Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Public Health

We Are Breathing Oil in Our Big Cities

By Jason Varone | | 4 Comments
In three different studies presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science‘s annual meeting in Boston last weekend, researchers "provided mounting evidence that air pollution can both increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in the long-term and induce heart attacks within hours of traffic exposure." While the studies have yet to be released […]

Pint-Sized Parks Make Safer Streets and Cleaner Rivers

By Ben Fried | | 16 Comments
The Greenstreet at 110th and Amsterdam helps keep sewage out of city rivers and features a beefed-up, traffic-calming "blockbuster." It rained yesterday, sending stormwater streaming down New York City streets and through sewer grates. The runoff mixed with wastewater in the system and overloaded treatment facilities, causing raw sewage to spill into the city’s waterways. […]

“My Other Car Is a Bright Green City”

By Brad Aaron | | 6 Comments
As attention turns to the next federal transportation bill, and livable streets fans scan the platforms of presidential candidates for glimpses of what to expect from Washington over the next four years, Alex Steffen, editor and CEO of the blog WorldChanging, has posted an essay-in-progress called "My Other Car is a Bright Green City." Steffen […]

A “Vision Zero” for New York?

By Brad Aaron | | 3 Comments
On Tuesday the Bloomberg administration announced record low traffic deaths from 2000 to 2007, and claimed, if not in so many words, that city streets are safer than ever. But the numbers, included on a chart that accompanied this media release, also indicated that 23 cyclists died in 2007. That would make last year — […]

City Numbers Show Highest Cyclist Death Toll in Eight Years

By Brad Aaron | | 28 Comments
 Traffic fatalities in 2007 were at their lowest level since the city began keeping records almost 100 years ago, according to data released today by the Bloomberg administration. However, while the number of pedestrian fatalities last year dropped sharply percentage-wise from 2006, down to roughly one death every two-and-a-half days, cyclist fatalities were up, and […]
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