Tuesday May 6th is Idle-Free Day in NYC!

Press Conference:
Tuesday, May 6th
10am
City Hall Steps
Go here to see the flyer for the press conference.

As we know from the post this week, NYC’s air quality is, well, ahem, sub-par. Okay, it’s horrible. 43% of Brooklynites are at risk of health problems each day because of pollution — most of which is from vehicles’ tailpipes.

Find out more truths about idling and how it harms your health, hurts air quality, wastes fuel, and is against the law!

Join a growing chorus of New Yorkers who are tired of breathing exhaust from idling cars and trucks!

Here are some resources on what you can do if you are: an individual, a school, a community group, a business, or a policy-maker.

Stay tuned at the IFNY website or on the Idle-Free NYC blog.

UPDATE (5/5/2008 5:14 PM): Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn finally make the official announcement!

Go here for the latest including news and information about the new routes from NY Water Taxi, NYT City Room, and coverage in other local NYC media.

As many people who have been following GBK know, we have been advocating for a city-wide ferry system for some time.

News is starting to trickle in that despite losing the congestion pricing battle, Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn are set to announce the first subsidized ferry service from the Rockaways to Lower Manhattan as part of a 5-Borough ferry service initiative of PlaNYC 2030.

The route will include reinstatement of ferry service to the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park, Brooklyn that was terminated this past December due to low ridership. Ferry service will be operated by the NY Water Taxi, and will be reinstated as early as Monday, May 12, 2008.

See the press release at Sunset-Ridge Waterfront Alliance (SRWA) for more information.

Read on for the latest updates and more info on the new ferry commuter line…

This past April, the DOT presented their designs to Community Board 8 for a re-designed Vanderbilt Avenue. While the idea of safe bike lanes and greenstreets in their plan was well-meaning, the designs’ plans for on-street bike lanes have struck a chord with residents in the area and bike enthusiasts.

A petition has just started circulating where constituents and NYC residents can make their voice known on the re-development of the bike paths. Here is your chance to help make the streets of Brooklyn safer.

From the petition:

We are gracious that bike lanes were included in the design. However, these are on-street, unprotected bike lanes. In other words, these are dangerous and thus NOT the gold standard.

We, the undersigned, therefore demand a redesign to include protected bike lanes (either on opposite sides of the Avenue, or immediately adjacent to each other, on one side of the street.)

This project is at the point where your voice is needed.

Please sign the petition here: Safer Streets on Vanderbilt Avenue

Full text of the petition and a little back-story after the jump…

He was against it before he voted for it. Sounds awfully familiar, right? This, at least, is a flip-flop that makes some sense, unlike John Kerry’s inexplicable comments in the lead-up to the 2004 Presidential election.

City Councilman Kendall Stewart; who represents Flatbush, East Flatbush, Flatlands; opined in a Brooklyn Daily Eagle op-ed this past Tuesday — Earth Day — that based on the evidence presented him, including facts brought to his attention by the Campaign for New York’s Future, he could not and would not oppose congestion pricing.

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BGI gave a presentation to two key committees of Brooklyn Community Board 1 (serving Greenpoint and Williamsburg neighborhoods) this past Wednesday. The presentation to the […]