Month: September 2008

Meditation Garden.
Photo: Gothamist.

Among other things, today is Park(ing) Day, that annual event where people reclaim parking spaces for public (uh, non-parking) use. Above is the “Meditation Garden” at North 6th and Bedford. Other local attractions are the “Manhattan Avenue Park” at Driggs and Manhattan; the “Buckminster Fuller Park” at North 10th and Bedford; and the “Extended Chill Space Garden” at North 5th and Bedford.

No word on whether or not there are any pirate-themed park(ing) spaces.

More at Gothamist, Brownstoner and Curbed.

The Brooklyn Paper takes a thoughtful and fairly comprehensive look at the conflicts between cars, bikes and pedestrians. Hyperbole aside, the addition of bike lanes does complicate traffic – where do trucks making local deliveries stop? Where do cars park during alternate side cleaning times? These are all solvable problems, but the solution is clearly not as simple as painting bike lanes on the street (nor is it as simple as erasing those same lines).

It was probably a simple misunderstanding, but McCain’s campaign is hell bent on turning it into an international incident.
John McCain would rather destroy a relationship with a NATO ally than lose the election.

Richard Cohen of the Washington Post is the latest member of the media elite to have the scales fall from his eyes. And its not pretty:
– “[McCain] has become the sort of politician he once despised”
– “McCain has turned ugly”
– “He means to win, which is all right; he means to win at all costs, which is not.”
– “McCain lied about his lying…”
– “John McCain is both [a farce and a tragedy].”

It was almost exactly two years ago that Chris Matthews said “The press loves McCain. We’re his base.”. McCain spent a lifetime building up that base. In three weeks, he has lost them.
Expect a heartfelt apology any moment now.

This is a typical conversation I have been having of late with my four-year-old:
Q: Did you hit your sister?
A: No.
Q: Why is she crying?
A: I think she wants to go play somewhere else.
Q: I saw you hit her.
A: Can we do something else now?
I bring this up because if you substitute “four-year-old” for “Presidential candidate John McCain” (or anyone who works for him), you pretty much have the gist of the past three weeks. Having decided that he can’t win on the issues, McCain has chosen to lie his way into the White House. When he or one of his henchpeople are caught in a blatant and indefensible lie, they try to change the subject. My four-year-old knows when he is lying, and I suspect John McCain does too (though I’m beginning to wonder). The main difference between the McCain campaign and my four-year-old is that the McCain campaign will come back tomorrow and repeat the same lies. Another rather important difference is that my four-year-old cannot serve as President for another 31 years – which should give us enough time to teach about life, the universe and everything (including the importance of trust, dignity and honor). John McCain, on the other hand, could be taking the oath of office in four months.
Since Palin’s first press conference barely three weeks ago, she and McCain have been lying to the American people at every opportunity. Not spinning, not making their best case, just flat out lying. As in we-know-its–not-true-but-we’ll-keep-saying-it-anyhow lying. As in my four-year-old has a better grasp on the truth. Bridge to nowhere – she was for it before she was against it (and she happily took the money). But she’s still lying about it. Earmarks? She lobbied for them as governor, she lobbied for them as mayor. But he’s still lying about it. Crowd size? McCain claims 10,000 people in a 3,500 seat arena. And his campaign is still lying about it. Obama’s support for a bill to educate children about sexual predators? McCain apparently is on the side of the pedophiles (either that or he is lying about Obama’s position).
From the substantive to the silly, no lie is too big or too small for McCain. He is truly willing to sell his soul to the devil to become president. He must really believe that the American people are stupid.

Hopefully this is the last word.

Speaking of the bike lane tempest, on Tuesday, a bicyclist was hit by a Northside Car Service driver on Kent Avenue. The rider suffered some injuries, but none of them life threatening. This happened the day after a number of Hasidic reps on CB1 complained about the proliferation of bike lanes in the neighborhood, and called into the question the need for bike lanes (a greenway, actually) on Kent Avenue.

Its been no secret that the Hasidim in South Williamsburg hate the bike lanes. There have been complaints since the moment the paint hit the asphalt. But now, they have hit on an incredibly misguided line of attack in hopes of ridding their neighborhood of bike lanes – modesty. Yes, according to this Post article, the Hasids are now complaining about the immodest attire of the bikers riding through their neighborhood.
Lets get one thing straight here – we are talking about people riding bicycles on public streets. The Hasidim have every right to be offended, but the bikers also have every right to ride on those bike lanes (or even to ride on those streets absent bike lanes).
Lets get another thing straight – in the year or two of complaining about bike lanes in South Williamsburg, most recently this past Monday at CB1, all of the complaints have been about parking and congestion. Basically, the bike lanes eliminate the availability of (illegal) double parking, and cause traffic to stop behind buses. Even the safety issue (bicyclists riding through red lights) is a new line of attack (and at least a plausibly legitimate one, though not a reason to eliminate bike lines).
By the way, for a more humorous take on this tempest, check out Williamsburg is Dead. Oh, and Curbed is up to 121 comments.

Urban Rustic is setting up a food cart in that sliver of McCarren Park between the dog run and Greendome. As part of the deal, they are also donating tables and umbrellas. I suppose some might lament the privatization of public space, but this looks like a win – Greendome is one of the best things in the neighborhood, and the dog run is an important asset (and social center), but the area between the two is largely dead space. This will change that.