Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Car Culture

Pay Here to Park for Free

By Aaron Donovan | | 8 Comments
George Costanza, who never pays for a garage, fights for on-street parking on Seinfeld. In subtle but potentially significant ways, the Web is changing the way we as urban residents relate to the automobile. Zipcar allows you to rent a nearby car by the hour without visiting a counter — a method of car sharing that could drastically reduce the need for parking […]

Why Is DOT Reorganizing Park Slope Traffic? Because.

By Aaron Naparstek | | 7 Comments
Last Wednesday we learned about the Department of Transportation’s plan for a major reorganization of traffic flow through Park Slope, Brooklyn. In Streetsblog’s comments section, Andy Wiley-Schwartz of Project for Public Spaces asked: What problems are DOT’s traffic engineers trying to solve with this particular set of solutions? Or, to put it another way: What […]

Commissioner Weinshall Agrees: Two-Way Streets Calm Traffic

By Aaron Naparstek | | No Comments
While Michael Primeggia, DOT’s Deputy Commissioner for Traffic Operations is trying to sell one-way mini-highways through Park Slope as a pedestrian safety improvement, his boss, DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall, is hawking the exact opposite. On Thursday, March 1, at the City Council Transportation Committee oversight hearing on the Mayor’s Long-Term Planning initiative, Weinshall touted two-way […]

Old Gray Lady Gets on the Bandwagon

By Sarah Goodyear | | 5 Comments
The New York Times came out advocating for progressive transportation policies in its Sunday City section editorial, saying that the departure of DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall presents "a great opportunity to take bold action on a vexing quality of life and health issue: traffic congestion." After giving Weinshall props for her actions on the Queens […]

NYC on Alert for Motor Vehicle-Based “Noise Terrorism”

By Jason Varone | | 4 Comments
Speaking of automobile advertiser shamelessness, check out the marketing campaign that, reportedly, rolled through the Lower East Side last night at around 3:00 a.m. courtesy of Microsoft and Toyota: According to reports from residents in Lower Manhattan, a California-tagged, Zune-branded SUV rolled through Ludlow Street during the "wee hours of February 25th," but rather than […]

European Automakers Are Feeling the Heat

By Jason Varone | | 1 Comment
While the never-ending barrage of automobile advertising is as shameless as ever here in the States, European automakers are beginning to recognize that their product is perceived as harmful and destructive, not unlike cigarettes or trans-fats. The Wall Street Journal reports: Amid growing alarm over climate change and a trend in Europe toward faster, heavier […]
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