Mike Lydon

I don’t think I’ve seen a historic church (construction began in 1447 and wrapped in 1588) with micro retail bays, but here we have the Église Saint-Ferréol les Augustins in Marseille.

I saw your pic before reading the post and just assumed another reckless driver jumped the curb.

Looks great! Thanks!

👍🏻 Staying there next week!

Just arrived in Marseille for the week. Seeking urbanist recommendations for what can’t be missed! 🇫🇷 🚶 🚲 🚊

I’m all for the housing the new housing replacing the defunct gas station at Myrtle / Vanderbilt but my goodness what an awful way to detail an urban corner.

Different funding model, I believe.

The Oonee Pod rollout in Jersey City sets a new standard for secure bike parking in the US. Dare we call it a bike palace? I dare. 👏 👏 👏

Thanks for the copy of your new book, @samkbloch.bsky.social! A thing I’ve noticed about my behavior during recent heatwaves (like today) is that I cycle differently. Opting for shadier routes is obvious but I now also stop at an upcoming red light earlier, sometimes 100’ or more to stay cooler.

I love visiting Philadelphia. 300 years of urbanism > 30-year old fire department and traffic engineering standards. 🤯

Here you can see the material break at the property line…economically efficient on the front end but the various phases, materials etc all require separate maintenance practices and timeline, making the back end less efficient than if one entity managed the entirety of the promenade.

The Williamsburg Wharf portion of the promenade is now open and nearly doubles the amount of continuous public space along the East River / Wallabout Channel to a .25 mile. The developer-led model has pros and cons, but generally material / design standards should have been established.

Source: nysdottrafficdata.drakewell.com/sitedashboar...

#StuckAtDOT: Canal Street Carnage Continues As Fixes Flounder - Streetsblog New York City How many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died?

NYS DOT data: traffic along Canal St ⬇️ 12% from 2015-2024, PRIOR to congestion pricing. Assume the 11% post CP drop in traffic applies 1:1 to Canal, then the overall decline is ~ 36,639 to 28,212 AADT. There’s never been a better time to reclaim space for people!

nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/07/21/s...

Why Does Andrew Cuomo Want a Rematch With Zohran Mamdani? He lost badly the first time. It’s hard to figure out the political logic of the second run.

“They want a mayor who is proud to be here, who has lived in the five boroughs and relishes street life…Koch grasped this as did even…Bloomberg, who didn’t regularly demean the city he sought to govern. Cuomo has not lived in New York City for most of his adult life.” 💯

nymag.com/intelligence...

It’s 2025 and almost none of the articles about this awful fatal crash on Canal Street accurately state that a driver, not a car, was responsible for killing two innocent people. Pix11 is the only one, surely to be followed by @nyc.streetsblog.org on Monday.

Shade is an important focus for urbanists as the climate crisis advances. Streets are the most publicly visible way we address climate resilience but in neighborhoods with “party wall density” the back matters as much as the front. Grateful for past and current neighbors who invested in shade!

Look forward to seeing where the planters, bike corrals etc get placed.

Subsurface construction on Vanderbilt finally wrapped so the lonely curb extension stripes that went down years ago(?) have been joined by new ones (some quite long!) with tan MMA finally installed. Good to see but given the success of open streets this street feels like it’s still underperforming.

The 14th Street busway (2019) and congestion pricing evaporated traffic, so we worked with the Meatpacking District to install a new pedestrian promenade with five large decks, reclaiming 16,000 sq ft of space for people. If in Manhattan, go check it out and have a seat!

Midtown needs way more space for people and there is only way to do it: convert more vehicular space.

I remember similar articles from 10-15 years ago that said the same thing about us Millennials. There is a human sense instinct that driving to get butter or milk is insane (it is) cities have done very little to allow more people to live within walking distance of milk or butter.

I long thought Mr Walker vs Mr Wheeler (Google it) was the best comic take on the depredations of car culture. I was wrong, as this predates the 🚗 mania by 15 years!

I invite Duffy to pick up a paintbrush and come join us sometime.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy implies rainbow crosswalks could lead to traffic dangers The former MTV Real World cast member announced the prohibition of art and political “distractions” on roads as part of a new federal initiative.

What I told The NYTimes in 2019 (linked in article) is true in 2025; No study has shown that rainbow crosswalks or other asphalt art causes distraction to drivers; the reality is quite the opposite, as one Bloomberg Philanthropies study led by TY Lin found.

www.advocate.com/news/sean-du...

Eyes on the street: Jay Street, between John and Plymouth, is nearly complete with a two way, curb separated bikeway that presumably means reconfiguring the connection all the way to the Sands Street / Manhattan Bridge bike path🤞🏻

The newly designed intersection of 31st Avenue and 35th Street, with one-way car diversions, two-way cycling connections, expanded pedestrian space, and hardened daylighting.

The newly designed 31st Avenue and 31st Street, as it was being installed this spring, showing two-way cycling connections and yet-to-be-painted sidewalk extensions.

The newly redesigned 31st Avenue, while the Open Street along the corridor is in operation, showing a french barricade and a crowd of people behind it.

New hardened daylighting along 31st Avenue with one-way vehicle traffic and two-way cycling connections.

The 1st phase of the 31st Ave Bike Blvd in Astoria is complete and looks great. Sharing some photos as NYC DOT was nearly done. Dramatically more pedestrian space, much safer pedestrian crossings, and high-comfort cycling connecting to the waterfront and Manhattan. More: www.nyc.gov/html/dot/htm...

Opinion | Efficiency Is Leading Us Nowhere

“The fantasy of a perfectly efficient world that also delivers more quality time is perpetually out of reach.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/05/o...

Intentionally Wes Anderson.

NYC's Upset Election Was Drawn Along An Odd Line: Car Ownership - Jalopnik Car ownership and transit ridership serve as a shorthand for someone's entire living situation — and, apparently, their politics.

“Car ownership and transit ridership serve as a shorthand for someone's entire living situation — and, apparently, their politics.”

www.jalopnik.com/1895759/nyc-...