I put this together last summer one day while feeling a little sympathy for what it must be like to be a ticket writer in this town. And with the latest debate over parking placards, I thought it was relevant to post.

Basically, while I walked around one afternoon with my camera, I looked to see what visual cues drivers leave to evoke sympathy to avoid tickets. I realize some of my on-screen text quotes may be a bit of aggrandizement, but I think you’ll get the point.

Project for Public Spaces‘ Ethan Kent recently visited Havana, Cuba and took some amazing photographs of street life, perfectly capturing the vitality of its neighborhoods. As you sit thru his reflections and wonderful montages of what he saw, think about what our streets might look like if they were designed for living and not for speed. Ethan posits:

“If children playing in the streets is an indicator of the success of a city, then Havana’s streets may be some of the most successful in the world.”

Havana serves as a window into some of what we have lost and what we can gain back. Come time travel with us.

Inspired by a previous Streetfilm from Portland, Oregon, filmmaker Nicholas Whitaker decided to answer the challenge and bring you, Bike Move Too!

When his girlfriend Jes Schultz was priced out of her Fort Greene Brooklyn apartment, they decided to call a few friends with bikes and move her out, futon and all, to a new apartment in Crown Heights. This film illustrates how with a little ingenuity, determination, and friends, it can be done without creating a huge impact on your environment.

It also may be the first New York City bike move movie. (An hour scouring the web, calling friends, and searching YouTube tags turned up nothing in NYC.)

Yesterday, Bogotá, Colombia’s most famous former mayor and livable streets hero, Enrique Peñalosa, presented many of his transportation and livable space achievements to Communities United for Transportation Equity (COMMUTE!) a recently-formed partnership between the Pratt Center for Community Development and community organizations in low-income neighborhoods around the city.

Joan Byron, Director of the Sustainability and Environmental Justice says, “We hope that Enrique Peñalosa’s vision and political courage will inspire our own elected officials to stand up for the communities they represent and seize the opportunity congestion pricing presents to collect a very small amount of money from the most affluents and best-subsidized group of commuters - those who drive to Manhattan.”

Here we present some of the Q&A and highlights of the event.

Mary Beth Kelly’s story is as inspirational as they come.

In June 2006, she and her husband Dr. Carl Henry Nacht were bicycling home from dinner on the Hudson River Greenway in Chelsea when an NYPD tow truck turned sharply into the bike lane at 38th Street and 12th Avenue. Despite signs telling drivers to yield to pedestrians and cyclists, the tow truck did not slow down as it headed toward a riverfront tow pound. The truck struck Carl, injuring him severely. He died four days later.

Bicycling was an integral part of Carl and Mary Beth’s lives. Their first date was done on bikes and they often took their bikes on vacation. A physician at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, Carl regularly used his bike to commute to the work and to make in-home visits to sick patients.

Rather than forsaking cycling after Carl’s death, Mary Beth and her children Zoe and Asher got right back on their bicycles. Perhaps most important, Mary Beth has emerged as an outspoken and eloquent advocate for New York City cyclists. She now serves on the advisory council for Transportation Alternatives, where she is working to create and pass comprehensive complete streets legislation in honor of her husband.

This stop-animation Streetfilm illustrates the advantages of adding a raised crosswalk.

Raised crosswalks are Speed Tables outfitted with crosswalk markings and signage to channelize pedestrian crossings, providing pedestrians with a level street crossing. Also, by raising the level of the crossing, pedestrians are more visible to approaching motorists.

Raised crosswalks are good for locations where pedestrian crossings occur at haphazard locations and vehicle speeds are excessive.

Previous animation: Chicanes (:24)

Get to know your neighbors. See how differently your block can look. Experience what it’s like not having to worry about your children playing in the street. It’s Block Party NYC!

This summer the NYC Streets Renaissance is helping throw dozens of block parties throughout NYC. Don’t wait, apply for your grant now.

First we pummeled the Bike Box. Then we pulled a bit of Chicane-ry. Next up, get ready to shuffle your feet to the thought of Barnes Dancing!

There’s only one place we know of in Manhattan (please tell us of others!) where you can go out and do it: the Barnes Dance intersection of 17th Street & Broadway.  There you’ll find red lights in all directions for about 17-18 seconds or so, allowing pedestrians to have an exclusive phase in which to cross safely. You can even groove it diagonally if you wish. So get out and dance; no cover charge.