Governors Island, the former Coast Guard base and possible parkland-to-be off the southern tip of Manhattan, is offering free bikes to those who venture there on Fridays this summer.

The bikes, sponsored by Transportation Alternatives, come as part of a state and city effort to draw more people to the island while the state and city governments plan the future for the 172-acre space. Both the city and state have said they want to remake Governors Island into a large parkland with a thriving mixed-use district; however, it remains unclear whether the will exists to provide the hundreds of millions of dollars in needed funding.

As for the bikes, they’ll be hard to steal: the island is serviceable only by ferry.  read more »

The politics of congestion pricing is nearing a boiling point and opponents continue to make the case for a different approach to traffic reduction.

There are, of course other ways of reducing congestion, but Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal has the advantage of generating new resources for mass transit.

On Friday, our new Governor, David Paterson, demonstrated political courage and came out in favor of the plan to charge drivers for entering New York’s Central Business district during the work day. He joins City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno in support of the bill. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has yet to be heard from.

However, lots of prominent politicians are opposing all or part of the Mayor’s plan.

Today, New York's City Council begins formal consideration of the proposal.  read more »