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
New Blog Focuses on Tearing Down the “Highway to Nowhere”
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Sheridan Swap is a new blog covering the Mother of All Livable Streets projects — the long-running campaign to convert one mile of little-used highway running along the Bronx River into affordable housing, parkland, greenway and economic opportunity for one of the city’s most beleaguered neighborhoods. The blog is run by the Southern Bronx River […]
Grist: NYC is Not One of the World’s Greenest Cities
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Grist recently produced a list of the world’s 15 greenest cities. Streetsblog favorites Copenhagen, Curitiba, London, and Bogotá all made the grade. StreetFilms’ posterchild Portland captured the number two spot right behind geothermal-powered Reykjavik, Iceland. San Francisco and Austin were the only other U.S. cities to make the list with Chicago meriting runner-up status. One […]
Sadik-Khan: Many Initiatives Are Under Way…
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Today’s Crain’s Insider, available to subscribers only, reports on the next steps for the Bloomberg Administration’s broader Long-Term Sustainability Plan now that congestion pricing has cleared its first hurdle in Albany: 7.30.07 Crain’s NY Business The Insider by Erik Engquist and Anne Michaud GREEN PLAN Closer to home NOW THAT the Legislature has passed a […]
Count SUVs for the Brian Lehrer Show Today
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WNYC’s Brian Lehrer wants to know how many SUV’s there are on your block. You’ve got until next Thursday to do it. It’s an experiment in “crowdsourcing.” Submit your results here. We want you to go outside and count the number of SUVs on your block, as well as the number of regular cars, at […]
NYC’s Greenest Building Cracks Down on Bikes (Updated)
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The Solaire building in Battery Park City bills itself as "America’s first environmentally advanced residential tower." Here is a letter that building management just sent to all tenants: It has been brought to the attention of Building Management with increasing frequency that some tenants are using Public Corridors as storage for bicycles. As well as […]
Who Better Represented “the Little Guy” in the Pricing Debate?
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New York State Assembly Members Jose Rivera, Richard Brodsky and Adriano Espaillat Mayor Bloomberg and the Campaign for New York’s Future never really seemed to get that the congestion pricing debate was fundamentally going to be a fight about class, and the widening divide between rich and poor in New York City. While the Mayor […]
7/7/07: The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook
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The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook is the official companion volume to today’s Live Earth concerts, 24 hours of nonstop concerts broadcast from around the world on 7/7/07. It’s a fun little book, meant to connect with a younger audience via tongue-in-cheek suggestions, practical advice, factual information, and imaginative, bluesky solutions for climate change. […]
Good Stuff in This Week’s Mobilizing the Region
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Finally, we get to see just how much former executive director Jon Orcutt was tamping down the high-powered talent at the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. The latest issue of Mobilizing the Region is jam-packed with good articles. Here are some highlights (and, yes, I’m kidding about Orcutt but serious about this week’s MTR being really good): […]
Q&A With Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan
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Streetsblog interviewed DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan at 40 Worth St., Monday, June 18 Janette Sadik-Khan: Four days. Streetsblog: Left in the legislative session? JSK: Yeah, well, maybe four days left, maybe more days. August in Albany. What can be better? SB: (Laughing) So, let’s start with something other than congestion pricing. How was your trip […]
New “Bike Boxes” Send Cyclists to the Front of the Line
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Ian Dutton of the Houston Street bike safety initiative snapped these photographs of yet another never-before-seen street design feature here in New York City. This is what’s called a "Bike Box" at the intersection of W. 9th St. and Sixth Ave. Bike boxes allow cyclists approaching the intersection with a red signal to position themselves […]
Andy Wiley-Schwartz Starts at DOT on Monday
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Department of Transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan continues to assemble an impressive management team. Following in the footsteps of Bruce Schaller and Jon Orcutt, Project for Public Spaces vice president and transportation program director Andy Wiley-Schwartz is heading over to 40 Worth Street where he will be reporting to Deputy Commissioner Schaller at DOT’s new Office […]
DOT: Bergtraum to CUNY, Primeggia to Copenhagen
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Department of Transportation First Deputy Commissioner Judith Bergtraum, a top aide to former commissioner Iris Weinshall, is leaving DOT for a job at the City University of New York where Weinshall is now a vice chancellor. As first reported by the Daily News’ Elizabeth Benjamin, DOT commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan just returned from a quick trip […]