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
Five Months On, Bike Access to Buildings Law Showing Results
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The location of every building with an official bicycle access plan. Image: City Council [PDF] On the eve of Bike to Work Day, the New York City Council released new stats today measuring the impact of the Bicycle Access to Buildings Law. Five months after taking effect, the law has made it easier for well […]
Report: Traffic Threatens Older Pedestrians Most of All
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The intersection of Bleecker and Carmine is located in New York’s most dangerous county for older pedestrians. Photo: A. Strakey/Flickr. More than 10,000 pedestrians are injured every year on New York City streets. The people who are most at risk are senior citizens, new research from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign shows. Pedestrians over 60 years […]
Will Robert Lieber’s Successor Finally Fill the Gaps in PlaNYC 2030?
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NYC Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert Lieber. Photo: New York Daily News City Hall has another big vacancy to fill. This morning the Bloomberg administration announced that Robert Lieber, deputy mayor for economic development, is returning to the private sector. Lieber’s portfolio includes the New York City Economic Development Corporation and the Department of […]
Bill to Protect Pedestrians and Cyclists Clears Committee Votes in Assembly
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Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh, speaking, with Daniel Squadron and Scott Stringer at last year’s rally for Hayley and Diego’s Law. To Squadron’s right are Wendy Cheung, Hayley Ng’s aunt, and Jon Adler, representative for the families of Ng and Diego Martinez. Hayley and Diego’s Law, a bill making its way through Albany that would give […]
City Council Moves on Environmental Health, But What About Tailpipes?
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The Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, covered in smog generated in large part by tailpipe emissions. Image: Wikimedia The New York City Council moved on two big pieces of environmental legislation last Wednesday. One bill was introduced which would require landlords to participate in a major public experiment to reduce asthma rates. A second, which passed […]
State DOTs’ Prescription for American Cities: More Highways
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AASHTO’s new report recommends that America’s urban transportation policy repeat the mistakes of the past. Photo of the Cross-Bronx Expressway: Tool Ake via Flickr The umbrella group for America’s state DOTs, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, has started a major new push for, you guessed it, more highways. The new campaign […]
Driver Who Killed Cyclist Jake McDonaugh Pleads Not Guilty to Homicide
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Image: NY1 Michael Oxley, the driver who killed 18-year-old cyclist Jake McDonaugh on Flatbush Avenue in April, pled not guilty to five charges — including criminally negligent homicide — at his arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court yesterday. He is currently out on bail, which the judge set at $75,000. The next court date is set […]
CB 6 Votes Conditionally for East Side SBS, Endorses Better Bike Lanes
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CB 6 urged DOT to consider buffered bike lanes instead of sharrows on parts of Second Avenue. DOT had previously upgraded plans for sharrows on First Avenue with a buffered lane design, shown above. Image: NYCDOT Prospects for safer cycling on the east side of Midtown got a boost last night, as Manhattan Community Board […]
Fixing the Ditch: Planning a Less Awful BQE Trench
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The BQE trench divides a neighborhood in two, spewing noise and air pollution. Photo: NYCEDC [PDF] Between 1950 and 1964, Robert Moses gouged a path across two boroughs to build the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. In Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens, the BQE slices through the urban fabric in the form of a below-grade trench, […]
NYCDOT Opens the Way for Killer Bike Apps
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NYC’s bike map [PDF] is now available in a software developer-friendly format. Finding the best bike route through New York City streets? There’s an app for that. And with new data published online by NYCDOT yesterday, there may soon be more digital tools that enhance the experience of biking here. The new release from DOT […]
Will the Fare Hike Four Face Pro-Transit Primary Challengers?
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Last week we profiled Igor Oberman, the challenger gunning to unseat State Senator Carl Kruger this September who’s made support for transit, including bridge tolls, a centerpiece of his campaign. So, what’s going on with the other three members of the Fare Hike Four — Pedro Espada, Rubén Díaz Sr., and Hiram Monserrate. Their anti-transit […]
Campaigns for Smart Growth and Complete Streets Heat Up in Albany
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The smart growth bill pending in Albany would cut down on subsidies for sprawling greenfield development. Image of subdivisions outside Riverhead, in Suffolk County, NY: Google Maps The campaign to rein in sprawl and build more livable communities across New York state intensified yesterday, as advocates redoubled their efforts to pass two critical pieces of […]