Contested Streets Premier- June 27, 2006 Everyone who cares about New York City should watch Contested Streets, which premiers on Tuesday and compares the public environment of New York with those of London, Paris and Copenhagen. I will give the movie the full review it deserves at a later point. For now, I'll just say that this is a movie that was put together by people with a broad vision for how New York's streetscape should be significantly transformed and a many-layered theoretical underpinning on why it ought to be. In thinking..http://www.startsandfits.com/2006/06/contested-streets-premier.html New Hope in the Bronx- June 20, 2006 The building pictured above, a block south of Crotona Park in the Bronx, is one of those rarest of buildings that has the same address on two streets: It is located at 1500 Boston Road and 1500 Louis Nine Boulevard. Neat as that may be, though, this building is more remarkable for a reason that becomes apparent when you notice that the modest cornice and detailing end abruptly at two unfinished facades. It is as if the building was once just a piece of a greater whole. Indeed, it was.No. 1500,..http://www.startsandfits.com/2006/06/new-hope-in-bronx.html Cars Give Way to People in SoHo- June 19, 2006 The Tunnel Garage and its 188 parking spaces, built just as the Holland Tunnel and the automobile were first offering their promise of a quick exit from the city, is ancient history. In its place will rise an 8-story apartment building with 48 apartments, 7,340 square feet for stores (and 117 parking spaces). Because of this land use change, a net of 71 motorists each day will find it harder to park in SoHo, more or less removing that many cars from the roads. Meanwhile, households and...http://www.startsandfits.com/2006/06/cars-give-way-to-people-in-soho.html Moving the Sidewalk at 96th Street- June 13, 2006 As pointed out by Aaron Naparstek and the good people at Curbed, folks from the Upper West Side are upset that the sidewalks are going to be shaved by nine feet for the redesign of the subway station at 96th Street and Broadway. Nine feet of space where people walk would become one lane of traffic in each direction on Broadway. A classic case of taking away space from pedestrians and giving it to cars Not exactly. As Curbed's commenter No. 8, "Dave the City Planner," retorts: Yes, the sidewalk..http://www.startsandfits.com/2006/06/moving-sidewalk-at-96th-street.html 264 Hours in a One-Hour Space- June 12, 2006 Remember back in March when Starts & Fits' roving correspondent Gary Roth discovered a car parked in a one-hour space for two weeks Mr. Roth has an uncanny ability to find these vehicles, and on Friday he outdid himself by finding another car long overdue for a tow. This one is parked in front of the Stage Restaurant at 128 Second Avenue (between 7th and St. Marks). According to Gary's conversation with the guy behind the counter at the Stage, this car had been parked there for three weeks as...http://www.startsandfits.com/2006/06/264-hours-in-one-hour-space.html Induced Traffic and Central Park- June 8, 2006 The Gates public art exhibition in February 2005 closed the Loop Drive of Central Park to automobiles and attracted millions of visitors to Central Park (and spawned at least one other public art idea pictured above). But it did not cause the kind of traffic calamity that Starquest expects to see from a closure of the Loop Drive.Starquest, better known as Henry J. Stern, is a thoughtful person who not only wishes the best for the city, but has dedicated enormous amounts of energy in his former.http://www.startsandfits.com/2006/06/induced-traffic-and-central-park.html Why New York City Hurricanes Are Rare- June 5, 2006 The 2006 Atlantic hurricane season started last week, as we all know by now. Since reading Aaron Naparstek's Big One last year and following what happened after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the rest of the 2005's hurricane-season-on-steroids, I've been pondering the possibility of a hurricane hitting town. After all, New York City is adjacent to the very same Atlantic Ocean as Hurricane Alley. An Inconvenient Truth portends future devastating hurricane seasons like 2005 as high sea surface...http://www.startsandfits.com/2006/06/why-new-york-city-hurricanes-are-rare.html |