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Testimony of Noah Budnick, Deputy Director, Advocacy, Transportation Alternatives to the New York City Council Transportation | Transportation Alternatives

Testimony of Noah Budnick, Deputy Director, Advocacy, Transportation Alternatives to the New York City Council Transportation Committe Hearing on Introductions 24 and 58, Regarding Businesses Which Employ Commercial Cyclists

Cycling News: T.A. Launches

Cycling News T.A. Launches "Working Cyclists" Program Safety education for food delivery cyclists and couriers

The image of cyclists as sidewalk riding maniacs who bully and threaten pedestrians poisons political support for cycling. Unfortunately, it has become a New York City stereotype, just like demented cab drivers. In neighborhoods like the Upper East and West Sides, persistent problems with pedestrian-unfriendly cyclists, many of them in a rush to deliver food, has created considerable enmity towards all cyclists. It has also contributed to the city council's endless attempt to ratchet up the penalties for cycling offenses, and distracted lawmakers and the public from the far more dangerous problem of reckless motor vehicle drivers. In 2002, the city council once again raised the penalty for cycling on the sidewalk, though it did not increase any penalties for driving or parking on sidewalks, or hitting pedestrians in crosswalks. People's aggravation with sidewalk cycling also fuels opposition to cycling projects and makes city agencies and elected officials more wary of supporting cycling improvements.

In an effort to improve bicyclist and pedestrian safety and improve the image of bicyclists, T.A. has launched the "Working Cyclists: Safety education for couriers and food delivery cyclists" campaign. The goal is to get bicycles off sidewalks and reduce the number of bicycle-pedestrian crashes, injuries and near misses. As part of this campaign, we are working on getting businesses to take responsibility for the actions of their working cyclists.

The Working Cyclists campaign fills an education void. Most working cyclists, many of whom are new immigrants, receive zero safety training from their employers. Few employers are familiar with the New York City laws that pertain to working cyclists.

T.A. is working with city council members, the NYPD and community boards to develop materials and target businesses to increase safety. This summer, T.A. developed trilingual, English-Spanish and English-Chinese safety classes, manuals and posters that teach working cyclists and their employers the laws of bike riding
in New York City. Over the fall, T.A. will teach safety classes to businesses identified by elected officials, the NYPD, community boards and the public.

The project will initially focus on Midtown Manhattan and the Upper East and West Sides, where sidewalks are jammed with pedestrians and the dangerous behavior of many working cyclists is a chronic problem.

Bicycle Blueprint - Food Delivery Bicyclists

As enmity toward bicycle messengers has eased in recent years, many New York pedestrians have discovered a new bicycle bête noire — food delivery cyclists. Although data aren't available, the number of such cyclists appears to be at an all-time high, as prepared foods grow ever more popular. Speed is paramount in food delivery, since customers look for their meals to arrive quickly and oven-hot. Not surprisingly, then, many delivery cyclists surpass even commercial bike messengers in flouting the law; wrong-way cycling and riding on sidewalks are particularly common, especially in neighborhoods like the Upper East Side, where car gridlock is endemic. Many riders elect to use the sidewalks for short-haul deliveries rather than risk riding against traffic on busy avenues.

In this climate, City Council Member Charles Millard has had little trouble obtaining co-sponsors for his bill authorizing police to confiscate commercial bicycles ridden on sidewalks. (Other bills in Millard's package would intensify enforcement against cars parked in bike lanes and red light-running cabbies.) Although cycling traffic on sidewalks is onerous, one notes that, as in other crackdowns on cyclists, simple education hasn't been tried first.

At the start of 1993, Transportation Alternatives and the City DoT were preparing to distribute multi-lingual leaflets targeting Chinese delivery cyclists, who by acculturation often ride against traffic. Signs identifying restaurant ownership of delivery bikes might also bring community pressure to bear against dangerous riding. Over the long haul, cracking down on dangerous motorists and discouraging driving in general would make the streets safer for everyone while making it easier for cyclists to stick to the roads.

16 Arrests Made In Asian Organized Crime Bust - News Story - WNBC | New York

NEW YORK -- Sixteen people linked to Asian organized crime were arrested overnight by a task force of FBI, NYPD, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigators for allegedly extorting bus companies, WNBC.com has learned.

Law enforcement sources told WNBC.com that a federal indictment charges the individuals with various acts of violence and extortion targeting operators of bus companies which do business between New York and east coast cities.

Fifteen of the arrests took place in the New York City metropolitan area and one other person was arrested in Florida, sources said.

Details about the charges are expected to be released later today as the those arrested appear in federal court in Manhattan.

Fifteen of the arrests took place in the New York City metropolitan area and one other person was arrested in Florida, sources said.

