You Call That a ‘Car-Free Earth Day’ Edition – Streetsblog New York City

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We already knew that the city’s Car Free Earth Day event would be a startling and insignificant substitute for what this city needs: a real effort to periodically phase out car use and show New Yorkers how much better it would be. their lives if all the cars disappeared in a day (or a week or a month …) and we could all enjoy safe streets, efficient bus service and large public spaces.

Instead, we got something like a car-free event on about a dozen streets (most of which were already open streets with bright cars anyway), with all sorts of unnecessary programs.

We don’t need programming – we need constants. We don’t need circuses – we need a reduction in cars.

There are great open streets all over the city that restrict cars in the middle of the day. And residents use these streets, even without jugglers or face painting. Take a look at Vanderbilt Avenue in Brooklyn – the local neighborhood group took cars and now people are gathering and meeting with their neighbors on the cement median. It’s not exactly the Spanish Steps, but people don’t need anything fantastic except a safe place without cars to get together.

In fact, in this context, it can be concluded that city-sponsored events such as Car Free Earth Day are in fact counterproductive in order to free our public space from noise, violence, hostility, pollution and the pure geometric problem of cars. The events once a year look like city fathers patting us on the head, saying, “There, there. You have a block party for a few hours on Saturday. Satisfied? Now let’s get all the cars back so the city can get back to doing business. ” The fun of Earth Day without cars is presented as a holiday, not as every day.

And would he kill the city to get rid of all the stored vehicles on the streets of Earth Day without cars? On Berry Street, people tried to play, but still had to hand over the entire sidewalk line to parked cars – meaning that about six people had to claim valuable public space for free all day, as hundreds of others wanted to enjoy of the day.

We count seven cars on this block. Photo: Mark Gorton
We count seven cars on this block. Photo: Mark Gorton

With such efforts, we will simply never change the culture of car use in this city.

So you can imagine how we felt when we tweeted this during Saturday’s trip over the Triboro Bridge:

Other news from the busy weekend:

  • Hat tip to New Yorker writer Zack Helfand. In his article on the magazine’s reflections on the lasting effects of subway shooting, he wisely quoted a psychologist as saying, “We are still in greater danger every time we get in a car.” This is something that all reporters should keep in mind when writing about the dangers in our city.
  • Speaking of these dangers, an incompetent man who is alleged to be a high-ranking jeep driver (with his two children in the car) crashed into a motorcyclist in Brooklyn, killing him. The driver has been detained. However, this is interesting Daily News he knew the registration numbers of the car, but could not indicate that it was slapped with three speeding fines issued by cameras and three red light tickets from May 2020. The victim was a favorite EMT. (NYDN)
  • A car thief stole a woman’s car … then ran over her! (NYDN)
  • And the driver of a new Dodge was not arrested or convicted after running over a pedestrian in front of a mall in Queens, injuring her critically. Like the daily news above, Post he had the car’s license plates, but didn’t bother to tell which the driver has blocked bus lanes or fire hydrants four times and received a red light ticket in just six months. (We like to point out these horrific driving records as proof that the authorities know there are dangerous drivers there, but they always seem to wait until someone is killed before acting.)
  • Total crimes are down in the subway, but a crime attacks are up. Guess what fact he got Post title?
  • Like Streetsblog, the message and Gotamist covered Mayor Adams’ $ 900 million investment in the street master plan.
  • We often write about abandoned cars being dumped on our streets, but two Queens Poles want to clear the waterways of garbage boats. (NY Post)
  • Speaking on the Council’s proposals, Brooklyn Council member Shahana Hanif will introduce legislation for a full urban composting program. (The city)
  • Finally, the NYPD is looking for information on Friday’s horrific crash in the Bronx. Police say a man stole a truck parked in front of the White Plains Road lumbar yard around 8:15 a.m., then fled and crashed into a man standing next to his own parked truck about two minutes later. . Police posted the video below and asked anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-8477 (TIPS). The victim of the accident remains in critical but stable condition, police said on Sunday night. IN Daily news also covered it.