http://www.planNYC.org/ PlanNYC | New York City Planning Information Portal en-us ja3n@earthlink.net http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=138#4570 As part of the City's campaign to reduce congestion and promote biking, expanded bike parking facilities are being provided at certain locations for City employees. While parking permits have been cut-back the lack of places to park bikes was a problem for many and the City hopes to facilitate the transition from driving or otherwise to biking. 2008-08-27 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=138#4561 A coalition of groups focused on environmental and urban planning issues has released a study that says that the provision in the zoning code that requires new residential developments to provide off street parking for residents could ruin the goals that Mayor Bloomberg planned out in PlaNYC. The study says that the rezoning efforts in Jamaica and Willets Points will add 15,000 new parking spaces. Under the Clean Air Act, new buildings in Manhattan below 96th Street do not require parking spaces for new development. The Department of City Planning is reviewing the report. 2008-08-18 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=138#4436 The City’s Department of Transportation is considering additional bike-sharing programs for New York City. A program was launched on Governor’s Island this year and since then the bike ridership on the Island has increased significantly. Overall, bike commuting is up in the City 77% and DOT would like to double that number. 2008-07-10 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=138#4428 In order to boost accessibility to tourism on Staten Island, the City will be running a trolley service from the ferry at St. George on a loop near the borough's main attractions. Tourists will now be able to ride public transportation to the zoo, botanical gardens, and other local landmarks. 2008-07-09 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=138#4354 The architecture firm Perkins+Will was chosen by the NYPD to design the new police academy campus in College Point, Queens. The campus will be 3 million square feet and will house all of the NYPD's training facilities and a Police Museum at one location over 35 acres. Perkins+Will is committed to making the facilities LEED Silver certified as a part of the Mayor's PlaNYC 2030 sustainability initiative. The firm is also committed to the 2030 Challenge initiated by Architecture 2030, which calls for energy efficient design and building with the goal of being carbon neutral by the year 2030. 2008-06-18 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=138#4355 A 7-mile stretch of roadway from the Brooklyn Bridge up Centre Street along 4th Avenue and Park Avenue to 72nd Street in Manhattan will be closed to traffic for 3 Saturdays in August. Bicycle rentals, exercise classes and more will be offered along the route in an "experiment", dubbed Summer Streets, initiated by the Mayor's office to increase New Yorkers quality of life. 2008-06-18 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=138#4328 The Ridgewood Reservoir, located in Highland Park on the Queens and Brooklyn border, is the subject of a recent debate between environmentalists and park advocacy groups, community groups and city officials. As part of PlaNYC 2030, Mayor Bloomberg proposed converting one of the reservoirs into a recreational park. Some city leaders and outside groups are opposed to this plan because of the significance the area is in the City’s biodiversity. Others, including Adrian Benepe, Commissioner of the Parks Department, argue that the area slated for recreational usage is small and currently consists of invasive trees. 2008-06-12 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=138#4313 The Gotham Gazette interviewed Tom Angotti, director of Hunter College’s Center for Community Planning and Development, to get his thoughts on the mayor’s PlaNYC 2030 plan and the future of long-term sustainability planning. Angotti also discussed the failure of congestion pricing, noting optimistically that perhaps the plan’s failure leaves open more political space to discuss the issue of congestion regionally, rather than just focusing on Manhattan. He stressed that, to be successful, sustainability planning in general will require greater cooperation regionally than New York City’s local PlaNYC efforts. He also expressed the opinion that the future of PlaNYC hinges on the ability of the Bloomberg administration to engage community planners in the process of long-term planning for sustainability so that support for the initiative continues beyond the mayor’s term. 2008-06-09 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=138#4275 As part of the Transportation Alternatives’ 2008 Greenway Summit held recently, the DOT announced increased plans to provide more bike paths as well as protected bike lanes, like those found on 9th Avenue. These improvements go along with the Mayor's vision for PlaNYC 2030 as well as the DOT's alternative transportation initiatives in the city. 2008-05-28 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=138#4217 Elected officials and New York City commuters were on board the first ferry trip connecting the Rockaways and Lower Manhattan. The service, run by the New York Water Taxi, also makes a stop in Brooklyn. Officials from New York Water Taxi are hoping to attract 300 commuters a day but in order for the line to make a profit, it will need nearly 700 riders per day. City officials are hoping to encourage commuters who normally make the trek to Lower Manhattan by car to use the ferry service, as opposed to those who are already taking the bus and subway. The ferry service could cut 20-30 minutes off the commute. 2008-05-13 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=138#4188 The New York Water Taxi will begin operating a new city subsidized ferry route from Far Rockaway to lower Manhattan via Brooklyn. New York Water Taxi is also restarting service from Pier 11 in Manhattan to Long Island City on the East Side and plans to begin service again to South Williamsburg after the completion of a new launch at Schaefer Landing. Mayor Bloomberg said that ferry service is “going to become an even bigger part of our city’s transportation network” because of the high costs of gasoline and waterfront revitalization efforts. 2008-05-06 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=138#4129 In a report issued by the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, support for Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC 2030 plan is mixed. The report cites victories in greenhouse gas emissions reduction by City government, progress on the one million tree initiative, and funding for energy efficiency programs within City government. A major concern outlined in the report is that only a few of the Mayor’s policies have been codified into law. 2008-04-22 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=138#4122 As PlaNYC 2030’s one-year anniversary approaches, there is speculation that the environmental initiative may focus on greening the City’s buildings, which make up 80 percent of NYC’s carbon emissions. Cutting energy emissions of buildings will likely many different approaches – both incentives and mandates. Some suggest that the City could conduct an energy audit of large buildings to make sure that they are operating at peak efficiency. 2008-04-21 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=138#4119 Neighbors, officials and volunteers joined together on Saturday to clean up East Harlem Park and plant about 350 trees, as part of the PlaNYC 2030 initiative. The purpose of the clean-up was to beautify the park, but also to improve the neighborhood’s air quality with the addition of the trees. Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC 2030 plan includes an initiative to plant a million trees in the city over the next decade. 2008-04-19 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=138#4092 Since Albany did not approve Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan, the question about how to decrease congestion and finance public infrastructure still remains. According to Hope Cohen of the Manhattan Institute’s Center for Rethinking Development, the City can use existing enforcement mechanisms to achieve these goals. Cohen says the City should focus its efforts on raising the price of curbside parking through Muni-meters, limiting the number of people parking for free using “placards,” increasing traffic enforcement for box-blocking and double parking, and establishing taxi drop off and pick up locations. 2008-04-14 00:00:00