In New York, just under two miles from the glitter and glam of 5th Avenue, is the working-class neighborhood of East Harlem, home to six of Manhattan’s seven bus depots and some of the dirtiest air in the city. I stumbled across an article published in the New York Times just under a year ago about Wendy Agustín, a mother of five who lives directly across from on these bus depots. Ms. Agustin keeps the windows to her apartment closed all day so her children don’t have to breathe the contaminated air that rises up from the depot. “If I don’t keep those windows closed,” she told the New York Times, “that smell rises up and comes in, a smell like diesel, a nasty stench.” Some of Ms. Agustin’s neighbors have voiced similar complaints and have found their possessions caked in a thick layer of soot from the buses after having left their windows open. Asthma is also a big problem in the neighborhood, which has the highest rate of asthma hospitalizations in the country. And many of these hospitalizations are occurring to children who have been poisoned by the air. According to the National Asthma Survey, from 2002-2004 children between the ages of 0-14 living in East Harlem experience 126.1 hospitalizations per 10,000 residents.
A picture I shot while cruising New York’s innovative bike lane.
Over the weekend I rode down to Chelsea to check out New York City’s newest experiment in sustainable transport: the separated bike lane. At less than 10 blocks (Manhattan itself is around 250 blocks from north to south), the new lane certainly seems experimental in size - I think I zipped down it in about 4 seconds. But those responsible for building the lane deserve credit; it was a beautifully spent, luxurious 4 seconds - as far as urban cycling goes. No potholes, car doors, wayward drivers or anything else of obvious threat to a cyclist’s life. Read the rest of this entry »
A Ford Escape Hybrid. Left: Photo by Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News, Right: Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images.
Mayor Bloomberg has finally given the push to something hybrids were created for - stop and go traffic in New York City. As the New York Times reports, the Mayor announced earlier today a plan to phase out the city’s 1,200 Crown Victoria taxis and replace them with hybrid vehicles powered by both electricity and gasoline. My only worry is that the new hybrids that the Mayor plans to add to the fleet will be large SUVs, like the one above, with modest fuel economy, rather than normal taxis with very good fuel economy. But regardless, the change will result in fuel and air pollution savings.
Congestion pricing makes strange bedfellows: Listen below to New York City Public Radio and hear from representatives of the Manhattan Institute and Environmental Defense, both of whom support the Mayor’s plan for congestion pricing in Manhattan.
When it comes to making a city bike friendly, the simple bike lane is not enough. Check out this video featuring Transportation Alternatives, The Project for Public Spaces, and The Open Planning Project, which calls for a system that segregates bikers from traffic. This is BRT for bikers!Special thanks to Erica Stephan for the hot tip.
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