Seeing New York Through European Eyes Reveals Our Flaws

[M II A II R II K]

Seeing New York Through European Eyes Reveals Our Flaws


Aug 23, 2021

By Guillaume Rischard

Read More: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2021/08/...als-our-flaws/

I moved to New York City from Europe a month ago, and am still getting used to how different things are here. It’s not just the multitude of wonderful sandwich choices, but as someone who was on Luxembourg city’s mobility commission, I have also spent a lot of time looking at how infrastructure moves New Yorkers around.

- There are many recent developments in New York I wish we’d copied. Ambitiously blanketing the city with open streets was a great idea, and I understand why many of you want to make them permanent. Cities like Ghent do this on a much smaller scale, but they complete the streets with benches, playgrounds and artificial turf. Outdoor seating for restaurants is common in Europe, but instead of just putting a few chairs and umbrellas on the sidewalk like we do, you’ve made it cozy and beautiful with cabanas. Don’t let anyone take those away. — Other differences are less inspiring. Few people drive in New York City, and those who do drive tend to hate it. It is therefore amazing how much capacity you reserve for moving car traffic. Public space in a city is allocated like a budget, and you have chosen to spend most of yours on cars, at the cost of green spaces and of people on foot, bicycles or public transport.

- It’s not just space: the one-way system is supposed to improve traffic flow, but it also makes the grid hostile to cyclists. Why are so few one-way streets cyclable in both directions? The majority of them are more than wide enough to make it even safer than in Brussels, where this is common. — It is also puzzling to me why street parking is so inexpensive here. Next to some of the planet’s most expensive real estate, you can park for cheap or even free. As a result, it is extremely difficult to find a parking spot because the spaces are so underpriced. Like a line in front of a Communist-era bakery where the bread is inexpensive, but rare, New Yorkers who drive sit in line for a parking spot. The many parking spots where private cars get stored forever don’t seem to be the best use of that space. Cities that manage to assign their space differently aren’t just making their streets more livable, profitable and quiet, but also squeezing more humans through them.

- Like New York City, European cities made the mistake of getting rid of their streetcar lines around the 1950s to replace them with private cars and buses. But European cities are now rebuilding those lines, and reinventing the public space around them. The new trams of cities like Strasbourg are not the slow boneshakers of a century ago, but comfortable moving sidewalks that glide over carpets of lush grass. They are cheaper than subways, and have more capacity and higher user satisfaction than buses. — In European cities, I used to cycle to most places. I was very surprised by the randomness and dangerousness of New York City’s bike lanes. The nice protected lanes stop abruptly and push you into car traffic in a blind corner. No one enjoys cycling between two car lanes. — Why isn’t there a lane on each side of every wide avenue? On the avenues that have a lane, why are they dangerously built bi-directionally and on the left side? Do the people who plan and build these lanes use them with their children? Lanes built by Dutch or Danish standards would take only slightly more efforts.

.....

[iheartthed]

These all seem to be flaws that New York is pretty aware of now.

[streetscaper]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

These all seem to be flaws that New York is pretty aware of now.

lol exactly

[dc_denizen]

He does have a point about parking , it would make sense to build garages in Jersey city for people that store their cars forever

[Gantz]

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

He does have a point about parking , it would make sense to build garages in Jersey city for people that store their cars forever

True, however I don't think his 'comfortable' streetcar idea would work in Manhattan. It will last until a homeless person takes a sh*t on a seat. They better work in lower density European cities, or maybe outer-boroughs.

The biggest issue about the 'design' of NYC, is how it funnels all of the traffic (including subway) not just car, through Manhattan. Now that Queens and Brooklyn are both huge and have amenities themselves, you have a lot of people just going through Manhattan just to get to the other borough. Most people when they go to eat out don't even go to Manhattan anymore, but they are forced to travel through it on the subway.

[SFBruin]

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

it would make sense to build garages in Jersey city for people that store their cars forever

Finally, New Jersey can have a use.

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by SFBruin

Finally, New Jersey can have a use.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by SFBruin

Finally, New Jersey can have a use.

I thought the New Jersey Turnpike was already a giant parking lot.

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

I thought the New Jersey Turnpike was already a giant parking lot.

That's why one always takes the truck lane. See... the masses take the car lanes, but following the masses never leads to anything good. Stick with the truck lane, and haul on the left lane. And do one a favor and move over to the middle if someone wants to go fast. Doing that advances the species.

The parkway I think is much worse because you have half-asleep people coming from the shore and also hoards of teenage girls driving to the shore. On the turnpike, after Exit 12, it starts to suck as your heading towards the GWB during rush hour. Now during the plague, it was beautiful. Open roads, no minivans, traffic actually moved. I miss that! Now... its back to the mickey mouse fuckery.

Its not bad, the turnpike if your heading South, like once you get past exit 9, its smooth sailing.

In my experience, the parkway has sucked way more.

Route 1 is also a scourge. US-1 North is a disaster.

Now if one wants to talk about a stroke inducing road, that honor belongs to the cross-Bronx expressway. And all it takes is one of those Kamazaki Hasidic minivans from Brooklyn to rear end some guy with garbage bags for windows and its a 3-4 hour delay.

You know... that's why peoples orders in NJ are all delayed, because your order is on a truck thats headed Westbound on the Cross-Bronx. I feel bad for those drivers. Heading westbound, the rate of traffic is 5 centimeters per hour.

