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
NYC Bike Count Continues Upward Trend in 2010 With 13 Percent Growth
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Another year, another double-digit increase in the city’s cyclist count. DOT estimates that the number of cyclists riding into the center of the city jumped up 13 percent in 2010, continuing a three-year pattern of rapid growth [PDF]. In terms of absolute growth, 2010 marks the third-largest increase in the number of cyclists counted since […]
City Council Jacks Riverside Center Parking Supply Back Up to 1,500 Spaces
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Council Member Gale Brewer has struck a deal on the Riverside Center mega-development, sending the 2,500-apartment project through two City Council committees and on a track to final approval. The deal increases the number of parking spaces allowed at Riverside Center to 1,500, far more than the community board or even the City Planning Commission […]
New PPW Results: More New Yorkers Use It, Without Clogging the Street
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On the heels of Brad Lander’s survey showing that a whopping 78 percent of interested Brooklyn residents want to keep the traffic calming Prospect Park West bike lane, DOT has released still more data [PDF] showing that the new street design keeps New Yorkers safer and helps them get where they’re going. With two more […]
Industry Leaders Don’t Want to Miss Out on NYC Bike-Share
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Interest in New York City’s bike-sharing plans seems to be running high in the industry, if today’s “pre-proposal conference” is any indication. A packed room that included many of the major players in the bike-sharing industry gathered at NYC DOT headquarters to get the scoop on what New York, potentially the nation’s largest bike-sharing market, […]
Eyes on the Street: Upper Manhattan Gets First Taste of Protected Cycling
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DOT’s planned safety improvements for the intersection of St. Nicholas and Amsterdam Avenues are currently being installed, as shown in pictures snapped by Streetsblog reader BicyclesOnly. Major features include shorter crosswalks, additional pedestrian space, and Upper Manhattan’s first segment of physically-protected bike lane. Up to now, the intersection has been a dangerous one. According to a […]
Truck Driver Backs Over, Kills Pedestrian on UES; NYPD: “No Criminality”
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A dump truck driver hit and killed a 21-year-old man on the Upper East Side this morning at 6:06 a.m. The driver was traveling north on Madison Avenue when he realized he had passed his destination near 81st Street, according to the NYPD. He then put the truck in reverse, said police, and began to […]
Central Park Drivers Get Bigger Holiday Gift Than Usual
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In what’s shaping up to be a yearly tradition, car-free hours in Central Park have been cut back for the holiday season. Each weekday this month, on the southeast corner of the park drive, the park’s pedestrians, joggers, cyclists, and dog-walkers have three fewer hours of quiet and safety. The stretch of the park drive […]
Ambitious Bike-Ped Plan Latest Hoboken Livable Streets Coup
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It’s official. When it comes to livable streets, Hoboken is pulling out in front of every other New York City suburb. In some ways, the one-square-mile town is even lapping New York City. The latest in a string of envy-inducing projects under Mayor Dawn Zimmer and Parking and Transportation Director Ian Sacs is the city’s […]
City Offers Tax Exemptions For Politically Connected Parking Operator
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Raking in millions by inducing more traffic on Jamaica’s congested streets? It’s charity, says New York City, and the business that does it should not pay taxes. A local non-profit with politically powerful friends managed to get its off-street parking garages classified as tax-exempt, despite being used exclusively for commercial purposes. The Daily News’ Juan […]
Next Week: Testify at City Council About NYC Bike Policy
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Heads up on an important calendar item for next week. On Thursday, the City Council Transportation Committee will hold an oversight hearing on bike policy, which is expected to focus on bike lanes and how they’re implemented. The public is invited to testify, so if you can spare the time to help explain to council […]
Legislature Passes on Deficit Fix, Putting MTA Raids In Cuomo’s Hands
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In Albany this week, legislative leaders declined to take action to close the state’s current $315 million budget deficit. That pushes the problem into 2011, when a new governor and likely a Republican State Senate will be in power. Whether dedicated MTA funds will still be used as a piggy bank, at the expense of […]
What Would It Take to Run a Successful East River Ferry Program?
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A few more details about the city’s new subsidized East River ferry service were revealed at a Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance panel yesterday afternoon, including the route’s stops and hours. Mostly, however, the panel offered advice on what it will take to make ferries successful and provided some valuable context for the public discussion about waterborne […]