by Clarence Eckerson, Jr.
With all the hullabaloo over the new Grand Street bike lane, we thought we'd resurrect a Streetfilm (actually before they were even called Streetfilms!) from back in June 2005 with TOPP founder Mark Gorton talking about the then incredible width of Grand Street and the inequity of street space devoted to its users. We used this at some early gatherings in the infancy of our movement to try to use media to raise public awareness of what is happening on our streets. It had not been on the Streetfilms site 'til now, but is available (with other oldies) on the old NYCSR site.
Whatever your viewpoint on the new bike lane, it is easy to see why Grand Street and others like it are good candidates to give back some road space to pedestrians and people.
by Clarence Eckerson, Jr.
Got a minute to spare?
Livable Streets Education has been working in New York City schools, encouraging students to explore and question the environments around their school and in their neighborhoods, and to voice the changes they want to see on their streets. We recently asked Kindergartners at P.S. 87 what they would do if there were no cars on the streets. We were so impressed with their brilliant, creative responses that we wanted to share them with you!
If you would like to get your school involved, please contact Kim Wiley-Schwartz at 646-734-6486 or kwileyschwartz@openplans.org.
by Clarence Eckerson, Jr.
Every time we manage to snag an interview with Jan Gehl, it ends up being one of the coldest days of the Fall. But that didn't stop the Danish livable streets maestro from grabbing a table in New York City's new wonderful public space, Madison Square, to chat with Streetsblog's Editor-in-chief Aaron Naparstek.
It was just a little over two years ago we talked with Mr. Gehl in the iconic Times Square "bowtie" where he offered up a sobering evaluation of the lack of public space in NYC. You can watch that here. But thanks to recent initiatives by the NYC DOT, these days the future looks more promising for pedestrians and cyclists. During their conversation Mr. Gehl and Aaron covered much ground including the rapid pace of the transformation of our streets, the concepts behind the fluidity of traffic, the release of World Class Streets: Remaking New York City's Public Realm, and the democratic process - with a shout out to our future 44th prez!
If you love this, don't miss some of our past interviews. Here are just a few: Janette Sadik-Khan. Enrique Penalosa. Gridlock Sam. Donald Shoup. Randy Cohen.