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by Gantz

True, however I don't think his 'comfortable' streetcar idea would work in Manhattan. It will last until a homeless person takes a sh*t on a seat. They better work in lower density European cities, or maybe outer-boroughs.

That's what makes New York great! There is nothing better in this world than when we wait years for street car implementation and than the day of the opening, within an hour, the street cart is closed for sanitation purposes.

That's the best! Kind of like how they take months to fix a subway escalator and than it finally opens and the next day the yellow tape is present.

It's these little moments that make the city great. It ain't a New York minute unless some guy is singing opera in the Penn Station bathroom stalls.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Gantz

True, however I don't think his 'comfortable' streetcar idea would work in Manhattan. It will last until a homeless person takes a sh*t on a seat. They better work in lower density European cities, or maybe outer-boroughs.

Why would it be any different than the subway system?

Streetcars in Manhattan would make most sense on crosstown routes that are clogged by buses (Canal, Delancey, Houston, 14th, 34th, 96th, 125th). And maybe on some of the far north/south avenues without subway lines nearby (York, 1st, 9th, 10th, 11th, or the West Side Hwy).

They could also work well in the outer boroughs to serve some of the neighborhoods with more limited subway access. There was a plan being floated to build one on the waterfront to connect Brooklyn and Queens. I think the plan is dead, but it would been useful.

[Doady]

Modern 30m LRVs can be combined to form 60m or 90m trains and so have higher capacity than 12m and 18m buses, but traditional 12m or 18m LRVs (i.e. streetcars) have zero advantages over 12m or 18m buses. Toronto and Montreal have always had almost identical ridership, streetcars or not. Even the higher capacity of modern LRVs only makes a difference in places that actually need that extra capacity to begin with. Dallas has largest light rail system in North America outside of Toronto but DART ridership pales compared to Seattle, Las Vegas, Winnipeg. Even compared to the other Texas systems, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin, the system in Dallas has the worst ridership per capita.

Replacing buses with light rail doesn't mean anything unless ridership is already extremely high, and New York already has even higher capacity heavy rail in its Subway system. Maybe there are some bus routes in Nassau or Westchester County that are busy enough to justify conversion to light rail, but based on what I've read those outlying suburban bus systems are neglected and underfunded, especially Nassau, so probably better just to forget about light rail.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by SFBruin

Finally, New Jersey can have a use.

Hey, now. NJ has Medieval Times. Can't say that of NY or CT.

[Gantz]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Why would it be any different than the subway system?

Big difference. NYC subway has plastic narrow benches that are easy to clean from vomit. The OP is talking about comfortable low capacity European tram seats, that are individual and big and wide, with seating of only like 14 seats per tram car. Those kinds of arrangements might work in Westchester county or Strasbourg, but not in Manhattan.

[mrnyc]

yeah, well.

the days of the brooklyn dodgers are long gone.

ok sure streetcars might come back in places in the far outer boros someday. might be a good idea. unfortunately there is no movement on that i am aware of.

the point about too much space given over to the automobile is of course also well known, but still its a good reminder. the one nice outcome of the covid pandemic, if there could be one, was the takeover of the streets by streeteries. for sure we need many more road diets. sadly mayor wilhelm deblazy is too timid and removed for that, given in no small part that he is driven all over in an suv.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

yeah, well.

the days of the brooklyn dodgers are long gone.

ok sure streetcars might come back in places in the far outer boros someday. might be a good idea. unfortunately there is no movement on that i am aware of.

The Brooklyn–Queens Connector, abbreviated the BQX, is a proposed streetcar line in New York City. It is planned to operate 24/7 on a north–south corridor along the East River between the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn.

A previous plan bearing similarities to the BQX was initially proposed in 1989 as part of a Brooklyn waterfront streetcar line connecting Red Hook with Downtown Brooklyn. A study by the city, published in 2011, found the proposal to be infeasible. A later proposal by the nonprofit Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector, made public in January 2016, found backing from Mayor Bill de Blasio. A director for Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector was appointed in May 2016, and a list of possible routings was released in November 2016. However, there has been criticism of the project, namely that its completion date of mid-2020s may make it obsolete; that it does not have a clear source for funding; and that it is a poor substitute for subway service.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookl...eens_Connector

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brookl...eens_Connector

i can't believe you immediately posted that debacle we would all rather just pretend never came up. like i said, there is no movement on streetcars i am aware of.

[Crawford]

The BQX is exactly what we're talking about.

Eric Adams is a BQX supporter, so it will probably be included in upcoming budgets. He's been an advocate for BQX and expanding the Utica Avenue subway.

[Gantz]

Originally Posted by Crawford

The BQX is exactly what we're talking about.

Eric Adams is a BQX supporter, so it will probably be included in upcoming budgets. He's been an advocate for BQX and expanding the Utica Avenue subway.

Utica extension needed to happen like yesterday. Brooklyn and Queens have massive population growth, yet no new subway coverage.
There is also almost no opposition there, or even running the 2/5 trains from Brooklyn college down to Kings Plaza along Flatbush ave. There would also be enough space there to turn around trains above ground. All of those things are hugely popular.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Gantz

Utica extension needed to happen like yesterday. Brooklyn and Queens have massive population growth, yet no new subway coverage.
There is also almost no opposition there, or even running the 2/5 trains from Brooklyn college down to Kings Plaza along Flatbush ave. There would also be enough space there to turn around trains above ground. All of those things are hugely popular.

It is kind of ironic that they spent about 20 billion dollars and 70 years to build the Second Avenue line, while ignoring the parts of the city that are actually growing.