WNYC - News - Chinatown Falls on Hard Times

Chinatown Falls on Hard Times
by Wilma Consul
...

NEW YORK, NY January 23, 2006 —Much of the Jewish Lower East Side has been lost over time replaced by new immigrants from other parts of the world, particularly China. Those seeking their fortunes in Manhattan's Chinatown are in for a surprise -- Chinatown has fallen on hard times. Its economy has not bounced back since the street closures caused by the collapse of the World Trade Towers on 9-11, but other factors have contributed to the downturn, too. Reporter Wilma Consul takes a look, and asks what's ahead for the neighborhood that was once an important immigrant enclave in the City.

...

REPORTER: Kwong says this newest group of immigrants has created a vibrant business sector that serves the needs of Chinese businesses everywhere.

KWONG: People will call all over the country, and say: Hey, you know I need three restaurant help. Could you send them over? It's almost like day laborer situation. They go all the way as south as Georgia, north as Maine and west as Chicago. So this is the heart of cheap labor supply.

REPORTER: This demand prompted the creation of the now very popular low-priced Chinatown buses. They transport Chinese speaking workers to their destinations without getting lost.

NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: SUNSET PARK

July 7, 1996

NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: SUNSET PARK;Illegal Van Express Overtakes Slow Trains to Chinatown

By SOMINI SENGUPTA

Shortly after 5 o'clock on a muggy afternoon last week, Connie Lui, spent from a long day poring over ledgers, hopped out of a powder blue Dodge van that rolled along Eighth Avenue in Sunset Park. For more than a year now, Ms. Lui has relied on the army of vans that line Eighth Avenue during rush hour to take her to and from the Chinatown meat market where she works as an accountant.

The ride costs $1.75 each way, sometimes only $1.50. To Ms. Lui, the 45-minute ride in the back of a van packed with fellow Chinese-speaking New Yorkers is far more comfortable than a longer trek on the N or R subway lines -- known among some Brooklynites as the Never and the Rarely. "The subway is dirty and dangerous," she said, shaking her head. "If we can choose, we prefer the van."

But not everybody has kind words for the estimated 100 vans that connect thousands of commuters like Ms. Lui between Chinatown and Sunset Park. Nearly a year after the City Council approved a law allowing the so-called "dollar vans" to obtain licenses to operate legally, the unlicensed, sometimes dangerous, vans that ply the streets of Sunset Park have expanded their service, opting to take passengers straight to Manhattan. In other parts of the city, vans drop riders at subway stations. Transit Authority officials were not available for comment on Friday.

Police in the 72nd Precinct, which has jurisdiction over portions of Sunset Park, say the illegal vans frequently lack insurance, seat belts and fire extinguishers. Other critics, including Councilwoman Joan Griffin McCabe, charge that during rush hour, the vans clog traffic and scoop up scarce parking spots along Eighth Avenue. And legal van operators -- only 3 among an estimated 9 or 10 in Sunset Park -- are infuriated by what they perceive to be unfair competition.

"They would like to rob our business," fumed Peter Wong, the owner of 183 Van Service, which runs six vans. "They try to lower their prices to $1, $1.50."

Paul Mak, president of the Brooklyn Chinese-American Association, defended the illegal operators. He said they cannot keep prices affordable for the neighborhood's low-income immigrants and meet the city's costly and complicated licensing requirements -- insurance alone, according to Mr. Wong, costs about $10,000 a year. "These van operators are just filling the service gap between the M.T.A. and the subway system," Mr. Mak argued.

Police in the 72d precinct have stepped up enforcement in recent months, said Police Officer Chris Dirusso, but the summonses and occasional confiscations of vans do little to clear the dollar vans from Eighth Avenue. "It's pretty much a revolving door," he said. "We do what we can."

One driver of an illegal van on Eighth Avenue who insisted on anonymity shrugged when asked about the stepped-up enforcement. On the day that the police issue tickets, said the driver through an interpreter, he stays off the road. SOMINI SENGUPTA

Zhong Hua Flushing-Chinatown Shuttle Van Service - Queens/Downtown Flushing - New York, NY

Yelp review

Zhong Hua Flushing-Chinatown Shuttle Van Service
2 reviews

Category: Public Transportation
Neighborhood: Queens/Downtown Flushing
Main St & 41st Ave
Division St between Market St & Bowery, New York, NY
New York, NY 10002

COMINGS AND GOINGS; Budget Bus Fares As Low as $1

Now you can travel comfortably between New York City and Toronto without spending your entire budget en route. Neon, a new low-fare bus service from Greyhound Canada and Adirondack Trailways, offers two daily departures from both cities for as little as $1 (there is at least one $1 seat on every bus) -- although a $25-to-$75 price range is more likely -- one way. Buses have video screens, Wi-Fi service and power outlets. Customers board in New York outside Penn Station and in Toronto at the Royal York Hotel. Walk-up tickets cost $85 (one way), and the better deals (the earlier the reservation, the lower the price) are available at www.greyhound.com.

