This past Saturday was the city's second of three Summer Streets weekends. One of the bigger issues from last week's first try seemed to be that pedestrians and bicyclists weren't as aware of each others' space as they could be. And so the Department of Transportation responded with fast and slow lanes. How was this second weekend of Summer Streets? ( surveys) However, a Streetsblog writer wonders how effective the lanes were, given: The second......

Photograph by dogseat on Flickr Today is the second of three Summer Streets Saturdays, where the city shuts down about seven miles of streets (from the Brooklyn Bridge to to 72nd Street and Park) for people to bike, stroll, and participate in activities along the way. After last weekend's first try, most of our readers (66%) think it's a terrific program--see some of the great photos here--while 23% think it could be better with......

The first Summer Streets Saturday, where the city closed 7 miles of Manhattan streets (between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m.) to create a vehicle-free boulevard for people to stroll, bicycle, and and just enjoy, seems to be a big hit. Of course there were complaints from drivers trying to make their way around. A woman walking the route happily said to the Post, "Most of the time you are fighting with the traffic. Now you......

Starting tomorrow, seven miles of streets in Manhattan will be closed to vehicular traffic between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. for three Saturdays. In the place of cars and trucks, the city is letting people stroll or bike (there's bike sharing)--or take part in many organized activities, like tai-chi, salsa dancing and hopscotch. The program, Summer Streets, will be open from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park along Lafayette Street, 4th Avenue, Park Avenue......

Work is well underway with the Department of Transportation plan to narrow Broadway in midtown Between 42nd Street and Herald Square, four lanes of Broadway will go down to two lanes--and a bicycle lane and pedestrian walkway, complete with seating, tables, umbrellas and flower-filled planters, will emerge by August 15. Reader carolita took this photograph of workers dusting off the pebbles on the esplanade-- exciting! Our theory is that if he can't have congestion......

The Department of Transportation announced a plan to test charging higher parking meter rates at high-demand times--the parking meter version of congestion pricing, as it were--in Manhattan and Brooklyn this fall. According to the NY Times, the goal is to "increase turnover in curbside parking spaces in the test areas...so that drivers will spend less time cruising in search of an open space," which in turn would decrease pollution, searching for a spot, double parking,......

lafayette, by vinnie716 at flickr For three Saturdays in August, the city will not allow car-traffic on certain roads in order to create a five-mile boulevard for people to walk or bike. According to the Sun, the zone will "run from the start of Centre Street in Lower Manhattan to 72nd Street on the Upper East Side by way of Lafayette Street, Fourth Avenue, and Park Avenue." And the Downtown Express explains "On 15......

Another sad story of pet electrocution comes out of Queens; ABC reports that Cecelia Sing's Siberian husky named Sebastian died on his Sunday night walk in Long Island City. A lamppost is believed to have shocked him with stray voltage (not an unfamiliar story)."As soon as he got to the lamppost, he jumped and he dropped," she said. "And he starting shaking wildly, and I'm like, 'Go on. Get up, Sebastian, get up,' And he......

Wow! Streetsblog attended the Department of Transportation's and New York City Transit's "co-presentation" of the city's Bus Rapid Transit program and discovered "A Transit Miracle on 34th Street." DOT will repave and restripe for five lanes between Third and Ninth Avenues by the end of this year, with painted bus lanes on the north and south sides and three auto lanes in the center. Service hours will also be extended. Phase 2 calls for......

The above photo was taken on April 9th at the intersection that was previously known as Mercer Street and W Houston Street. Adjust your Google maps, the city has (accidentally) renamed Mercer to Merser. Any guesses as to how long it will take the DoT to white this one out? Check out some past signage typos here. [via Nylon]......

A 29-year-old leaving his overnight shift with coworkers was fatally shot on East 39th Street yesterday morning. The incident occurred at 7:40AM, outside the Williams Club (per investigators, 1010WINS reports "the violence had nothing to do" with the 100-year-old club). Charles Ross, a Brooklyn resident, had just left the Darcel Group, a legal document company where he worked as a printer, and was heading to the subway. His friends say a man who walked up......

We noticed two YouTube videos, taken from an apartment with a view of Dean Street, documenting some late night construction activity at the Atlantic Yards site in downtown Brooklyn. How late? Well, one video takes place at 11:42PM (video) while the other is in the 4AM hour (above!). For reference, according to 311, construction hours are generally 7AM to 6PM on weekdays (there may be emergency work in the middle of the night, but......

After talk of flight caps to help ease airport congestion that leave many travelers very irritable, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced another policy to help ease airport woes. The DOT will let airports charge airlines based on the time of day and volume of traffic their planes are landing in. Previously, aircraft was only charged based on plane weight. The hope, per the USDOT, is that "airports would be able to spread traffic more......

For just 25 cents, you finally can experience the steel-and-glass splendor of the city's first new public toilet. City officials gathered in Madison Square Park for the ceremonial first flush of the Automatic Public Toilet (APT). Almost a year after the location was announced and almost 2 years after the toilets were first previewed, Department of Transportation Commissioner Jeannette Sadik-Khan said she was "flushed with excitement in this new era...New Yorkers had their fingers......

Mayor Bloomberg has announced that the city will crackdown on the abuse of parking permits issued to civil servants, reducing the overall number by 20%. The change comes after the Post revealed in November that “149 separate government entities had qualified for the coveted placards last year, ranging from the state lottery to the US Navy recruiting office, which was allocated an astonishing 110 permits.” In fact, so many agencies produce and distribute the parking......

