Aaron Naparstek
AARON NAPARSTEK is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparsteks journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. Naparstek is the author of "Honku: The Zen Antidote for Road Rage" (Villard, 2003), a book of humorous haiku poetry inspired by the endless motorist sociopathy observed from his apartment window. Prior to launching Streetsblog, Naparstek worked as an interactive media producer, pioneering some of the Web's first music web sites, online communities, live webcasts and social networking services. Naparstek is currently in Cambridge with his wife and two young sons where he is enjoying a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. He has a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Naparstek is a co-founder of the Park Slope Neighbors community group and the Grand Army Plaza Coalition. You can find more of his work here: http://www.naparstek.com.
Recent Posts
Al Gore Connects the Dots
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"We’re borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that’s got to change." — A Generational Challenge to Repower America, Thursday, July 17, 2008.
Richard Florida: Decline of the Burbs is Not Just About Gas Prices
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Via Planetizen, Richard Florida argues the decline in the popularity of suburbs is not just a product of rising oil prices, but a result of a new "spatial fix" that is reorganizing how and where people live their lives. From Florida’s column in the Globe and Mail: What’s happening here goes a lot deeper than […]
Touring the East Side Access Tunnel, Surrounded By Schist
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This morning I took a tour of the MTA’s newly completed East Side Access tunnel 140 feet below Midtown Manhattan. My laptop is about to run out of batteries and, of course, I left my power cord at home. (It’s a good thing I’m only in charge of running a blog and not, say, a […]
Chrysler: Let’s Ruin America!
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Looks like Chrysler has figured out a novel way to move their 2008 model gas guzzlers off the lot. Sign up for their new "Let’s Refuel America!" credit card and they’ll lock in the price of gas at $2.99/gallon for three years. That’s right, it’s a 36-month guarantee that you don’t have to think about […]
Sign a Petition to Clinton and McCain at GasTaxScam.com
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Man, those Nigerian spammers are getting better every day. Here is a curious piece of e-mail that landed in the Streetsblog inbox today. If you click the link at the bottom of the e-mail and visit this web site GasTaxScam.com, you’ll find an open letter to Senators Hillary Clinton and John McCain that you can […]
If Congestion Pricing Fails, Rest Assured, There’s Always Plan B
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Copenhagen-based Flickr photographer Zakkalicious tells us that this cartoon was originally published in the May 1933 issue of Toy World magazine and also appeared in David Herhily’s 2004 book, "Bicycle."
Details of the Mayor’s Residential Parking Permit Proposal
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Potential residential parking permit stickers, curbside regulations, and David Yassky. Here are some more details about the residential parking permit program proposed today by Mayor Bloomberg and DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan: A residential parking permit (RPP) plan will be included in the congestion pricing legislation that will be introduced in the City Council and State […]
The Definition of Automobile Dependence
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Working for a failing automaker to make enough money to keep your beat-up, failing mini van rolling through your sprawled-out, failing city. From today’s New York Times story on escalating gasoline prices. For ordinary Americans like Phyllis Berry, a 31-year-old factory worker for General Motors in Cleveland, gasoline costs are starting to hurt. “I used […]
Today’s McMansions, Tomorrow’s Tenements
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This weekend’s must-read article is "The Next Slum?" by Christopher B. Leinberger in the Atlantic Monthly. He posits that the suburban American dream that was launched at the 1939 New York City World’s Fair appears to be running out of gas. Emerging in its place is the growing desire of many Americans to live in […]
London Imposes $50 Guzzler Fee on SUVs and Lux Roadsters
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London Mayor Ken Livingstone is on a tear. Yesterday he announced a £500 million investment in new bicycling infrastructure. Today, he approved a plan to charge the drivers of SUVs, high powered sports cars and other large engine, high emission vehicles a £25 fee ($48.75!) to drive into Central London’s congestion charging zone. Simultaneously, low […]
Who is the Livable Streets Candidate?
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It’s Super Duper Tuesday, primary election day here in New York. If you’re still mulling your options and trying to figure out who the best candidate on Livable Streets issues is, Damien Newton of Street Heat L.A. and the editor of soon-to-be-launched Streetsblog Los Angeles, dug up the positions of the Democrats and Republicans for […]
Masdar: Arabic for Chutzpah?
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The world’s first car-free, zero-carbon city is slated to rise near the Persian Gulf by 2013. Even though it derives almost all of its wealth from oil and gas, the emirate of Abu Dhabi is making a splashy effort to wean itself from fossil fuels, reports Agence France-Presse. Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed al-Nahayanis […]