Thursday, August 30, 2012

Don't Be A JERK-Stay off the sidewalk



DOT’s "Don’t Be A Jerk" bike safety campaign humorously highlights the essential dos and don’ts of safe, responsible biking. According to DOT’s 2010 Sustainable Streets Index, commuter cycling increased 262% in New York City from 2000 to 2010. With more bikes on the road, smart cycling is even more crucial to making New York City’s streets safer for everyone using them.
The simple message of "Don't Be A Jerk": Always follow traffic laws by yielding to pedestrians, riding with traffic, and riding on the street not the sidewalk (unless you're 12 or younger). “Don’t Be a Jerk” is part of DOT’s larger Bike Smart initiative, which includes the Bike Smart Pledge and the LOOK campaign, designed to educate cyclists and other road users about sharing the streets and roadways safely.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Bicycle riders hate rocky path through Brooklyn Bridge Park

BUMPY ROAD: A cyclist in Brooklyn Bridge Park.Read===> Bicycle riders hate rocky path through Brooklyn Bridge Park - NYPOST.com

Officials purposely created a rocky road to keep Brooklyn Bridge Park’s bike lane from turning into a cyclist speedway like the paths along the bridge and the one in Manhattan’s Hudson River Park.



Greenfield Kicks Off Participatory Budgeting Initiatives

Greenfield Kicks Off Participatory Budgeting Initiative With Charter Members Meeting

This is a great chance to have a voice in how your tax dollars are spent locally, so I urge everyone to get involved. My thanks to those residents who helped get participatory budgeting off to a great start last week,” said Council Member Greenfield.



Hurricane Irene-one year ago

Coney Island Hospital evacuation drew lots of media attention
 but tidal surge never materialized.  
THE NEXT DAY
The beach....clean and pressed. Beautiful.
Not a board out of place the boardwalk proved its toughness.
Coney Island Beach and Boardwalk the day after-Surviving the eye of I.
Yesterday morning I was sure my walking partner would be a pile of splinters and nails. But look what I found. Not a board our of place.
But I believe that it was our Coney Island mermaid who climbed down from her lookout wall to confront the one-eyed Irene when she turned her wrath to our defenseless Coney Island shore. "Get off my beach, bitch."
The virgin sacrifice. The beach and boardwalk reborn.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

More sharks coming to Coney Island

NY Aquarium Unveils Designs For New “Ocean Wonders: Sharks!” Exhibit

Ocean Parkway Bike Ride Video

videoThe following videos of a bicycle ride down and up Ocean Parkway was shot and compiled for Friends of Ocean Parkway, by cycling enthusiast Lenny Markh who often travels the bike path route and is familiar with the issues that confront riders as they make their way up and down the greenway.
The ride is comprised of 12 separate videos that are broken down into several blocks in each segment.  Lenny adds his own real time commentary to his ride which provides a fresh,candid and sometimes funny look at the challenges that riders regularly face with path hazards, intersections, other riders, and the many walkers who insist on using the bike lane instead of the pedestrian path.  Here is the order and location of the videos shot as Lenny headed down to the Boardwalk and crossed over the the east mall for the return trip.
1. A very short clip heading north to the start point at Avenue N,
2.Avenue N to Avenue O (the new improved path) and the old path from Avenue O to Avenue P.
3.Avenue P to Kings Highway.
4.Kings Highway to Avenue T
5. Avenue T to Avenue Y (poorest road conditions to Avenue X)
6. Avenue Y to Avenue Z (the newest and best road conditions)
7. Avenue Z to Belt Parkway East Service Road
8. Belt Parkway East Service Road to Neptune Avenue
9. Neptune Avenue to Seabreeze Avenue
10. East Mall going north-Brighton Beach Avenue to Belt Parkway East Service Road
11. Belt Parkway East Service Road to Avenue Y
12. Avenue Y to Avenue W

The videos will run consecutively but if you go to the bottom bar on the video and select playlist you can select the video clip that you want to play.

Lenny hopes to add more trip videos to complete the full cycle of the Ocean Parkway bike path.  We thank him creating this video log.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Slide Show: A Crime That Transfixed the City

A Crime That Transfixed the City - Slide Show - NYTimes.com

40 years ago today: A robbery gone bad, a magazine story and the iconic movie "Dog Day Afternoon"

A bank building on the corner of a city street. A car can be seen parked out front and a traffic light is located on the sidewalk in front of the building. Other buildings can be seen in the background.
40 years ago a failed robbery led to one of the most dramatic events
 in Brooklyn's history.
The location of the actual event, 450 Avenue P, Brooklyn, New York (1975 photo) 
Forty years today ago a botched robbery at the Chase Manhattan Bank on the corner of Avenue P and East 3 street inspired a Life Magazine article which in turn led to production of the briliant movie "Dog Day Afternoon" directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Al Pacino.
The same bank building still stands today but there are few who pass by and remember what happened here in 1972.  Today he dilapidated, grafitti scarred building sits forlornly waiting for a new tenant on this busy commercial street that connects Bensonhurst to Gravesend.  Forty years ago it connected this quiet corner to the world.

450 Avenue P today (2012)


Read the Life Magazine article here
======>LIFE - Google Books
Learn more of the story behind "Dog Day Afternoon" here:
=====>"Dog Day Afternoon" on wikipedia

What Is Really Going On Behind the Bike Share Delay | In-Depth


altashare-lg

The Drama Behind the Bike Share Delay | Transportation

Serious questions about the Alta Bike Share program.  A well-researched in-depth article that should be of concern to NY and Citibank officials.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

$600 airbag for your head

PHOTO: Hovding is an invisible bike helmet invented by two women in Sweden.Hovding: 'Invisible Bike Helmet' Keeps Hair Intact and Your Head Safe - ABC News

Images of Ocean Parkway North

A  short but charming row of brownstones on the corner of Cortelyou Road
Are these brownstones the vestiges of a greater presence on these blocks.
Cyclist ignores clear sign not to bike here. But where to go?
There was a talking point that cyclists would cross Church Avenue and continue for one block to
Beverley Road where they would cross to the west side and pick up the bike path.  But the installation of benches and chess tables eliminated that option.

Sign on Church Avenue warns cyclists but no arrow
 to direct them across Ocean Parkway to continue their  journey.
The start of the Ocean Parkway bike path ends at Brighton Beach.
Bike and Pedestrian path merge approaching Church Avenue
The road to Prospect Park

Cyclists cross Church Avenue here and then must cross Ocean Parkway on
the corner to reach the bike path. 
This path is for bicyclists to and from Prospect Park
Approaching Church Avenue and Ocean Parkway

Chess tables dot the east mall
The pedestrian only east mall with "No Bicycling Sign"
It would be better if the sign would point the cyclists in the right direction.
Looking south towards Cortelyou Road
A canopy of trees provide shade on a hot day

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Cold water on a hot day

Going to Friday prayer services
This old sign lays out rules of play on the east mall.

Most New Yorkers Say Bike Lanes Are a Good Idea,mostly from Manhattan

Most New Yorkers Say Bike Lanes Are a Good Idea - NYTimes.com

The article doesn't include the poll numbers for each borough. 

A better question could be "Do you support bikes and cars sharing the road?"

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Remembering what happened here

Months after a  fatal car accident between Avenue W and X someone is still bringing fresh flowers to the memorial.  

Last May a young man died in a horrible head-on collision when his van in the northbound lane was slammed into by a speeding driver going southbound who lost control and veered into his lane.