’s troubled finances [PDF], and if you take a look at the numbers, the big takeaway is pretty stark. Without funding for the $9.9 billion hole in the agency’s capital program, MTA debt will soar even higher. If legislators don’t […]