COMMUTER VAN DRIVERS SAY RENEGADES SWIPE BIZ

* COMMUTER VAN DRIVERS SAY RENEGADES SWIPE BIZ

By AUSTIN FENNER

Friday, May 1th 1998, 2:04AM

Competition for van passengers between the Chinatowns in Sunset Park and Manhattan is so fierce that licensed operators say a swarm of speedier illegal minivans has stolen three-fourths of their business.

The licensed 14-passenger commuter van companies say they are being driven out of business by seven-passenger minivan drivers who also ply Eighth Ave.

in the 50s and 60s, the main commercial strip for the Asian community in Sunset Park. Commuter vans are licensed to provide service from Sunset Park to Canal St. in Manhattan.

The minivans usually are licensed by the Taxi and Limousine Commission, but only to answer telephone requests, and not to stop for street hails, the head of the commuter van trade association said.

More than half of commuter vans towed after inspections - Hudson County - NJ.com

More than half of commuter vans towed after inspections

by Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal Tuesday September 23, 2008, 3:02 PM

The Hudson County Prosecutor's Office towed 15 of 27 jitneys pulled over today in West New York, part of a continuing campaign to enforce safety laws that officials concede is having little impact.

"It still seems that there is a lack of compliance here and as far as our office is concerned, we are going to move forward and protect the citizens of Hudson County by conducting more of these stops to enforce the law," said Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Zevits.

Surprise inspections began at about 7 a.m. at 59th Street off Bergenline Avenue.

About 151 safety violation were cited during the inspections, by the state Motor Vehicle Commission Commercial Bus Unit, West New York police, the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office and the Hudson County Sheriff's Office, Zevits said. Police also issued 35 motor vehicle tickets, Zevits said.

Safety violations included bad brakes, cracked frames, fuel leaks and safety equipment violations including bad windows and missing fire extinguishers, Zevits said. Motor vehicle summonses were issued for uninsured vehicles, expired drivers licenses and failure to produce medical cards, Zevits said.

West New York resident Santos Mercedes said he doesn't understand why police pulled him over and inspect his van when he had a good inspection sticker and his paperwork is in order.

"I was just driving on Bergenline around 7:50 a.m. and I was stopped by a policeman and I gave him my license and registration and everything was up to date," Mercedes said. "I had in my bus like 25 passengers and he made me take out all my passengers in the middle of street. They have to go to work. Maybe some of them will lose their jobs."

Mercedes said that in the end, he was allowed to drive away with no citations, adding that last month his van was towed at a cost of $850.

The Prosecutor's Office's Insurance Fraud Unit has conducted more than a dozen surprise inspections of commuter vans in Hudson County over the past two years.

Judge Rejects Most of Law On Commuter Van Licenses - New York Times

By ANTHONY RAMIREZ

Published: March 24, 1999

Backers of the private commuter vans, often called ''dollar vans,'' that serve poor and working-class neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens, won a legal victory last week. If it stands, the decision is certain to sharply increase the number of licensed vans in New York City.

In a decision reached Thursday and made public yesterday, Justice Louis B. York of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan intervened in a six-year-old clash between Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who backs licensing more vans, and the City Council, which does not.

Justice York struck down most of a 1993 law passed by the Council giving it the power to reject van licenses already approved by the Taxi and Limousine Commission, which is part of the Mayor's office.

There are 362 licensed vans in the city, carrying about 40,000 passengers daily. Among those vans are fewer than a dozen licensed vans approved by the City Council, which has rejected nearly all of the applications from the taxi commission. But estimates of the number of illegal vans vary from 1,000 to 5,000, with many operating part time and without regular safety inspections.

The dollar vans, which carry 20 or fewer passengers, first emerged in 1980 when a transit workers' strike disrupted bus service. Since then, the vans have continued in neighborhoods with little bus service. But van ridership has been hurt recently by the introduction of bus and subway discounts with the Metrocard. Proponents hail the vans as examples of free enterprise, but opponents -- notably the transit unions -- fear they may hurt mass transit.

Justice York ruled that the Council's law, known as Local Law 115, violated the constitutional separation of powers by allowing the Council to administer rather than write a law. ''This it cannot do,'' the judge wrote in a ruling on an October 1997 suit filed by the Mayor against the Council. The Mayor's suit followed a February 1997 suit filed by van operators against the City of New York. In that suit, Justice York ruled in favor of the van operators.

