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
Midtown Bike Lanes to Be Interpersed With Sharrows, Will End at Eighth Ave.
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DOT has proposed painting four new pairs of crosstown bike lanes through the heart of Midtown, an exciting statement and a necessary move in preparation for the launch of bike-share. The lanes would be tightly spaced, located on 39th and 40th Streets, 43rd and 44th, 48th and 51st, and 54th and 55th. But the design […]
DCP Proposal Will Cut Downtown Brooklyn Parking Minimums in Half
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Downtown Brooklyn’s mandatory parking minimums would be cut in half for new development and eliminated outright for affordable housing under a plan from the Department of City Planning. The change is significant — the first rollback of the costly and car-ownership inducing requirements under the Bloomberg administration — but doesn’t go far enough. Even by DCP’s own […]
Grassroots Coalition Crafts Action Plan for Lower East Side Cycling
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After a year and a half of grassroots activism, last week the Lower East Side’s Local Spokes coalition released a wide-ranging action plan to improve cycling in the neighborhood [PDF]. The plan includes both actions that Local Spokes member organizations plan to undertake, like developing a bicycle safety curriculum for area residents and organizing businesses to […]
DCP Bringing Parking Reform to Downtown Brooklyn
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Downtown Brooklyn could finally get a reprieve from the onerous and outdated parking requirements that have forced developers to build costly, anti-urban garages which sit unused. A new DCP proposal filed earlier this week is described online as a “text amendment to modify the off-street parking regulations of the special Downtown Brooklyn district.” There’s not […]
NYPD Bike Equipment Checkpoint Snares Cyclists For Missing Bells
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Check your bells, New York City cyclists, and check your reflectors. The NYPD looks to be stepping up its bike safety efforts — not by ticketing speeding motorists or bike lane blockers, and not even by citing reckless cyclists, but with checkpoints for improperly equipped bikes. Based on an initial report, the checkpoints seem more […]
DOT Plans Four Pairs of Midtown Bike Lanes in Time for Bike-Share
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Has any district in New York City ever seen the kind of bike infrastructure transformation coming to Midtown in 2012? The heart of Manhattan — the biggest business district in the county — is getting dozens of bike-share stations. On one eight-block stretch of Broadway, there will be over 200 docks for the new public […]
After Traffic Claims Another Life on ACP Blvd, Will CB 10 Take Action?
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A motorist struck two women crossing Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard in Harlem last Sunday evening, according to the NYPD. One, 35 years old, died from her injuries at Lincoln Hospital. Police did not release the names of the victims. Adam Clayton Powell is one of the most dangerous streets in Manhattan. The victim of Sunday’s […]
Transit-Free Tappan Zee Bridge Financial Plan: It’s “Dynamic”!
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The Cuomo administration plans to select a team to build the new Tappan Zee Bridge this summer and begin construction this year. So it’s about time for the governor to say how he plans to pay for the bridge, right? Luckily, in order to comply with federal transportation law, the state issued a financial summary […]
Lanza Introduces Amended Speed Cam Bill in State Senate
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Albany legislation to let New York City enforce its speed limit using automated cameras got a new lease on life last week. A slate of amendments have made the bill more politically palatable, and Staten Island Republican Andrew Lanza has introduced a version of the bill in the State Senate, the first time this version […]
You Can’t Catch Speeders If You Don’t Have a Radar Gun
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Here’s how unconcerned the New York Police Department is with deadly traffic violations: For at least a month, and possibly longer, reports DNAinfo, Brooklyn’s 76th Precinct went without a radar gun. Perhaps due to said lack of a radar gun, the 76th Precinct issued almost no speeding tickets in 2012 until this month: all of […]
State Senate Passes Bill Eliminating Incentive to Leave Scene of Crashes
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If you get drunk, get behind the wheel of a car and get into a crash in New York State, you should flee the scene. Not morally, of course, but legally the repercussions will be less severe. A drunk driver who stays at the scene of a crash can be charged with a felony; sober […]
Uptown Transit Riders Fight for 125th Street Select Bus Service
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Select Bus Service is a big success on First and Second Avenues and 34th Street. Speeds are up, ridership is up, and the MTA is using the time savings to run even more buses along the busy corridors. So where in Manhattan is next for the popular package of bus improvements? One group of uptown transit […]