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
Cuomo Touts Smart Growth Grants But Stays Mum on MTA Funding
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If his State of the State address yesterday offers any indication, transportation policy isn’t going to be a top-tier priority for Andrew Cuomo. He didn’t mention pressing issues like the MTA’s looming deficits or the state’s crumbling infrastructure, instead focusing his attention on ethics reform, Medicaid and reorganizing state government. He did, however, repeat his […]
Canal Street Report Recommends Wider Sidewalks, Smarter Parking
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Canal Street, to put it mildly, is due for a makeover. The street is clogged with traffic from the Holland Tunnel and the un-tolled Manhattan Bridge. Pedestrians jostle for space on the packed sidewalks, and they’re especially at risk of getting hit by a car, according to the city’s Pedestrian Safety Study. Fortunately, the funds […]
DOT Pursues Pay-As-You-Drive Insurance, Which Could Cut Traffic
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It could reduce driving statewide by more than eleven percent, put money in the pocket of two-thirds of the state’s motorists and put little to no strain on the government budget. That sounds-too-good-to-be-true idea is called pay-as-you-drive insurance, and the city DOT is looking into how it might work in New York. The idea is […]
With 34th Street Design Due in Spring, CB 6 Is Ready For Busway to Fail
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A preliminary design for the proposed 34th Street Transitway is due this spring, DOT said officials at a community board meeting last night. While up until now the department has been using three different concepts of how the city’s first physically separated bus lanes could be sited on 34th — in a median, along one […]
Cuomo’s First Moves Hint at Transpo Privatization, Labor Confrontation
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Andrew Cuomo has been governor for all of three days, but even his small first actions could have big implications. With the state’s massive deficit looming, Cuomo won’t be able to avoid tough choices and big fights, and transportation is very much in the crosshairs. Bigger news could come as early as Wednesday, when Cuomo […]
Eyes on the Street: Taxi Crashes Into Upper West Side Bus Stop
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A taxi driver plowed onto the sidewalk at the corner of 72nd Street and Columbus Avenue this morning, knocking into a signpole marking a stop for the crosstown bus. Lisa Sladkus of the Upper West Side Streets Renaissance was there and snapped this picture. The NYPD press office didn’t have any information about the crash, […]
Census Data Show More New Yorkers Opting for Transit Instead of Driving
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Significantly more New Yorkers are counting on trains and buses to get to work than at the beginning of the decade, according to new information from the U.S. Census. The data confirms the trend toward transit identified in NYC DOT’s Sustainable Streets Index and offers a fascinating portrait of how New Yorkers’ commute habits have […]
DOT Adds Delivery Zones to Tackle Church Avenue Double Parking
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The fight for scarce street space is always fierce in New York City, and as DOT’s efforts to install bike and bus lanes across the city have revealed, the most contested zone of all is probably the curbside. On commercial streets, drivers can’t get enough of the underpriced on-street parking while businesses want curbside access […]
The Evolution of PlaNYC: Transit, Tight Budgets, and the Sheridan
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Last week Streetsblog sat down with David Bragdon, the new head of the city’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, to talk about next year’s update of PlaNYC. A new version of the city’s sustainability plan is set to be released on Earth Day, 2011 (that’s April 22), revising the 2007 roadmap for a city […]
Despite New York’s Huge Transit Ridership, Albany Failing On Green Transpo
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New York State might be home to more transit riders than any other state, but when it comes to the transportation policies on the books, we don’t look quite so green. “Getting Back on Track,” a new report by Smart Growth America and the Natural Resources Defense Council, ranks New York 21st of all the […]
The Evolution of PlaNYC: Q&A With NYC Sustainability Chief David Bragdon
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Back in August, Mayor Bloomberg appointed David Bragdon to succeed Rohit Aggarwala as head of the city’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability. At the time, Bragdon was the elected leader of Portland’s regional government, Metro, and an influential decision maker in that region’s famously progressive planning. Sustainable transportation advocates on both coasts said New […]
Watch Health Commish Tom Farley Make the Case For Traffic Calming
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For New Yorkers concerned about making our streets safer, Transportation Alternatives’ Stop Speeding Summit was the place to be on November 19. If you couldn’t make it to the all-day event, now there are some highlights available which you can browse on your own laptop. You can download every PowerPoint from summit at T.A.’s website […]