2008 Extra Mile Awards - Budget Travel

Megabus: Taking buses to the next level Call it prescient: In the past year, Megabus has expanded its operations to 25 cities in the United States and Canada as fuel costs have risen, giving travelers a cheap alternative to driving and flying when they need it most. The bus line keeps its fares extremely low—starting from $1 for the first few people who book seats on each bus—by selling tickets online and doing pickups and drop-offs in the centers of cities rather than at terminals. At the same time, Megabus hasn't skimped on quality—its double-decker fleet is equipped with free Wi-Fi, video screens, headsets, and seat belts. Plus, many buses run on biodiesel fuel. "We're conscious of what the traveling public wants," says Dale Moser, president and chief operating officer. "We're saving people money but still giving them a coach outfitted with the latest technology." Now even the 94-year-old grande dame of bus companies, Greyhound, is rethinking its business model. Greyhound joined with competitors this year to launch two bus lines, BoltBus and NeOn, with similar low fares and high-tech amenities. Megabus didn't start a trend, it reinvented bus travel for a new generation. —Jean Tang

The Downside of Low-Cost Buses (Gotham Gazette, September 2008)

The Downside of Low-Cost Buses
by Graham T. Beck
18 Sep 2008

On a recent Wednesday evening, Erin Brown waited for the Fung Wah bus to Boston with a dozen or so other people on a crowded Canal Street sidewalk. "It's such a crush - the people, the vendors, the cars, narrow sidewalks, narrow streets. I don't know why they leave from here, but the price is right," she said.

Brown is not alone in her sentiment. It often feels as though every inch of Chinatown is jam-packed. Cars clogs street from the Manhattan Bridge to the Holland Tunnel. Sidewalks overflow with tourists, workers and neighborhood residents. Stalls spill out from shops, and lately it seems that every few blocks there is a line of 20 or so people queuing up for an interstate bus.

The buses are nothing new. Since 1998, companies like Fung Wah, using spaces reserved for tour buses or agreed upon spots in the neighborhood, have run curbside operations, picking up and dropping off passengers. The recent surge in travel costs, though, has made more outfits see the benefits of such a low-overhead way of doing business. This means more buses jamming city streets and curbsides and more bus queues on already crowded sidewalks.

It has reached the point, according to City Councilmember Alan Gerson, where there now are more interstate bus pick-ups and drop-offs in Chinatown each day than there are at the Port Authority. Although the competition has driven down prices for travelers, it has created some difficult situations for neighborhood residents, passing pedestrians and local businesses.

Jet Set, Meet the Bus Bunch - NYTimes.com

September 26, 2008
Jet Set, Meet the Bus Bunch
By TRACIE ROZHON

KENNY BASCOM stood near the steering wheel of his BoltBus, just about to leave from West 33rd Street in Manhattan, bound for Washington. He called his passengers to attention.

"Can I put a rule in?" he asked. "This bus doesn't move unless you smile. And here's another thing: You got cellphones? Use 'em."

There was a buzz of disbelief.

Use the cellphones? Plug in the laptops! Chat with your fellow passengers and laugh - guilt-free - with a friendly driver at the helm and very comfortable seats all around you.

All for $25 or less, sometimes much less, depending on when you reserve. B.Y.O.F. (bring your own food).

Starting about a dozen years ago with the so-called Chinatown buses, which were the first to offer a minimum of frills (and schedules), Route I-95 between Boston and Washington has become jammed with cheap express buses with jazzy names and the design and Web sites to match: BoltBus (online, tap a key and watch lightning strike!), Megabus (a huge, cherubic driver is emblazoned on the side of the bus), DC2NY, Washington Deluxe and others.

Capitalizing on the success of those first Chinatown buses, the big boys got into the business - BoltBus is owned by Greyhound, and Megabus by a large Scottish transportation company, Stagecoach Group, through its subsidiary Coach USA. As the companies refine their service, the cheap express bus experience just keeps changing, competing to offer amenities: BoltBus now offers plugs for electrical appliances; Washington Deluxe has just added Dupont Circle to its list of Washington stops.

Judging by a recent round trip from New York to Washington - down on BoltBus, back on Megabus - the changes are being seen and, for the most part, appreciated by the passengers, a surprisingly diverse group.

The Downside of Low-Cost Buses (Gotham Gazette, September 2008)

Gotham Gazette - http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/transportation/20080918/16/2648

The Downside of Low-Cost Buses
by Graham T. Beck
18 Sep 2008

HASID LUST CAUSE - New York Post

HASID LUST CAUSE CULTURE CLASH

OVER SEXY CYCLISTS

By RICH CALDER
Posted: 3:47 am
September 12, 2008

It's the Hasids vs. the hotties in a Brooklyn bike war.

