Glenn McAnanama
Lifelong New York City resident, except for a year in Copenhagen during college. Both experiences have taught me a lot about good (and bad) urban design. I grew up in Staten Island and also lived in Astoria Queens for 5 years. Now I live in Manhattan where I founded Upper Green Side (www.uppergreenside.org), a local environmental group on the Upper East & West Sides of Manhattan.
Recent Posts
Eyes on the Street: Horse Lane?
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West 90th Street Bike Lane between Columbus and Central Park West This is one use of the new bike lane on W. 90th Street that I did not expect to see. I’ll leave it to someone else to submit this to MyBikeLane.com. Photo by Glenn McAnanama
Breaking News: Frieden Tapped as DOT Commish
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Please note: This was an April Fool’s Day post… Dr. Thomas Frieden accepting his new job as DOT commissioner this morning in Central Park. In a major restructuring of the Bloomberg Administration, outgoing Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshall will be replaced by Public Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden. Bloomberg’s surprise announcement came at a rare Sunday morning […]
How to Improve Travel Times and Transit Capacity?
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Earlier this week, I received a request in writing from Gary Altman, the Legislative Counsel of the City Council to testify at a hearing on March 1st. The topic of this oversight hearing is: How do we achieve the PlanNYC2030’s Sustainability Goal to Improve Travel Times by Adding Transit Capacity for Millions More Residents, Visitors and Workers? For reference […]
PlanNYC 2030: What makes a Community Sustainable?
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A few weeks ago I attended the first of the Community Leader meetings for the PlanNYC 2030 Sustainability initiative. I thought Streetsblog readers might be interested in some reflections on this from a neighborhood environmentalist perspective. All and all, I’m extremely happy that this initiative is moving forward and the city is starting to take a long term […]
Streetscape Aesthetics vs. Pedestrian Safety
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A sacrifice we were willing to make: Until 1922, much of Park Avenue was, in fact, a park. Looking north on Park Ave at about 50th Street. That’s Saint Bartholomew’s Church on the right. Peter Hornbeck was killed on January 10th 2004 in a horrific hit and run crash on 96th and Park Avenue. The driver […]
Bloomberg: “New York City 2030: Accepting the Challenge”
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Is happening right now….Catch it at NYC.gov
Detailed Reports on 135 Safe Routes to School Plans
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The DOT has some traffic plan porn for you today. Starting with P.S. 1 in Manhattan on Catherine Street, where they found a school bus parking on the narrow sidewalk near the school, they have detailed reports including pictures and proposed re-designs of the streets for all 135 schools included in the initial wave of Safe Routes to […]
Safe Routes to Schools Study Complete
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Walking to school is a healthy way for many kids to get their daily dose of exercise. Unfortunately many parents are rightfully concerned about their children’s safety on the city’s streets because of aggressive driver and lack of good pedestrian safety infrastructure. Everyday in front of many city schools you see parents dropping kids off in […]
Curbside Space Wars
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Private cars blocking service vehicles on W. 86th St. between Columbus and Amsterdam There are many users of curbside space in New York City. Taxis, School Buses, Access-A-Ride and other private automobiles need curbside space to pick up and drop off people, often disabled, elderly or children. Trucks making deliveries to businesses and residents need curbside space to load and unload goods and packages. […]
Designing the Ideal Taxi Stand for New York City
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One of my biggest frustrations on crutches was finding taxis in places or times of poor bus service. Even more frustrating was watching people basically cut me in line for the next taxi by either running ahead of me or just standing further up the block than me, snagging the next available taxi. Furthermore, it was most often […]
Two Doubleparked Traffic Agents, Sunnyside Up
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Breakfasting NYPD traffic enforcement agents doubleparked at 97th St. and Amsterdam Ave. this morning Being a New York City traffic enforcement agent couldn’t be an easy job. If the cops are the city’s "Finest" and the firefighters the "Bravest," traffic enforcement agents have to be the "Most Disliked-est." Angry confrontations with ticketed motorists must be a regular part of the job. Certainly, the drivers of cars 7408 and […]
Queensboro Bridge Area Safety Under Scrutiny
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Among the three cyclist fatality clusters identified by the joint report by the City Departments of Health, Police, Parks and Transportation, the Queensboro Bridge is by far the worst. The entrance intersection at 60th and Second also claimed the award for the most unticketed incidents of block the box in the Borough President’s study of lax enforcement of […]