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May 20, 2009

Wednesday Links

commercial-street-brooklyn-0509.jpg
In the Future, the City’s Streets Are to Behave [NY Times]
School Budgets to Be Cut by 5 Percent Next Year [NY Times]
Midtown Cyclists Routinely Break Law, Study Finds [NYT/City Room]
Mister Softee Driving McCarren Residents Mad [NY Post]
Pooper Scooper Fines Rise in Parks [NY Daily News]
Park Slope Record Store Gets the Boot [Brooklyn Paper]
360 Furman Conversion Finally Completed [Brooklyn Eagle]
Will Yards Face Eternal Delays? [Brooklyn Eagle]
Photo by Lauren Michaellozano




Posted by Brownstoner at 8:28 AM | Comments (33)
Categories: Daily Links

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Comments

gee, was anyone surprised by the midtown cyclist study?
and response by Transportation Alternatives?

Posted by: Petebklyn at May 20, 2009 9:09 AM

They can raise the pooch pooping fine to a thousand bucks, but it won't make a dot of difference until they actually start handing out tickets.

Posted by: dittoburg at May 20, 2009 9:14 AM

Some day one of these assholes running the light at an intersection is going to get my umbrella stuck in his spokes. Most of the restaurant delivery guys obey the laws, most of the couriers are mentally unstable in one way or another.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at May 20, 2009 9:14 AM

ugh dont get me started on people on bikes. im all for better cleaner ways of commuting around the city but people on bikes are almost always just pure a-holes. dave im with you. sometimes i just wanna kick a cyclist into oncoming traffic. but someone here reamed me a new one when i said that and said it bordered on psychotic tendencies and manslaughter or something. whatever. i find people who use bikes lazier than people who use cars sometimes. you know you have feet, just leave your apt 10 minutes ealier and walk. you just make pedestrians live's worse by biking. keep that sh-t in parks on bike paths.

no sympathy for cyclists here.

especially the toolish (usually girls for some reason) pedalling around in a high motor traffic/pedestrian area with no helmets. when youre braindead cuz of youre already brain-deadish attitude about life, i will have no sympathy and hope someone pulls the plug so you dont use up unnecessary resources.

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at May 20, 2009 9:27 AM

I bought Tori Amos's Scarlett's Walk from that record store in 2002 - he had to special order it. While filling out the order a grad student came in and asked if he could donate five or six LPs for use in a student video she was making. I see this woman around fromt time to time; saw her bartending in a random bar I went into once. One of those things that makes me feel at home here.

Posted by: infinitejester at May 20, 2009 9:33 AM

Wow, who peed in your Rice Krispies this morning, Rob? Sure there are some cyclists who are reckless (agree with you completely about the bike helmets) but to translate that into a blanket opposition to people who use bicycles to get around is ridiculous. (After all, there are plenty of reckless drivers as well.) It takes a very angry or ignorant person to be anti-biking. If the city's infrastructure were more bike-friendly (and it's definitely moving in the right direction), most of these dangerous scenarios would be avoided.

Posted by: brownstoner at May 20, 2009 9:37 AM

ooooh jester doesnt tori's new album come out this week? i used to love her but every album after choir girl hotel (including that one pretty much) was terrible. maybe i just stopped like that kind of music or something. it was pretty gay for a guy to like her music now that i think about it lol


*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at May 20, 2009 9:42 AM

im not anti biking!!! seriously. but the only times ive almost been struck has been people on bikes. cars are very easy to spot. yes i know there are reckless drivers but there are WAY more reckless bikers. i notice it mostly in soho tho and maybe midtown manhattan. bikers in brooklyn seem more tame and ive never had a problem there.

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at May 20, 2009 9:44 AM

i found a great documentary just last week on a stoop about cities that are bike friendly. it was very cool and interesting and i totally agree with it. if anyone wants to borrow it, or have it, they can it's called City of Congestion? or Congested Cities or something like that.

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at May 20, 2009 9:46 AM

"i used to love her but every album after choir girl hotel (including that one pretty much) was terrible."

WHAT WHAT WHAT?!! No way dude.

To Venus and Back - "josephine" and live version of "Cooling."

Scarlet's Walk - tons o'hits.

Beekeeper - tons o'hits.

