Jason Varone
Jason Varone battles the streets everyday during a 9 mile commute on his bicycle from downtown Brooklyn to the Upper East Side. In addition to his efforts on Streetsblog, he is an artist making work related to the environment and technology. Examples of his work can be found at www.varonearts.org.
Recent Posts
R-E-S-P-E-C-T: DOT to Install Sleek New Bike Parking Shelters
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While the NYPD, Parks Department, MTA, unnamed authorities and, of course, bike thieves, busily clip locks and cart off New Yorkers’ bicycles in great number, the Department of Transportation is making sure that not only do bike commuters have a classy spot to park outdoors, but their tushies won’t get wet when it rains. Next […]
Myrtle Avenue Street Furniture Initiative: Community Design Workshop
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The Pratt Design Incubator for Sustainable Innovation, Pratt industrial design students, and the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership will hold a community design workshop tonight, Tuesday, November 13 from 6 to 8 p.m. in Pratt Institute’s Higgins Hall as part of the Myrtle Avenue Street Furniture Design Initiative. The workshop, during which designers will present preliminary […]
Saturday: MTA to Liven Up Public Hearings
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Next Saturday the MTA will be running a town hall-style meeting to take public input on various fare and financing options. The latest issue of Spotlight on the Region sums it up pretty well (as does the photo above): If you are tired of public hearings where outraged citizens stand at a microphone and rant […]
When in Rome, Share Bikes
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The competition is heating up between Eurpoean cities seeking to build the best bicycling infrastructure. As we noted this morning, Amsterdam is mimicking Copenhagen‘s "green wave" for cyclists. And now Rome is bringing a Paris-style bike sharing project to the Italian capital by 2008. Modeled after the Parisian Vélib program, users will ride free for […]
In Amsterdam Cyclists Always Get the Green Light
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The green wave of Odense, Denmark. Taking bicycle infrastructure to the next level, Amsterdam traffic engineers have created a "green wave" along Raadhuisstraat. Cyclists riding at a speed of 9 to 11 miles per hour will never have to stop at a red light. Tests show that the cyclist "green wave" is helping buses move […]
Big Builders Explain Why Congestion Pricing is Important
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In a letter to Marc Shaw, Chairman of the New York City Traffic Mitigation Commission, the New York Building Congress urged the Commission to support a congestion pricing plan that dedicates all revenues to capital improvements for the city’s transit system. The NYBC also indicated their support for the MTA’s propsed fare hike "as merely […]
Finally: A Spot to Talk About Parking
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Climate change, Iranian nukes, the declining dollar, a $100 barrel of oil… Sure, all of that stuff is important but not as important as parking or New York City’s lack thereof. New York City’s venerable neighborhood associations and civic groups will be ecstatic to hear that the Department of Transportation is convening a series of […]
The Horror
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Here is a horrifically entertaining way to kick off your Halloween day: James Howard Kunstler’s "Eyesore of the Month." October’s Eyesore is a drive-thru ATM machine in Caseyville, Illinois. Kunstler writes: The Ionic columns are a nice touch. What I like best is that only two of them are required to hold up the massive […]
Philly CarShare Helps City Government Reduce Its Fleet
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The Philly CarShare program (Motto: "Why own when you can borrow?") is one of the most successful of its kind in the country. Currently in its fifth year, the Philadelphia-based non-profit recently surpassed 30,000 members and is generating $10 million annually to pay for a small staff, the purchase and maintenance of a fleet, and […]
Brooklyn’s Myrtle Avenue Renaissance
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In an attempt to turn Myrtle Avenue into a thriving "Main Street" for Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership is now working with Project for Public Spaces "to survey, analyze, and produce conceptual recommendations for four underutilized public and quasi-public spaces on the avenue." You can see the 4 locations […]
Warning: Driving Could Be Hazardous to Your Health
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Last week, the European Parliament proposed that car advertisements throughout the EU include tobacco-style health warnings about the environmental impact of automobiles. The New York Times reported: Under the plan, 20 percent of the space or time of any auto ad would have to be set aside for information on a car’s fuel consumption and […]
New Bike Lanes and Sharrows Lead to the Brooklyn Bridge
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This new buffered bike lane begins at Petrosino Square at Lafayette Street and Spring Street and heads southbound all the way down to Duane Street on the way to the Brooklyn Bridge. Along the way you’ll find quite a few bike boxes and sharrows, new bike safety tools in the Department of Transportation street design […]