New York City ← The Urban Country

Bicycle Commuting In Sandy’s Aftermath

Nov

2012

“I Bike Sandy” – Photo courtesy of Transportation Alternatives In the 1980’s, in another life, Thomas Jarrels, 46, had been a bike messenger. But he had never considered using a bicycle to commute to his job as a sous-chef at a Midtown law firm in New York City. That is until Sandy hit New York ...

A Celebration of People on Bicycles in New York City 5

Mar

2011

While down in New York City last weekend I managed to take some video footage of everyday New Yorkers who choose bicycles as their mode of transportation. I put this short film together that celebrates these New Yorkers who are contributing to making New York a better place. Although my hometown Toronto seems to have ...

Tensions Escalating in New York City 7

Feb

2011

Photo by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country The City of New York has had tremendous success in the last 4 years of building a network of bicycle infrastructure to improve safety and comfort for New Yorkers to use bicycles as transportation. These policies, spearheaded by NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and ...

NYC Snowstorm Aftermath, Deliveryman Hit-and-Run 4

Feb

2011

All Photos by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country This past weekend I took a trip down to New York City with a few friends. More than a foot of snow was dumped down on the city the day before our arrival. Given that we are now in the middle of a similar snowstorm ...

2010: Year In Review 6

Dec

2010

Photo “Heels and Wind Chill –16” courtesy of Mikael Colville-Andersen To close out 2010, I carried on the annual tradition of compiling a video from the various footage I took on my camera throughout the year. To stay on topic for The Urban Country, this year’s video is less personal/sentimental and more related to bicycling ...

New York Bike Lanes Explained 2

Nov

2010

Photo by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country New York developed 320km of bicycle routes in just 3 years – and bicycling is on the rise. Ridership has increased by 26% between 2008-2009 and more than doubled since 2005. New York City had announced its ambitious plan in 2006 – and completed its implementation ...

4-Year-Old Guilty of Negligence on Bicycle 7

Oct

2010

Photo courtesy of Michelle Ress (via Flickr) In April 2009, a 4-year-old girl and her friend were racing their bicycles under the supervision of their respective mothers in New York. The children ran into an 87-year-old lady which caused the elderly lady to fall and fracture her hip. She then underwent hip surgery and died ...

Biking the Big Apple 17

Mar

2010

Photo by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country New York City has taken great strides in improving its cycling infrastructure, but it still has its work cut out to change its culture as a pedestrian, subway and car city to becoming a more bike friendly city – and a role model for North America. ...

NYC High Line

Jul

2007

A couple days ago I found about this unique park they are building in Lower Manhattan called “The High Line“. Basically the High line is a 1.5 mile elevated abandoned railroad track that hasn’t been in use since 1980. Instead of tearing it down, neighbourhood residents Robert Hammond and Joshua David started the community-based group ...

Till death do us part 3

Dec

2006

You’ve probably already read the story about 23-year old Sean Bell who was shot and killed by 5 NYPD officers on the day he was to be married. One can speculate that he was shot at by police because he rammed the undercover police car and brushed an undercover officer who approached the car. There ...