Noah Kazis
Noah joined Streetsblog as a New York City reporter at the start of 2010. When he was a kid, he collected subway paraphernalia in a Vignelli-map shoebox.
Before coming to Streetsblog, he blogged at TheCityFix DC and worked as a field organizer for the Obama campaign in Toledo, Ohio. Noah graduated from Yale University, where he wrote his senior thesis on the class politics of transportation reform in New York City. He lives in Morningside Heights.
Recent Posts
Green Shoots at NYSDOT
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Though New York is the least car-dependent state in the country, the state DOT isn’t known for championing for the state’s millions of non-drivers. In some corners of the large and decentralized agency, however, progressive ideas have taken root and new programs are being developed. At yesterday’s Rudin Center conference on livability, two DOT officials […]
Bragdon: PlaNYC 2.0 Cheaper, Bottom-Up, But May Include Hudson Tunnel
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City sustainability chief David Bragdon offered some more hints about what to expect from April’s update of PlaNYC this morning. Speaking at a livability conference hosted by NYU’s Rudin Center, Bragdon said that the update would eschew large capital projects and feature a larger role for neighborhoods and individuals. In terms of transportation, Bragdon seemed […]
DOT’s Interactive Map Points the Way to a More Livable Jackson Heights
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Since 2009, the Department of Transportation has been engaged in a major study of Jackson Heights’ streets and sidewalks. At the request of community groups and with federal funding from Rep. Joe Crowley, DOT has been developing a plan to make the neighborhood safer, less congested, and more transit-accessible. After two years of research and […]
Real-Time Bus Info Arrives Along the B63
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From the Verrazano to Brooklyn Heights, passengers on the B63 can now make their rides more predictable. As of today, the MTA has launched a new bus tracking system that enables riders to find the location of every bus on the route either online or by text message. For riders who can send texts or […]
At Wash Heights Workshop, Support For Ped-Friendly Plaza De Las Americas
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DOT presented the latest design concepts for a permanent Plaza De Las Americas to Washington Heights residents last night, showing a plan to pedestrianize the full block of 175th Street between Broadway and Wadsworth Avenue, in order to make a new space for residents and the popular market currently operating at that location. The design […]
Cuomo Cuts $100 Million to Transit [Updated]
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Reactions to Governor Cuomo’s proposed budget are beginning to come in. The cuts to transit, which are being pegged at $100 million, are being portrayed as painful, though perhaps not devastating. The MTA itself sees Cuomo’s plan as cutting $100 million from its budget, not the $57 million we estimated earlier. That’s $200 million in […]
Construction Industry Adds Muscle to Fight Against Albany Transit Raids
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An erstwhile ally is getting back into the ring to fight for transit riders. Traditionally, the politically powerful construction industry has focused its attention on keeping the MTA’s capital program funded. Contractors and the building trades unions depend on the MTA’s maintenance and expansion projects for business, but haven’t been so concerned if an unbalanced […]
Cuomo’s Budget — And Likely Transit Raids — Coming Tomorrow
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With Governor Cuomo’s first executive budget set to be released, tomorrow is an important day for transit riders. We’ll find out whether the new governor will continue Albany’s practice of stealing dedicated transit funds to plug budget holes elsewhere, try again to reduce the state’s meager contribution to student MetroCards to nothing, or decide instead […]
Oddo: Bike Lanes Were Just to Grab Attention for Loosening Enviro Review
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City Council Minority Leader James Oddo has a surprising message for Streetsblog and its commenters: “Thank you.” We didn’t think too highly of Oddo’s proposal to require environmental review for bike lanes. And experts said it would throw an unnecessary road block in front of expanding the bike network, making the projects exceedingly slow and […]
Mica Touts Public-Private Northeast Corridor HSR In Grand Central Hearing
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Sitting beneath the famous zodiac mural of Grand Central’s main concourse, with the rumble of commuters and trains in the background, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held its first field hearing of the new session this morning. The topic was the future of high-speed rail on the Northeast Corridor. Chairman John Mica led the […]
House Transpo Committee Promises Bipartisanship, to Tackle Aviation First
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Ranking Member Nick Rahall presents Chairman John Mica with a new gavel to run the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Meet the new House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The committee’s meeting this morning, the first of the 112th Congress, included twenty new Republican faces, 19 of whom are freshman representatives. The mostly administrative agenda didn’t offer […]
Enviro Law Experts: Review For Bike Lanes a Waste of Taxpayer Money
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You know something’s amiss when you hear Republicans calling for more red tape and government bureaucracy, as Staten Island Council Members James Oddo and Vincent Ignizio did earlier this week with their call to require environmental review for all new bike lanes. But let’s indulge Oddo and Ignizio and take their proposal seriously for a […]