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
Health Commish: We Can Make NYC More Walkable and Bikeable
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Health Commissioner Thomas Farley: ready to saddle up and ride to work. Image: NY Daily News. With half a year in New York and (most of) a nasty flu season under his belt, new Health Commissioner Tom Farley recently sat down with Transportation Alternatives to discuss the importance of walking and biking for NYC’s health. […]
Mayor’s Office: Electric Cars Must Comply With PlaNYC Goal of Fewer Cars
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New York City is not looking to create infrastructure for charging cars on city streets. Image: theqsqueaks via Flickr. "Electric vehicles are here. They’re coming, and they won’t stop." Last night, DOT Deputy Commissioner Bruce Schaller opened a panel discussion on electric car adoption in New York City with an implicit message: We should be […]
Council Member Lappin Calls for Citywide Street Safety Office
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Jessica Lappin, the sponsor of new street safety legislation. Image: NY Real Estate Law Blog. In order to create a more tightly integrated public policy on safer streets, Council Member Jessica Lappin introduced legislation yesterday to create a new Office of Road Safety within the Department of Transportation. Lappin imagines the office creating a citywide […]
NYC’s Rent-Stabilized Parking: A Hidden Subsidy to Drive
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Is this guy paying below-market rates to park? It’s possible. Photo: carspotter/Flickr. We say it a lot here on Streetsblog: cheap parking is bad policy. Without putting the right price on the scarce space that cars take up, people have more incentive to own and drive automobiles. In New York City, thanks to everything from […]
Biz Students See Ripe Market for Bike-Share in NYC
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A Nextbike kiosk in Tubingen, Germany. Image: Eldersign via Flickr. With bike-share systems launching in three major American cities this year, the question naturally arises: Does New York have an appetite for bike-sharing? Patricia Bayley and Martin Mazza say yes. Students at Barcelona’s IESE, one of Europe’s top business schools, Bayley and Mazza intend to […]
What Should Happen at Myrtle Avenue’s New Plaza? The Public Weighs In
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A two-block pedestrian plaza is coming to Myrtle Avenue in Clinton Hill, replacing an underused service road between Grand Avenue and Emerson Place. Last Friday, the local business improvement district unveiled eight potential ideas for the site (check out the BID’s Flickr stream to see them all) and asked viewers for their feedback. Myrtle Avenue […]
Study: Fewer Cars on the Street = Healthier Kids
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Fewer cars means more walking and healthier kids. Image: jeweledlion via Flickr. Could reducing traffic near children’s homes help America combat its obesity epidemic? A new study conducted by UC Berkeley professor Michael Jerrett strongly suggests the answer is yes. Obesity rates are steadily increasing — more than one-fifth of New Yorkers are now obese, […]
Brooklyn Cop Dishes Out Disorderly Conduct Charge to Cyclist Who Ran Red
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Jeff Geisinger’s disorderly conduct summons. When Jeff Geisinger biked through a red light on Atlantic Avenue last October, he knew that he might get a traffic ticket. So when a cop pulled him over, he wasn’t surprised. He just didn’t expect to be handed a summons for disorderly conduct, a criminal violation. What Geisinger did […]
More Bad News for Transit Funding: Payroll Tax Comes Up Lame Again
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The MTA’s budget picture took another turn for the worse today. The payroll tax instituted as part of last year’s funding package continues to raise far less revenue than expected. Which means that even if the extensive service cuts on the table take effect, the MTA will still have to deal with a $400 million […]
Concern for Seniors Runs High at Low Turnout CB 11 Meeting
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Select Bus Service’s new low-floor buses will make it easier for seniors to get on and off the bus. Image: Second Avenue Sagas. Last night the MTA and DOT continued their tour of East Side community boards, presenting plans for better bus service and safer streets to the Manhattan CB 11 transportation committee. Attendance was low, […]
Feds Green Light Funding for Better Nostrand Avenue Bus Service
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A potential configuration for the Nostrand Avenue SBS Route. Image: NYCDOT. As Elana reported earlier today, the Obama Administration’s 2011 budget includes $28 million for the Nostrand Avenue Select Bus Service project. The announcement should help build momentum for a high-priority transit project set to launch in 2012. Nostrand Avenue SBS would ply the B44 […]
Car-Sharing Instead of More Parking? LES Co-op Says: “Fantastic”
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Seward Park Houses has welcomed a small car-sharing program instead of clamoring for additional parking. Image: The Lo-Down. About 1,700 Lower East Side families live in Seward Park Houses. Located between East Broadway, Essex, and Grand Streets, street parking is scarce, and though the complex offers 400 parking spaces, there are 500 names on the […]