Will the new street signs keep you from missing your turn?

Old  sign has uppercase only

Read ===>Throughout the City, a New Generation of Street Signs - NYTimes.co

Upper and lower case for all new signs

NYC crosswalks urge pedestrians to LOOK!

NYC crosswalks urge pedestrians to LOOK! - New York News | NYC Breaking News

By MYFOX NEW YORK STAFF

Pedestrians walk past a "Look!" sign on the crosswalk at the intersection of 42nd St. and 2nd Ave.(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
NEW YORK -
New York City transportation officials are putting the word LOOK! on the crosswalks of some of the city's most dangerous intersections.

City Transportation Department Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan says New Yorkers are driven to distraction with their smartphones, and the simple act of looking can prevent thousands of crashes and injuries every year.

The word LOOK! - in bold capitals with an exclamation point and eyeballs peering from the Os - is being stenciled into the crosswalks of 110 intersections.

It's the most visible part of a $1 million campaign aimed at solving a chronic problem. More than 9,000 New York City pedestrians were injured and 41 killed in 2010, the last year for which detailed traffic crash data is available.

Ads tailored to drivers feature eyes and will appear on MTA/NYC buses' rear advertising panels. These ads remind motorists to "Drive smart/LOOK!" with the dramatic statistic that 57% of traffic fatalities involved pedestrians.

Another underscores the life-saving benefits of motorists looking before they turn, noting that half of all New Yorkers killed last year by cars at the crosswalk had a green light.

The High Line's Last Wild Section Before It Turns Into A Park

Click to read====>Photo Tour Of The High Line's Last Wild Section Before It Turns Into A Park: Gothamist


“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.”
― John Lennon

2012 NYC Century Bike Tour-where red lights turn green

Does cycling enjoyment on the streets of New York require that current traffic regulations be ignored and a new set of rules be applied?  This clip is the first of the four but you can access all the clips at...

NYC Century Bike Tour Playlist 45 minutes total of 4 clips


The annual NYC Century Bike Tour is a great undertaking and 7000 riders is quite an achievement.   The weather was perfect and everyone seemed to be having a good time. But the lack of discipline shown by  too many of the riders by ignoring the rules of the road was very disappointing.  I cannot speak about the whole tour route.  My main focus was on the intersection of Ocean Parkway and Neptune Avenue, the primary route for all the tours that followed the shoreline  from Coney Island to Sheepshead Bay and onto the Belt Parkway bike path going east.

Ocean Parkway is a eight lane parkway including two green malls.  The intersection has been cited as one of the more dangerous in the borough.  There are many elderly residents who live in this Brighton Beach community and countdown traffic signals have recently been installed to improve safety.

The traffic was light that morning when I first arrived. Tour cyclists were out in force but hardly any rider felt the need to stop at the intersection when their light was red.  If the light was green for Ocean Parkway traffic  the cyclists paused for just a moment until the coast was clear and then rolled through the Neptune Avenue red light.

Making a decision to cross all eight lanes and the malls when the light is red is irresponsible and can be deadly.  Riding mostly in large packs too many cyclists repeatedly violated traffic rules at this intersection.  Either they are riding through  red signals,  blocking crosswalks,  rolling through clearly marked crosswalks, travelling with multiple persons abreast , creeping into active traffic lanes, blocking traffic, riding outside the bike lane interfering with traffic flow risking injury for themselves and others.  Many only stopped when Ocean Parkway traffic was imminent and moved forward when the coast was clear.  This was not a few riders.  The large packs of riders would move en masse increasing the danger to themselves, motorists and pedestrians who had the right of way.  This intersection is very well marked to enhance safety for all. The videos clearly show what I have described.

DOT Safety Tips

Read===>DOT Safety Tips

Nearly 90% of infants and toddlers are in car seats, but only 66% of 6 and 7 year olds are using car seats or booster seats as recommended, and the percentage gets lower as kids get older.

Lines in the Sand

A night of heavy rain and strong winds helped create new patterns on the boardwalk.  As the sand dries and the winds shift new designs appear and then disappear below the boards.

Changing Face of Brighton Beach

READ ===>Changing Face of Brighton Beach – Forward.com
By Michael Larson, Bingling Liao, Ariel Stulberg and Anna Kordunsky

Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach is known as the heart of the Jewish community from the former Soviet Union. Newcomers from Central Asia are transforming the neighborhood