Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Car Culture

Ad Nauseam: Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500

By Aaron Naparstek | Nov 16, 2006 | 29 Comments

Vehicle: Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500 Ad title: "Germany" Created by: JWT Detroit: "We create ideas for our clients that people want to spend time with" [sic] Narrative: A bustling shipyard. Forklifts. Foghorn sounds. Dockworkers shouting out to each other in a language and accent that we quickly recognize from Hogan’s Heroes and Saving Private Ryan […]

“Freak Accident” That Seems to be Happening Regularly

By Charles Komanoff | Nov 14, 2006 | 2 Comments

Has it come to this, a car can be driven down a sidewalk for an entire crowded city block, injuring four pedestrians, one of them critically, without the driver getting a ticket or even a photo appearing in the next day’s newspapers? Just before 6 p.m. yesterday, a driver reportedly hit the gas pedal instead of […]

Traffic: A Social Problem Not a Design Problem

By Aaron Naparstek | Nov 9, 2006 | 17 Comments

Before the commenters begin giving DOT its well-deserved pounding in response to my previous post, I offer this provocative excerpt from David Engwicht’s book, "Mental Speed Bumps: The Smarter Way to Tame Traffic." Let me be frank. Traffic is first and foremost a community problem and residents have no right expecting politicians, engineers and planning […]

Borderline Behavior

By Aaron Naparstek | Nov 8, 2006 | 4 Comments

Be careful not to be run over by Madonna as she careens about town to promote her new children’s book. From yesterday’s Post: Post reporter Marianne Garvey watched Madonna’s drivers zip through 40 red lights in four days as startled pedestrians shook their fists in anger. One driver, who identified himself only as Abel, explained, […]

Connecting Urban Design and Public Health

By Jason Varone | Nov 8, 2006 | No Comments

Public-Health advocate Richard Jackson, author of "Urban Sprawl and Public Health: Designing, Planning, and Building for Healthy Communities," argues in this month’s Metropolis Magazine that the way we build cities and neighborhoods is a major source of illness. When did you first start to make the connection between the design of our national landscape and […]

Scrimp My Ride

By Charles Komanoff | Nov 7, 2006 | 3 Comments

November 7, 2006 To: Mayor Bloomberg, Council Speaker Quinn and various other electeds and commissionersFr: Charles KomanoffRe: Your request for Conflicts of Interest Board guidance on repayment for personal use of taxpayer-funded cars and drivers. Forget the Conflicts Board. You don’t need them. Talk to me and Brian. We’ll tell you what to pay. Brian […]

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