Those last two are as good as LE, IMO.

Posted by: infinitejester at May 20, 2009 9:51 AM

"It takes a very angry or ignorant person to be anti-biking."

Count me in?? The Douche Bike riders Block traffic and want to ride in the middle of the street!!! Sometimes they want to confront a car drives on some B***shit. Just to let you know if you EVER get in my way that will have some bad consequences for you!


"If the city's infrastructure were more bike-friendly (and it's definitely moving in the right direction), most of these dangerous scenarios would be avoided."


How about bike riders obey traffic laws and wearing helmets??!! When I ride my bike I wear helmets and obey traffic laws (I'm a driver) but you get the douche crowd riding like dumbasses!

The What

Someday this war is gonna end...

Posted by: Return of The What at May 20, 2009 9:52 AM

My wife is going to be SO upset to hear about the record store on 5th Ave closing. This is close to where I live, and she is in there all the time. My wife is, shall we say, "technology-challenged" and has no use for CD's or digital downloads. She loves her vinyl records!

Posted by: benson at May 20, 2009 9:53 AM

ugh i miss cd shopping. it's not fun anymore cuz of the internet. i like physical copies of stuff. i guess im old. oh well.

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at May 20, 2009 9:56 AM

Bike riders are going to face a huge backlash soon.....all juiced up on their self-richeous superiority complex for not driving, they have turned into a bunch of douches.....
The city has gone a long way to addressing their (legitimate) gripes, and have provided lanes, enforcement and storage for the bikers and in return cycling has grown tremendously. However their ranks are filled with idiots who think they somehow own the streets - laws are optional and whatever they do is ok because they are "green".
And it isnt just drivers their at war with, it includes pedestrians as well.
It is only a matter of time before their recklessness gets the wrong person (high profile) killed (like on the Brooklyn Bridge for example) and the backlash will come.
Just like with dog poop - these idiot bike riders will only start to understand when their behavior is appropriately fined out of existence.

Posted by: fsrg at May 20, 2009 10:14 AM

It's certainly an approprite pool of violators to fine so that City revenue may be raised, fsrq.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at May 20, 2009 10:21 AM

Biking is not an option for lots of people for lots of reasons (not me - I could do it, I just hate it!). Broadway (Manhattan) is a real mess right now as they add huge medians and make bike lanes.
The allegedly idyllic European cities often cited by advocates are just smaller places than NYC - apples and oranges comparison.

Posted by: etson at May 20, 2009 10:34 AM

I completely agree with everything brownstoner said at 9:37. I'll spare everyone my oft-repeated rants about how this city compares so unfavourably to other large cities in terms of being bike friendly. I'm not excusing the bad behaviour of some cyclists (nor am I consider all drivers to be drunken murderers when a pedestrian gets hit by a drunk driver) but lets not paint all cyclists as law breaking terrorists on two wheels.

Posted by: Biff Champion at May 20, 2009 10:35 AM

benson, it may be that your wife knows something you don't. After all, that's why you married her, right?

A well-recorded (on analog), well-mastered piece of music stamped on vinyl played thru a decent turntable/arm/cartridge combo, and an otherwise decent audio system, will sound better than a similar piece recorded on a CD. You can check it out in any high-end audio store.

Posted by: denton at May 20, 2009 10:40 AM

gross. if i wanted to live euro style id move to european. cant stand the eurofication of nyc! also bike riders in the street should have 1.) a license and 2.) pay accident insurance. how are they ANY different than a car or a motorcycle when it comes to damage they cause?!

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at May 20, 2009 10:42 AM

etson, a fair point, but there are other very large cities, I'm thinking of China in particular, where a huge part of the population rides bikes. I don't think there's the same kind of backlash there against cyclists.

On a lighter note, check out this list of the 11 Most Bike Friendly Cities, specifically the video of the bicycle lift in Norway!

http://tinyurl.com/276ack

Posted by: Biff Champion at May 20, 2009 10:45 AM

Anti-biking curmudgeons - When do you draw the line on pedestrians breaking the law? They are just as much a danger to bikers as the other way around.

Posted by: lincolnlimestone at May 20, 2009 11:21 AM

no they are not. that is pure BS.

