Clarence Eckerson Jr.
Clarence Eckerson Jr. is the Director of Video Production for NYCSR's StreetFilms and producer of bikeTV. He loves the color purple, chocolate chip cookies, and enjoys walking, biking, and taking transit. He has never owned a driver's license.
Recent Posts
Is This the First U.S. Car Ad to Feature a Protected Bike Lane?
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Since I’ve been doing lots of research, analysis and interviews for a future Streetfilm looking at car commercials, this Lexus ES ad, in heavy rotation on football Sundays, caught my eye. It just might be a first (at least in the United States): a major car company showcasing a car on a complete street! Yes, “Infinite […]
Corona Plaza: A Community Gathering Place Rises in Queens
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Something special is happening in Corona, Queens. Last week, Streetfilms visited Corona Plaza — the city’s newest car-free space, next to the 103rd Street stop on the 7 train — and found it already packed with families, children, and shoppers. This plaza has been in the works for many years, and the local community has […]
Portland Adds Nation’s First Bike Counter to Hawthorne Bridge
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Good news for mathematicians who love watching throngs of cyclists stream by: Portland, Oregon just became the first U.S. city to install a bicycle counter! You’ll find the digital “bicycling barometer” on the AM inbound side of the Hawthorne Bridge. It was made possible by the non-profit group Cycle Oregon, which purchased the machine with […]
“The Porch” at 30th Street Station Welcomes You to Philadelphia
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For nine months now, Philadelphia’s awesome new public space “The Porch” has been flying under the nation’s livable streets radar. Installed by 30th Street Station as part of a larger PennDOT undertaking, the project reclaimed asphalt from cars and devoted it to people. The Porch provides a great place to meet up, and it shows […]
Making History: 2004 Car-Free Central Park Film Chosen for MCNY Exhibit
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In the midst of a 2004 petition drive and campaign, Transportation Alternatives hired me to produce a mini-film called “The Case for a Car-Free Central Park.” It featured interviews with many prominent New Yorkers, like Columbia professor Ken Jackson and author Roberta Brandes Gratz, along with dozens of everyday park-goers testifying about how they felt […]
San Francisco: Reclaiming Streets With Innovative Solutions
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Tom Radulovich, the executive director of the local non-profit Livable City, describes the recent livable streets achievements in San Francisco as “tactical urbanism” — using low-cost materials like paint and bollards to reclaim street space. That willingness to experiment was a big reason that the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) gave its 2012 Sustainable Transport Award to […]
Via RecreActiva: A Transformative Ciclovia for Guadalajara
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Guadalajara, Mexico is showing how amazingly transformative a ciclovia-style road closure can be for its citizens. In seven years, their inaugural Sunday event Via RecreActiva has grown from just seven miles with 35,000 participants to 41 miles with 400,000 users every Sunday. It goes from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and covers six municipalities.
The 2011 Streetfilms Tribute to #BikeNYC
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Cycling in New York City endured an unprecedented media bombardment in 2011. But New Yorkers kept on riding and the public opinion polls kept on showing that despite the political and press attacks, bike lanes enjoy broad support. To celebrate a year of resilience, we figured we’d show a montage of New Yorkers out on […]
Critical Mass Is Alive and Well at Guadalajara’s Paseo de Todos
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Walking and bicycling in Guadalajara, Mexico can be dangerous in many parts of the city, but there’s a movement afoot among many citizens to change that. GDL en Bici is a group of local advocates who have been organizing regular bike rides for years, and nothing is more impressive than their ride on the first […]
Nine Days Until the Annual Benefit for Streetsblog and Streetfilms
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Just a quick heads up in case you’ve managed to resist clicking on the “Streets of the Future” banner at the top of Streetsblog NYC. The annual benefit for Streetsblog and Streetfilms is coming up on November 17, and we’d be thrilled to see you as we celebrate a successful year for our coverage of […]
Minneapolis’s Midtown Greenway: Good for Bikes, Good for Business
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In the increasingly heated competition to see who deserves the title of America’s most bike-friendly city, Minneapolis has plenty going for it. Last year Bicycling magazine anointed the city tops in the nation, knocking Portland off its long-held perch. The Twin Cities are undergoing a steady transformation into a more bike-oriented region thanks to nearly […]
Breathtaking Bike Infrastructure: Minneapolis’s Martin Olav Sabo Bridge
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In 2007, in order to route cyclists away from a challenging 7-lane crossing on busy Hiawatha Avenue, Minneapolis built the Martin Olav Sabo Bridge. The first cable-stayed bridge of any kind in the state, it’s breathtaking, even to the people who have been riding it for years. It provides a safe, continuous crossing and offers up […]