Leaders of South Wil liamsburg's Hasidic community said yesterday that bike lanes that bring scantily clad cyclists - especially sexy women - peddling through their neighborhood are definitely not kosher.

The red-faced religious sect is calling on city officials to eliminate the car-free lanes on Wythe and Bedford avenues, and to delay construction of a new one planned for Kent Avenue.

...

The existing, one-way lanes are popular with North Williamsburg hipsters - many who ride in shorts or skirts.

The temporary lane planned for Kent Avenue would be a precursor to a 14-mile greenway stretching from Newtown Creek in Greenpoint to Sunset Park.

Hasids are forbidden from looking at members of the opposite sex who aren't fully dressed, said local activist Isaac Abraham.

Weisser and other Hasids said during a Sept. 8 community-board meeting that the lanes on Bedford and Wythe avenues should be eliminated if the neighborhood has to accept being part of the greenway.

The issue of dress - or lack of it - wasn't brought up at the meeting. Weisser and the other Hasids instead complained publicly about bike lanes allegedly causing parking problems and traffic congestion.

Fleet Owners Sue City on Hybrid Cab Rules - City Room - Metro - New York Times Blog

September 9, 2008, 4:19 pm
Fleet Owners Sue City on Hybrid Cab Rules
By William Neuman

A taxi industry group filed a lawsuit [pdf] in federal court on Monday seeking to block a city requirement that all new taxis meet stringent fuel efficiency standards that would make most cabs hybrid vehicles, a key part of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s push to cut pollution and make city policies more sensitive to environmental concerns.

The city’s new taxi rule, which is set to go into effect on October 1, requires that all new taxis have a fuel efficiency rating of at least 25 miles per gallon for city driving, a standard that is currently met mostly by hybrid vehicles.

In the lawsuit, lawyers for the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, which represents large fleet owners, charge that the rule violates federal laws that say only the federal government can set rules on fuel efficiency and vehicle emissions. (The lawsuit was also filed on behalf of a driver and companies that own and lease cabs.)

The lawsuit also claims that hybrid taxis are unsafe, in part because they are smaller and lighter than the Ford Crown Victoria, the standard taxi cab for many years, making passengers and drivers inside the hybrids more susceptible to injury in an accident.

A spokeswoman for the city legal department declined to comment on the suit, saying that city lawyers had not yet received the legal papers. The Taxi and Limousine Commission has previously said that it is confident that the hybrid cabs are safe.

Police and a Cyclists' Group, and Four Years of Clashes - NYTimes.com

August 4, 2008

Police and a Cyclists’ Group, and Four Years of Clashes

By JAMES BARRON

The New York City Police Department, with its 35,000 officers, has in recent years been on the front lines of the citywide decline in serious crime. It has protected visiting dignitaries like Pope Benedict XVI at events that drew thousands of people, and it has posted officers in foreign capitals to gather information on terrorism and trends that could threaten New York.

But the Police Department continues to be flummoxed by bicyclists riding together once a month.

City to Test Peak Rates for Parking Meters - NYTimes.com

July 10, 2008
City to Test Peak Rates for Parking Meters
By WILLIAM NEUMAN

Call it congestion parking.

In what amounts to congestion pricing for parking spaces, parking meter rates would double during heavy traffic periods in portions of Manhattan and Brooklyn as part of an experimental city program beginning this fall, officials said Wednesday.

The program's goal is to increase turnover in curbside parking spaces in the test areas - a section of Greenwich Village in Manhattan and a stretch of Kings Highway and adjacent streets in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn - so that drivers will spend less time cruising in search of an open space, according to the transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan.

Cutting down on cruising will in turn decrease pollution and traffic congestion. It is also expected to decrease the number of drivers who double-park or park in bus stops.

"We've picked corridors that have a lot of congestion and a lot of cruising," Ms. Sadik-Khan said. "Dealing with the cruising and congestion problem we think will improve both mobility in the neighborhood and reduce pollution, and improve the quality of life also in those areas."

If successful, the program could be expanded, she said. The pilot programs are expected to begin in October and will last six months.

In the Village, the higher parking rates would be charged in an area that stretches from Houston Street to Charles Street and includes portions of Seventh Avenue South and Avenue of the Americas. Currently, the area has parking meters that charge 25 cents for 15 minutes, or $1 an hour. Ms. Sadik-Khan said the meter rates would likely increase so that 25 cents would buy 6 to 7 1/2 minutes, which would be the equivalent of $2 to $2.50 an hour.

City Will Explore Broad Bike-Sharing Plan - NYTimes.com

July 10, 2008

City Will Explore Broad Bike-Sharing Plan

By WILLIAM NEUMAN

The city took a tentative step this week toward fulfilling the dream of a certain kind of urban idealist, saying that it will explore the possibility of creating a bike-sharing program that could make hundreds or even thousands of bicycles available for public use.

