Some faces, such as Ben Lee an NYC sanitation worker, may be familiar to fans of Quinlan’s last film If These Knishes Could Talk.

In SPOKE, Lee comments, “My dad escaped North Korea so he wouldn’t have to ride a bike to work. And here we are in the greatest city in the world, and people want to ride their bike to work. I don’t get it.”

So how are those bicyclists, motorists and pedestrians getting along lately?

“The streets are dominated by toxic-belching death machines in a Darwinian death race,” declares bicycle advocate Bill Weinberg.

Quinlan was granted an interview with Paul Steely White from Transportation Alternatives, but he then later refused to be interviewed. Requests to the DoT for an interview were not answered.

SPOKE – A Short Film About Bikes from Heather Quinlan on Vimeo.

About SPOKE

SPOKE is about NYC bikes – the good, the bad, and the needs improvement. Featuring interviews with reporters, city workers, sanitation workers, lawyers, and people who love bikes but not bike lanes, love bikes but not CitiBikes, people who want to scrap the whole thing altogether, and people who wouldn’t change a thing. Also featuring fast and furious footage shot on Google Glass. SPOKE is directed by Heather Quinlan, whose previous film, “If These Knishes Could Talk,” chronicled the history of the New York accent.

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/62990

The Cobble Hill Association has proposed adding a bike rack at the corner at the intersection of Pacific & Court streets in Cobble Hill, in an apparent effort to curb illegal parking in a “No Standing” zone at the intersection. The move was presented to the Department of Transportation in February, according to DNAinfo.com in an ongoing effort to remedy traffic snafus in the neighborhood.

DOT offered a proposal to Brooklyn’s Community Board 2 last week, which was approved unanimously by the board’s transportation committee. The plan will be voted on by the full board at the board’s executive committee meeting next week.

Despite restrictions, drivers often park at said intersection and block the view of other drivers trying to make a left-hand turn onto Court, according to CHA VP Dave ‘Paco’ Abraham. To solve the problem, DOT and the association proposed an on-street bike rack on the corner to prevent cars from having access to park there.

Similar racks have been installed at Smith & Sacket streets in the nabe, and in the East Village, at East Ninth Street between First & Second avenues. “The bike racks are low enough that a biker or a driver can look over them,” Abraham said. “As a driver, when I drive up Pacific Street, I stop at the crosswalk to let pedestrians pass and then inch out. When a car is blocking the view, I have to inch out further and further, blocking the crosswalk. As a pedestrian, I’m always frustrated when my crosswalk is not clear because a car is blocking it.”

Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/7469