The above is a rather hazy photograph of a five story bicycle parking garage that is right next to Amsterdam's central train station. And yes, you read that right : it is a garage for bicycles only, five stories high and a quarter of a NYC block long.
For those of you who have not been following my Holland.com saga (and how lame of you may I add), you can get an update at Special Sponsor Sunday Slutty Slurping.
Which means am back to work ... and missing Amsterdam already.
It was weird to be there because while I was there I was reminded of my slice of town, the Village and the Lower East side. Lots of brownstones but with lots of canals and foot bridges thrown in the mix. And it made me sad to be there because I became very aware of how much money and not people or history are changing New York City's architectural and city planning landscape for the worse.
If it were up to me, I'd landmark huge swaths of the city, all of the areas with brownstones. Then I'd open them to pedestrian and bicycle traffic only with limited access to vehicular traffic. Especially from 23rd all the way down to South Ferry.
Yup. I'd close at least a third of Manhattan to external traffic. I mean, c'mon, having cars in the Wall Street area just does not make any sense at all. I'd restrict their way to the highways and maybe an avenue or two. But Broadway from 23rd all the way down to Wall Street? Closed for bikes and pedestrians only.
Something has to give.
I was told once by a city planner that the Republican way to increase taxes was to increase population. Meaning, they don't inncrease taxes but make it so they can squeeze more people, with higher rents, in the same swath of land. I honestly do not see how it makes sense since government services will go up anyway if more people are in need of public safety, sanitation, transportation, etc.
The guy said that politicians really don't care. After all, who's thinking of the future? Politicians only think in terms of election cycles. My mind boggled. I could not believe someone working with the future of the city --especially it's most sought after equity, real estate-- could be so cynical.
Something though, has got to give. NYC's Department of Transportation acknowledges that, indeed, New York City leads the nation in the number of pedestrians killed in motor vehicle crashes. The city has to decide what they want more: Visitors in cars or residents on feet.
I choose people on foot and bikes.