“This is a really big deal,” said Wiley Norvell, a spokesman for Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group for cyclists, pedestrians and transit riders. “In the realm of things you can do to boost bicycling in a city, bike-share is at the top of the list.”

The city asked companies and organizations interested in running a bike-sharing program to provide assessments of how it could work.

A similar program was started last year in Paris, using thousands of bicycles. A program with 120 bicycles was started earlier this year in Washington.

WCBS NEWSRADIO 880 - Truck Hits Bus

Truck Hits Bus; Bus Crashes Into Bank

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- One person is dead and four people are injured after an out-of-control dump truck coming off the Manhattan Bridge slammed into a waiting bus that was loading people for a trip to Boston.

The dead was a 57-year-old pedestrian.

Photo Gallery - Chinatown Bus Crash

That Fung Wah bus that is now jammed into the side of the United Commercial Bank at Canal and The Bowery

An entire traffic light has been brought down by this accident. Police are still on the scene investigating.

The impact of the collision caused the bus to go into the plate glass window of the bank, so that's smashed, and so is the bus's front window.

Judge Approves Deal to Settle Suit Over Wage Violations - NYTimes.com

Judge Approves Deal to Settle Suit Over Wage Violations

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE

Published: June 19, 2008

A federal judge on Wednesday provisionally approved the first part of proposed settlements totaling $3.9 million in two closely watched wage-violation lawsuits brought against one of Manhattan’s leading restaurant owners.

The judge, Paul A. Crotty, of Federal District Court in Manhattan, approved a $588,000 settlement in a lawsuit against the Redeye Grill, a Midtown restaurant, and indicated that he would soon approve a second settlement of more than $3 million against other restaurants owned by the Fireman Hospitality Group, which owns Redeye. Those restaurants are Cafe Fiorello, Bond 45, Brooklyn Diner, Shelly’s and Trattoria Dell’Arte.

Waiters and other workers charged that Fireman’s restaurants often violated wage and hour laws by erasing hours from employees’ time cards, not paying the minimum wage and overtime, giving managers part of the tips and docking employees’ paychecks if their customers walked out without paying. Five workers are also threatening to bring a new lawsuit charging sexual harassment and racial discrimination.

New York in Black and White - Wired New York Forum

The Price of Delivery (The Brian Lehrer Show: Friday, 06 June 2008)-- WNYC

The Price of Delivery (The Brian Lehrer Show: Friday, 06 June 2008

Shih-Ching Tsou and Sean Baker , co-directors of Take Out , talk about their film which chronicles a day in the life of an illegal immigrant struggling to pay off his smuggling debt.

The Anti-Advertising Agency B; Why You Should Be In New York July 1st

Why You Should Be In New York July 1st

ctivists estimate that half the billboards in New York City are illegal. Between fudged permits, lack of enforcement, and millions in profit, outdoor advertising has become a corporate black market that wont flinch at breaking laws to get your attention. On July 1st, the Anti-Advertising Agency and Rami Tabello of IllegalSigns.ca will give a free workshop teaching you how to identify illegal advertising and get it taken down. You will leave this workshop equipped to have illegal signs removed in your neighborhood.

Casino-Bound, Complaints in Their Wake - New York Times

April 15, 2007
Chinatown
Casino-Bound, Complaints in Their Wake

By CASSI FELDMAN

Around 8:30 p.m., a fat gray bus bound for Atlantic City pulls up on Division Street in Chinatown. Its doors wheeze open, and a line of riders shuffle into formation, clutching pink tickets and plastic shopping bags, and sucking a few final drags from their cigarettes before flicking them away.

The ritual takes no more than 15 minutes, but it happens dozens of times a day as buses headed to Trump Plaza, Foxwoods or other casinos load and unload passengers in the V formed by the Bowery and Division Street.

Now, citing pollution and noise, neighbors say they want the buses to find a new home.

"You can feel a toxic film in our yard," said Justin Yu, vice president of the co-op board at Confucius Plaza, a 44-story complex that overlooks the site. "It's very unhealthy."

While numerous bus companies operate out of Chinatown, Mr. Yu and his neighbors are particularly concerned about casino buses because their informal hub is a block shared by hundreds of senior citizens, an elementary school, a kindergarten and a day care center.

City of Memory / Map / Tour / South Asian Tour

tour titled South Asian on City of Memory

City of Memory B; Map

City of Memory

City of Memory is brought to you by City Lore; a not-for-profit organization, founded in 1986 which produces programs and publications that convey the richness of New York City\'s cultural heritage. To find out more information about City Lore and our projects go to citylore.org

Dreams and Desperation on Forsyth Street - NYTimes.com

June 8, 2008

Dreams and Desperation on Forsyth Street

By SAKI KNAFO

IT began in 1998 with a routine act of bureaucracy, a decision by the city’s Department of Transportation to put up a pair of red and white metal signs in the eastern section of Chinatown, on a desolate block in the shadow of the Manhattan Bridge.