From rats ruling a West Village KFC/Taco Bell to Governor Spitzer's downward spiral, from a shock jock's questionable words to an up-and-down year for the MTA (and its riders), we bring up the biggest stories of 2007. Midtown Steam Pipe Explosion On a July afternoon, an 83-year-old steam pipe near Grand Central Station exploded, ripping apart the street. Debris, including asbestos, filled the air and covered people as they ran from the scene. One woman......

Like the GWB and the Holland Tunnel, the Brooklyn Bridge will have LED lights installed next year, but how exactly do the bulbs get replaced? The NY Times says it only takes one man to screw in these bulbs. Okay, maybe he has some help. Ben Cipriano, the leader of a crew of electricians who maintain the four major East River Bridges for the city’s Department of Transportation, and his colleagues make about a dozen......

A tour trying to turn left onto Broome Street from Bowery struck a 76-year-old woman yesterday morning. The bus, operated by Skyliner, was on its way to Atlantic City. The woman had been walking south on Bowery with her son when the bus hit her. Witnesses said the woman was hit hard by the bus, flying 15 feet. One witness told the Daily News, "I guess she wasn't paying attention." Maybe - but buses (one......

While 30 Rock writers are on the picket line, Alec Baldwin is worried about his neighborhood.. And listening to the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. This morning, during a segment where Brian was discussing the future of NYC's streetscape with Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and the Open Planning Project's Mark Gorton, the acclaimed actor and gossip target made his debut as a caller. After joking that he needed a job, here's a transcription......

If you've ever struggled to figure out which direction you're facing when you step out of a subway station (and there are no landmarks or sun to guide you), you won't have those problems at four subway stations in Midtown anymore. That's because the Department of Transportation and the Grand Central Partnership are placing temporary directional compass decals outside them. DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan explained, "Not a single person, native New Yorker or visitor, can......

For some reason, Norwegian comedians thought that City Councilman James Oddo would be a perfect target for their program, "Rikets Rost." Oddo, a Republican and the minority leader in the Council (he's recently supported legislation such as banning aluminum bats and giving the Department of Transportation the authority to name streets), apparently consented to the interview because the request was to discuss presidential politics. But the questions posed by Pia Haraldson were more of......

No one thought congestion pricing would be easy but now some of the economic reality is sinking in. The MTA announced that it would need $767 million to upgrade service if people shift from cars to mass transit. How does that money break down? According to the NY Times, there's "$284 million in 2008 and 2009 for 367 new city and suburban buses, 46 new subway cars and many station renovations and service enhancements; $163......

Like many, whenever we traverse any streets along Grand Army Plaza, we basically run (or bike) for our lives. So we were relieved when we read the Department of Transportation's announcement that construction has begun on the $400,000 project to remake the oval plaza constructed in 1870 by Olmsted and Vaux. It was originally called Prospect Park Plaza, but it was renamed in 1926 to pay homage to the Union Army, according to the......

Yesterday morning, around 7AM, Queens resident Hope Miller was fatally hit by a truck turning right onto Houston Street from 6th Avenue. The driver, Roger Smiley, was fleeing the scene of an accident at Prince and 6th Avenue. Miller had been crossing Houston Street, near a construction site. 1010 WINS reported that the impact "knocked her out of her shoes." Smiley was arrested and charged with "leaving the scene of an accident, driving under the......

There was a bit in the MTA's August 8 Storm Report which mentioned that the MTA was working on some street furniture designs to "raise vent heights to prevent water inflow." As part of the recommendation to "Implement corrective action plan for top flood-prone locations," the MTA, with the Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Protection, is developing short- and long-term solutions at the most flooding-vulnerable locations. Perhaps a more promising and intriguing......

We know it's hard to take a stroller on the subway, but we've never seen this before! Reader Kate sent us these pictures of a baby stroller chained to a bike rack in Williamsburg. We're not sure what happens to the baby once the stroller in chained up (baby is Bjorned? or maybe the baby walks?), but we can't wait to see whether the parents demand stroller parking lots from the Department of Transportation.......

No more naming streets like Joey Ramone Place, Peter Jennings Way, Bob Marley Boulevard, or Jerry Orbach Way. If one City Council member gets his way, the commemorative naming of streets would stop because it's too much of a time waster for the council. James Oddo, the council's minority leader from Staten Island, wants to give the Department of Transportation the authority to approve new street names. Currently, the City Council has to approve the......

A number of city agencies, including the FDNY, NYPD, and Department of Transportation are on West 17th Street, off 5th Avenue, to inspect a sanitation truck that is stuck in a hole that's reportedly four feet deep. No one is touching the truck because it's leaning on a van that it crushed! We heard that a crane was needed to extract the truck. It's definitely not your average pothole - and we guess the......

In recent years, Third Avenue in Brooklyn has seen three children killed by vehicular traffic. Last year, 4-year-old James Rice was fatally struck by a Hummer at Third Avenue and Baltic Avenue, and in 2004, PS 124 Juan Estrada and Victor Flores were fatally struck by a vehicle as they crossed Third Avenue at Ninth Street, just blocks away. On Tuesday, arts organization Groundswell Community Mural Project unveiled a mural at Third and Butler:......

Those lucky Staten Island residents that take the Victory Boulevard bus route have scored a victory. Starting next month, 300 buses on the route will be outfitted with special transmitters that can turn traffic lights from red to green. The transmitters will send signals to receivers on a 2.3 mile stretch of Victory from Forest Ave to Bay St that includes 14 traffic lights. Transportation officials hope that the new system, which will start......