Attention Saturday Morning Drivers:

From 7am to 1pm you will be confronted with this wall of happiness. From the Brooklyn Bridge to 72nd Street; Laffayette, then 4th Avenue, then Park Avenue will all be closed. And 72nd Street will be closed between Central Park and Park Avenue. All major street crossings will remain open, but be prepared for multitudes of bicyclists and pedestrians crossing when the light is against them.

This is a trial program which will be tested August 9th, 16th, and the 23rd. 

I'm on both sides of the fence on this one. It sounds like a wonderful idea, but right through the middle of the city, has any other city done this before? I know Cambridge Massachusetts is one example, however they close  Memorial Drive, a major road with only a few cross-streets in an un-congested area, also they close the drive sundays and not saturdays. 

I think it is a bit much to imagine that cutting circulation of traffic right in the middle of Manhattan can work on any day of the week. I hope that when examining this plan, city experts had examined the effects on traffic from the 5 boro bike tour, and the New York City Marathon.

Frankly I love the idea, but I'm pretty pessimistic on the income I will be making. I'll make sure to tell all my friends to take out their bike, their inline skates, and their skateboards, in hopes that maybe someone can enjoy the day. 

shift shots

East Village

Shot from 5/24/08

shift shots

Free WiFi!!! 

Midtown

Morningside Heights (Columbia University)

Shots from 5/19

shift shots

East Village (Cooper Union)

Queensbridge, Queens

Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

Above: I believe the Lincoln is doing pick-ups, drop offs, street hails, all of the above without any certification from the Taxi and Limousine Commission. It's just a regular civilian car, but just like all the other car services, he has the right car and it's painted the most common color. Since it's Bed-Stuy, where you can't usually find a yellow cab, I don't mind illegal street hails of 'black cars', but this one is a bit much since he's not certified for any chauffeuring at all. Recently the T&LC said they were cracking down only on car services, (or 'black cars') focusing all their effort on that. So if I were this guy, I'd watch myself.

Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Above: Overly cautious, you think?

NoHo (North of Houston)

Times Square District

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Above: awaiting real estate development. 

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Herald Square

Shots from 5/18/08

Natural connoisseur

I took a couple home after the bars closed, up to 99nth and Madison Avenue. After going around Mount Sinai Hospital to head back downtown on 5th Avenue I saw this thing-

The size of a cat, but it walked like an untamed savvy creature of the night. Its tail dragged on the ground rather than sticking upwards like a cat's. I thought Maybe it was an opossum, or some other disgusting gigantic version of an urban rat.

5th Avenue Raccoon

Turns out it was a raccoon. I was so excited to take a close picture, I almost drove into the parked cars to get it. This is officially the most high class wild animal I've ever seen, living in Central Park and searching for grub from one of the finest hospitals in New York, and crossing 5th Avenue no less, to have a pre-dawn snack.

Stranger things have happened when it comes to spotting wildlife in New York. 

There are several Red Tailed Hawks who moved on up to the 5th Avenue rooftops along the park, as well as other neighborhoods with both tall buildings and a relative abundance of greenery. The Hawk has been very successful here, perching itself in trees and sky-rises watching the ground for weak squirrels to prey upon.

But even stranger is the wild turkey. It is best not to look for the wild turkey, you're not going to find it. However, in a less populated section of Central Park I heard it squawking like a fire alarm, never saw it though. And along the unkempt greenery along the Harlem River Drive in Washington Heights as I rode my bike through the overgrown trail, a large bird flew from my right side to my left. I had no clue what it was, and I'm gonna go with the turkey. Perhaps your thinking that I'm kinda dumb, because turkeys don't fly, or, at least, they don't fly too far. But this is New York City, where everyone who moves here, including turkey, needs to adapt to the harsh environment. The New York Times has an article of a wild turkey that visits an apartment regularly on the 28th floor!, this was a while ago, and I don't ride my bike as much now, so I don't know what the turkey situation is anymore.

Police Taxi:

Two key factors are accomplished with this police car

1. The element of surprise
2. Bragging rights for the coolest idea in police tactics

Seriously though, they could be more secretive about it. The NYPD views the police as more effective as a noticeable presence, rather than undercover. I am sure they have multiple levels of undercover officers, and this car with multiple sirens and the casual pullovers and busts that vehicles of this type pull is on the low end of 'undercover.'

elmblog wants to know what makes it noticeable as a police vehicle. And I guess that's important information so:

• The license plate is 8 consecutive digits, usually beginning with 'T8OO", while most civilian plates for New York State are 7 digits with a space between the first three digits and the last four, and more importantly most taxicabs in New York City have only four digits on their plates which match the medallion number on the roof light.
• On the trunk lid, there is an extra black thing protruding about 4 inches. This is a police radio antenna or something like it. 
• The black trim on the side doors, door in this case, is rarely ever on a real New York City cab anymore.

Other features on the police car that are not shown in this picture:

• There is no partition, and while there are a few taxis without partitions, the front seats are made of cloth rather than the leather like material mandated by the taxi commission.
• Sometimes an on board shockproof laptop computer is mounted between the two front seats.
• The Police-cabs are often driven in groups of three very police looking people.
• And the most obvious reason, is sometimes that the car is parked on the same block as the police precinct and the bulb siren is sitting on the dashboard.  

Newest New York City taxi model:

Tada, the Chevy Malibu Hybrid-

Complete with the "Greenyc" sticker on the C pillar, along with countless other stickers from its garage. 

All Hybrid taxis in New York City get the "Greenyc" sticker, a badge of honor and intelligence showing the public that very soon, New York's taxis and even our car services will be eating less gas per mile, and less gas per minute while idling. 

But while we're investing in a different taxi, why don't we do it right? 

Of all the cleaner vehicles to choose from, the Chevy Malibu has the second worst city gas mileage. The only car with lower M.P.G. on the approved list is the Saturn Vue Hybrid Sport Utility vehicle; both vehicles are made by General Motors. Now, it is wonderful that General Motors has finally joined the band wagon, and is now mass producing hybrid vehicles, these vehicles are significantly reducing our "Dependence on Oil", but still, G.M. should be making even more fuel efficient vehicles than they already are.

Toyota has the most hybrid models. These models are exceptional in their gas consumption in the City, using the battery to power the car at low speeds and while idling. Toyota's technology has also been transferred over to the Nissan Altima hybrid, which gets the second best gas mileage only bested by the tiny Toyota Prius. 

NYC T&LC: approved vehicle list

Most recently the VW Jetta clean diesel has just been approved. 

 

The Toyota Highlander S.U.V. hybrid taxi

The Highlander is the biggest hybrid taxi available. And even with four wheel drive it has a comparable M.P.G. rating to the midsize sedan Chevy Malibu. 

And let's not forget the fabulous job Ford has done at making an affordable and durable Ford Escape Hybrid, which gets 34 M.P.G. in the city, making it 3rd best rated Mileage in T&LC approved taxicabs. Its S.U.V. character gives it more trunk room than the Crown Victoria, a higher commanding view of the road, suitable legroom, and easy exit and entry for passengers. The detriments though are a small width providing less ass room for passengers.

Want to see all the New York City Taxis? Click the link below (NYC taxi models) to see all the blogs posted of each taxi.