The signs, which bore the cryptic message “Bus Layover Area — 6 a.m.-midnight,” in effect allowed private interstate buses to wait briefly by the curb, seven days a week.

By the end of the year, two or three cut-rate Chinatown-to-Chinatown buses had adopted the strip as their base of operations, stopping there to drop off and collect passengers before lighting out for Washington, Boston and points beyond.

As the popularity of the buses increased, their numbers multiplied, and by 2002 three companies were wrangling over the little block, Forsyth Street between East Broadway and Division Street. One company owner hired several women to sell tickets on the sidewalk, and his competitors followed suit. Quarrels between rival ticket sellers became commonplace.

N.Y. Hopes to Ensure Smooth Pedaling for Bike Commuters - washingtonpost.com

By Robin Shulman

Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, May 25, 2008;

Page A02

NEW YORK -- The view from the lens of photographer Mark Weiss's camera is of a treacherous world of cab drivers weaving into bike lanes, of double-parked delivery vehicles, of car doors opening suddenly, of pedestrians wandering blindly and of narrow passageways between trucks. It is the world of the Manhattan bicycle commuter, which Weiss captures on a camera affixed to a bar on his single-gear bike.

City officials, hoping to make commutes like his less treacherous, have created a seven-block experiment of a bike lane on Ninth Avenue. Here, concrete dividers and a row of parked cars shield a bike lane from the street and its traffic. Low mini-traffic lights show when cyclists have the right of way. Bike commuters, messengers and delivery people peel down perfectly smooth paths.

"It would be nice if that were everywhere," said Weiss, 45.

The city is planning to create another protected lane on Eighth Avenue, part of an effort to encourage cycling in New York, where bike use has increased by 75 percent since 2000, to about 130,000 commuters a day. The city hopes to double current bicycle use by 2015 and to triple it by 2020.

"We've run out of room for driving in the city. We have to make it easier for people to get around by bikes," said Janette Sadik-Khan, the city's transportation commissioner, who herself bikes to work. She is installing covered bike racks that resemble bus shelters, distributing thousands of free helmets, and expanding a small network of bike lanes to 400 miles by next summer (out of 6,000 miles of city streets).

East Side - Study Says Many Plazas Are Public in Name Only - NYTimes.com

East Side A New Study Faults Plazas as Public in Name, Private in Look

MICHAEL KEANE is not sure if any New Yorker, however brash and ill-mannered, feels comfortable walking into a restaurant, past the host’s podium and into the outdoor seating area, sitting down at a table set with silverware and unwrapping a brown bag lunch.

The question, for Mr. Keane, an urban planner, has less to do with dining etiquette and more with the fact that the outdoor seating area of the restaurant in question, Caliente Cab Company, at East 33rd Street and Third Avenue in Murray Hill, is a designated public space.

There are more than 500 privately owned public spaces in the city, mainly concentrated in Midtown and downtown Manhattan, where, since 1961, developers have been allowed to build taller buildings if they, in turn, agreed to have such spaces open to all.

But in a recent eight-month study of 77 privately owned public spaces on the East Side, Mr. Keane concluded that 30 of them, including the one at Caliente Cab Company, had obstacles to public access that included padlocked gates, piles of garbage and spikes on supposed seats. Mr. Keane called the Caliente Cab situation an example of “commandeering,” with the cafe’s customers monopolizing that particular outdoor space.

“There are plenty to choose from,” Mr. Keane said of the neighborhood’s public plazas. “Whether or not you can use them when you get there is another story.”

It's No Hallucination: Polka-Dot Buses Aim to Cut Travel Time - New York Times

May 15, 2008
It's No Hallucination: Polka-Dot Buses Aim to Cut Travel Time
By JENNIFER MASCIA
No, there are no illegal drugs being handed out as passengers begin their morning commutes: For the past few weeks, those seats on the M23 crosstown bus really have been decorated with light and dark blue bubbles.

The new upholstery is probably the most conspicuous feature of Select Bus Service, an experimental project by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, with the support of the city and state Departments of Transportation, to improve service on congested routes.

The project, the result of several years of study, draws on several elements of Bus Rapid Transit, a system of bus operating practices used in cities around the world. The system's main elements will eventually include bus shelters where passengers pay the fare before boarding; fewer stops and greater distances between stops; dedicated bus lanes with a distinctive color and lettering; direct routes with frequent service that supplements, but does not replace, regular local bus service; and electronic signals that give the buses priority (a few extra seconds) if a traffic signal is about to switch, say, to yellow from green.