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at May 20, 2009 11:36 AM

As a biker who does stop at lights and obeys laws, I have had several accidents avoiding pedestrians J-walking or popping out behind cars. This behavior contributes to the animosity between the two groups. Any crack down on bikers should be followed by enforcement of pedestrian laws.

Posted by: lincolnlimestone at May 20, 2009 11:38 AM

Rob, when a biker swerves to avoid a J-walker, swerving or falling into a car, how can you say that? I have seen this with my own eyes. The biker was mid-block and the pedestrian was breaking the law, who was at fault and who was the danger to whom? The biker went to the hospital with broken a vertebrae and femur.

Posted by: lincolnlimestone at May 20, 2009 11:41 AM

don't waste your time talking to rob. he has a brain the size of a pigeon.

Posted by: swine_flu at May 20, 2009 11:47 AM

Pedestrians and motorists break the laws just as much as people on bikes. A study on how often cyclists break traffic laws is moot without a comparison against peds and motorists as they all share the road.

Jaywalkers, speeding motorists, people waiting for the light to change 15 feet into the cross walk all pose dangers for cyclists.

Posted by: dirty_hipster at May 20, 2009 11:52 AM

What about those bikers who walk their dogs while biking?
They should have a double license.

Posted by: dittoburg at May 20, 2009 11:52 AM

lincolnlimestone - follow this rule - cause anyone in a motor vehicle as well as bikes really have to...pedestrians are more or less ALWAYS right.

It sucks, its unfair but given the fact that pedestrians are simply slow moving flesh covered units with no helmet, no pads, no steel or anything else to protect them - this is more or less how the law treats them......

Just like when I accidentally run over a biker who was riding like a reckless fool, I am more or less considered at fault unless I can definitively prove the bikers stupidity - why - cause cars are big and fast and bikes are relatively slow and little.....its just the way it is. This is life and the sooner bikers recognize it, the sooner they will be less hated.

Posted by: fsrg at May 20, 2009 11:57 AM

When I was a teenager getting ready to learn how to drive, my father always tried to drum it in my head that in ALL CASES where a car hits a pedstrian, the driver is at fault. Of course, as a teenager who thought he was 10 times smarter than his dad, this seemed unfair to me and I used to throw out scenarios in which I thought the pedestrian is at fault ("What if a kid suddenly bolts out into the street from between parked cars to fetch a ball?"). My father's response was always the same: "Listen to me: the law says that you must be in control of your vehicle at all times". As I've gotten older I've come to understand my father's mantra, and think it applies to bikes as well (note: I am an avid bike rider).

Posted by: benson at May 20, 2009 12:11 PM

pedestrians have the right of way.

always.

deal with it.


things on wheels are just stupid anyway. all things on wheels. wheels annoy me.

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at May 20, 2009 12:14 PM

Rob,who has the right of way is defined by the motor vehicle and traffic code. Pedestrians, obviously, do not have the right of way at all times.

Benson, it's a good way to drive, but not strictly true. If a person jumps out from between cars in front of you and you are driving at appropriate speed for conditions and there is no way reasonably you could have avoided the ped, you are not at fault.

If otoh, a ped crosses against a red light, and you as the driver hit them, but a careful driver should have seen them and been able to avoid, then you share some of the liability. Not all, but some.

Posted by: denton at May 20, 2009 12:36 PM

Denton - your analysis might be correct under the letter of the law but the law is administered by (flawed) humans.....
therefore unless you can PROVE beyond all reasonable doubt (which isnt the legal standard in liability cases) that (for example) you were driving perfectly appropriately and the person jumped out from between the cars or the pedestrian crossed against the light - your more or less out of luck (the best that will happen is the Ins will settle with the Pedestrian or Ped family out of court- for alot of $ depending on the injury - and your Insurance rates will be so high you'll become a pedestrian).


Posted by: fsrg at May 20, 2009 1:17 PM

As a bike commuter, what always seems to be misssing from these discussions is a rational look at the actual hazards. Something like 40,000 people a year are killed by cars. How many people have been killed by bikes? I try and follow traffic rules and wear a helmet for my safety but I think that people are just totally crazed about their perception of the danger that bikes pose to peds. It may just be a mater of competing for limited resources (street space) and we've already ceded most of the space to automobiles.

Posted by: kaylas at May 20, 2009 9:45 PM

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