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Tuesday, February 3, 2009

On Crossing the Street, the New York Way

Columbus Circle, NYC
Photo by myself near Columbus Circle, at 59th Street and Central Park West.

There's a lot to see, just walking down the street - people, traffic, bike messengers, dogs, lights, signs.

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A friend of mine was hit by a bike messenger last week. Miraculously, she was unharmed but her cell phone was destroyed.

I've seen pedestrians hit by cars and bikes. None of the accidents were serious - all the pedestrians got up and walked away.

The cause for many accidents are the one-way streets. Pedestrians quite wrongly assume that a one-way street means that all the traffic is running in one direction.

Not so.

Often, delivery guys and messenger guys ride their bikes on the wrong side of the road. Hence the need to look in the direction traffic should be coming from, then to look in the other direction, then look again in the right direction, before crossing.

The savvy, neurotic New Yorker crosses the street unscathed!

Related posts: On Navigating the City, CDP Theme Day - Metal and Amidst the Rubble, 59th Street.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

A well-framed image with just the right amount of colour. It still conveys how cold the day is!

Interesting to hear that you have suicidal lycra-louts in NYC as well! They can be a menace everywhere! O was nearly mown down by one who ignored the red signals!

Anonymous said...

Sorry, my finger missed in the previous comment - for "O" please read "I"!

Olivier said...

c'est vrai que les rues à NYC étant (très souvent) en sens unique, on a tendance a ne pas regarder de l'autre coté et comme tous les français, je traverse en dehors des passages piétonniers ;o)
it is true that the streets in NYC is (very often) one-way, we tend not to look the other side and all the French, I cross outside walkways ;o)

Fredrik said...

Over here you can safely cross any street blindfolded, ha ha!
Thanks for your last comments on The Worker Week theme. Appreciate it!

Mom Knows Everything said...

Love the matching hats in the picture!

Donna j. Gehl said...

Looks like it was a beautiful day.

Ice Queen said...

Walking in Midtown drove me crazy, give me the West Village any day.