If the project is successful and put into place citywide, it could prove to be a great relief for customers who have long complained about the snail-like pace of city buses, especially the crosstown buses in Manhattan. It could also mark one of the starkest changes for bus riders, who for more than a century have been accustomed to dropping their change - or now, dipping a MetroCard - into the fare box upon boarding.

Under the new system, customers will pay before boarding, collecting a proof of purchase from a fare dispenser, similar to a MetroCard vending machine or Muni-Meter parking ticket machine, in the bus shelter.

Chinatown rezoning call keeps resounding at C.B. 3

By Heather Murray

Although Community Board 3 Chairperson David McWater has said the board won't ask the Department of Planning to expand a 114-block East Village/Lower East Side rezoning plan to include the Bowery and Chinatown, a coalition determined to expand the rezoning's area is working to mobilize the community.

The Coalition to Protect Chinatown and the Lower East Side was formed earlier this year to promote rezoning all of Community Board 3. The umbrella organization includes the Chinese Staff and Workers Association, National Mobilization Against Sweatshops, Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, Two Bridges Neighborhood Housing Council, the Sixth Street Community Center, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Chinese Restaurant Alliance and the Community Coalition Against the Business Improvement District.
The original rezoning study that jumpstarted the plan was brought to the community board in 2005 by the East Village Community Coalition. The coalition was formed in 2004 to fight Gregg Singer's high-rise dormitory plan on the site of the old P.S. 64 on E. Ninth St.

...

C.S.W.A.’s Lee is worried that if the areas surrounding Chinatown are rezoned, it would entice developers to buy up property on the Bowery and in Chinatown. She feels for this reason it’s the Chinatown developers who are pushing for the redevelopment plan, not the working class.

“The community board, too, has a role to represent the entire community, not to draw a circle around where the leaders live,” Lee said. “They also need to represent the community, instead of pushing the government’s racist agenda upon the people, instead of becoming the mouthpiece for the developers in this community.”
Hoon Kim first spoke on behalf of the National Mobilization Against Sweatshops at C.B. 3’s January meeting.

Since then, his organization and others in the coalition have been spreading the word about their opposition to the rezoning. Within the past couple of weeks, he has disseminated information and gathered petition signatures at several intersections in the area, including Avenue B and Sixth St. and Delancey and Pitt Sts., and visited local churches, senior centers and small businesses. The coalition has gathered more than 5,000 petition signatures thus far. Speaking last week, Kim said he knew of another 100 people in the past few previous days alone who had signed on to the coalition’s cause.

Schumer on Chinatown Buses

Schumer Reveals: Safety Gap On Inter-City ‘Chinatown’ Buses; Rated Dangerously Low On Safety By Feds

Two Buses Recently Caught on Fire Mid-Ride; Passengers Were Lucky to Escape Lawmaker Urges Feds to Hold More Surprise Inspections, Devote More Staff to Low Fare Carriers, and Disclose Safety Ratings for Shadow Bus Companies

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today revealed that cheap “Chinatown” bus services and a number of other bus tour providers are sorely lacking in passenger safety. According to Federal criteria, Chinatown buses do much worse than other companies in several Safety Evaluation Areas (SEA), which rate a bus services’ drivers, vehicles, and overall safety management. Recent accidents on a few of these ‘Chinatown’ buses have raised serious questions about the safety of passengers riding to and from New York City to a variety of other cities on the East Coast. An examination of publicly available ratings and statistics show that low-cost, ‘Chinatown’ buses score dramatically lower than other bus services.

Schumer is urging the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the federal government agency which is charged with the responsibility for buses nationwide, to fully investigate past incidents, increase the number of surprise inspections, make sure that safety ratings are clearly disclosed on buses for riders to see, and ensure that no bus that does not meet a minimum passing rating can drive out of the station loaded with passengers.

WNYC - News - Chinatown Buses Seek to Add Safety to Savings

Chinatown Buses Seek to Add Safety to Savings
by Lizzie O'Leary

NEW YORK, NY September 15, 2005 -New Yorkers who like to travel on the cheap know about all about the "Chinatown bus." Fifteen dollars to Boston. Twenty to Washington. Twelve to Philadelphia.

The companies that run these somewhat chaotic cash businesses started out several years ago, ferrying Chinese restaurant workers up and down the East Coast. But thrifty travelers caught on, and now a series of companies carry college students, professionals, and anyone else looking for a low-priced convenient trip. It's estimated that about 350 buses leave New York's Chinatown a week.

But a pair of fires in recent months has prompted some federal and state officials to take a closer look at the safety of the buses, and the companies that run them. Reporter Lizzie O'Leary has more.