Entries by Matt with tag 'New York'

Be cool. Drive a car.

Submitted by Matt on Fri, 11/20/2009 - 12:15
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Recently, I've been thinking about how cars are portrayed versus other forms of transportation in movies, TV shows, even commercials. In fact, what really prompted this was the following Audi commercial, which was picked up by a number of transportation and urban planning blogs. Observe.

NYC local elections roundup

Submitted by Matt on Mon, 09/14/2009 - 20:55
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Tomorrow is the primary election for New York City offices: mayor, city council, comptroller, public advocate, district attorney and probably a few other offices. The city is completely ignored in national elections; in fact, it is kicked to the curb by a lot of rural politicians, but I won't get into that.

The general election is in November, as per convention. However with the exception of the mayoral race, there is no realistic chance of Republicans or Independents winning anything except on Staten Island -- the current composition of the 51-seat council is 48 Dems, 5 others (3 GOP, 1 Working Families, 1 independent). Thus, the Democratic primary is effectively the real election for most of the offices.

Even though term limits for city councillors have been extended by an extra term, there are a lot of open and fairly contentious council seats, in addition to the citywide offices. Since I know you're dying to know, here is who I'm voting for and why.

Calmer than you are

Submitted by Matt on Fri, 09/11/2009 - 15:05
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I used to own a car. It was a teal blue 1993 Volkswagen Golf hatchback. I bought it when I was in college and had it junked a few months before I graduated, as getting it to pass state inspection would've cost more in repairs than I paid for the car. I used to drive that car a lot, as Middletown, Connecticut is not really a hub of mass transportation, and it was the only way to get back home to Maine.

I say this just to point out that I'm not really some kind of anti-car zealot. A coworker recently jokingly accused me of being such, and I also jokingly showed him my Transportation Alternatives membership card. I know that cars are the predominant form of transportation in the United States and we can't just change that overnight, even if I would enjoy it if we did.

In which I join the clannish ranks of the bike commuters

Submitted by Matt on Thu, 12/18/2008 - 00:02
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A few months ago, I joined the ranks of the 45,000 some New Yorkers who commute to work by bicycle. I don't ride every day, unfortunately. I skip it and take the subway if it's raining, exceptionally cold (as in, below 30 with a significant wind chill) or if I have some plans after work that would keep me out until some very late hour. I'm also fortunate that both my apartment building and my office building have space to accommodate my parked bike. I've noticed some things about biking in New York.

Do you have a minute for me to totally guilt-trip you?

Submitted by Matt on Wed, 10/29/2008 - 23:36
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I guess you could say I am totally "in the tank" for Barack Obama. In fact, I could've told you at least 8 years ago that I would be voting for Obama (or whoever the Democratic candidate ended up being) next week. I would almost venture to say that in the entire time any member of my family has lived in the United States, none of them has ever voted for a non-Democrat, so it's just part of my upbringing. Now, I also live in one of the bluest congressional districts in one of the bluest states in the country and I work for a pretty left-leaning newspaper, so not many of my friends, neighbors, or co-workers are particularly disinclined to vote for Obama either. So, while we're mostly not worth canvassing or get-out-the-vote organizing here in New York, we're still good to hit up for money.

What should the subway fare be? What should the road fare be?

Submitted by Matt on Fri, 07/25/2008 - 17:42
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Those who follow the local news in New York have no doubt heard of the MTA's plan to raise subway fares next year and again in 2011. People and politicians in the city and suburbs love to whine about the fare hike and how it will hit working people the most. Honestly, I don't mind that much. A few extra bucks a month is not a big deal to me and to most people. I still no car-related travel expenses and I still know that the subway here is cheaper than smaller and less useful mass transit systems in many other cities, both in the U.S. and the rest of the world.

The curious demographics of the F train

Submitted by Matt on Wed, 06/18/2008 - 22:49
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At my old job, there was a lot of unspoken pressure to show up right at 9:00 a.m. Of course, I never really managed to do that consistently, but I tried. Given the 35-40 minute ride on the F train to get there, I would shoot for getting to the subway platform around 8:25 or so. Typically my fellow commuters were dressed up more than I was, and I tended to wear jeans and a non-dressy collared shirt. Maybe one out of every ten people had a Blackberry or iPhone on which they checked their email during the brief above-ground stint at Smith-9th St.

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