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May 21, 2013

NYC Report Shows that Bike Lanes are Very Good for Retail Business – What About Hoboken?

NYC recently released a report that shows bike lanes reduce traffic accidents and improve retail sales to boot. This recently released report has been shared on major news sites like the Wall Street Journal and blog sites as well. Mayor Dawn Zimmer of Hoboken  is known for championing bike lanes for their greenness and pedestrian safety but who knew 5 years ago that there would be potentially substantial retail benefits as well? Now the argument for bike lanes could be extended to the fact that they are good for commerce as well.  Still, Hoboken is not NYC but some of these principles could possibly be applied to Hoboken in future planning where they make sense.

The Mayor has put forth a plan to completely redo Washington Street incorporating some of these aspects. In her State of the City Address on February 13th, 2013 The Mayor remarked “Washington Street is our main street, it represents the core of our city, and it is key to our economic and social vitality. But it’s also in need of a major upgrade. This year we hope to complete a redesign process with the community so that we can secure more grants for renovations.”

Link to State of the City Address: http://boken.it/3df

The Mayor followed through and put her Washington Street Redesign up for vote on the City Council. However, the obstructionist City Council Minority consisting of Occhipinti, Mason, Russo and Castellano defeated the bond to do the study. Without a study the City of Hoboken would not be eligible for substantial grants that could cut the cost of repaving and redesigning Washington Street for the 21st Century.

Here are some of the study’s findings:

NYC Bike Report 8-9th Avenues

First protected bicycle lane in the US – 8th and 9th Avenues (Manhattan):

  • 35% decrease in injuries to all street users (8th Ave)
  • 58% decrease in injuries to all street users (9th Ave)
  • Up to 49% increase in retail sales (Locally-basedbusinesses on 9th Ave from 23rd to 31st Sts., compared to 3% borough-wide)

NYC Bike Report Union Square North

Expanding an iconic space – Union Square North (Manhattan):

  • Speeding decreased by16%, while median speeds increased by 14%
  • injury crashes fell by 26%
  • 49% fewer commercial vacancies (compared to 5% more borough-wide)
  • 74% of users prefer the new configuration

These are just a few examples from the report. Share your thoughts in the comments below as to whether or not such concepts could improve the overall quality of life in Hoboken. Below is the full report for your perusal.

Link to NYC Report: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/2012-10-measuring-the-street.pdf

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May 15, 2013

Photo of the Day–Downtown NYC in Spring from Hudson River

Downtown NYC HDR Southern Tip 5-2-2013 smaller

This recent photo is of Downtown NYC taken recently from the New York Waterway ferry heading back to Hoboken. This uses HDR but attempts to be more photo realistic.

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May 3, 2013

Photo of the Day–World Trade Center Close-up

World Trade Center Spire 5-2-2013

I took this photo yesterday on the way home on the NY Waterway ferry from my office in New York City. The top of the Freedom tower is near completion and I am just trying to capture as much of the construction progress as I can. This taken with the Nikon D600 and my all purpose 26mm-300mm lens. I took three separate photos at different exposures and used Photomatix to merge them in HDR. I went for a photorealistic effect and the result of course is increased dynamic range of the shot without artifice. I look forward to taking this shot again when everything is completed.

To submit your photos to TheBoken.com please email us at theboken@gmail.com and let us know how you want to be attributed as well as the narrative behind the shot.

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April 9, 2013

Hoboken Photo of the Day- Norwegian Cruise Ship on the Hudson River

Hudson River Cruise Ship Hoboken HDR 4-7-2013 smaller

Today’s Hoboken photo of the day captures a Norwegian cruise ship passing by Maxwell Place Park in Hoboken, NJ this weekend. This is an HDR photo but more photorealistic than artistic in terms of the tone mapping and processing.

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March 27, 2013

Photo of the Day–Empire State Building on a Sunny Day from Hoboken

Empire State Building from Hoboken HDR 3-23-2013

Here is a view from Hoboken of the Empire State Building in New York City on a nice sunny day. Once again I used HDR technique to create a nice dynamic range but this time stayed away from making it look painterly on more like a high contrast photograph.

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January 27, 2013

Photos of the Day–Full Moon Over Manhattan

Moon Over Manhattan photo #`2

Yesterday at sunset the moon was full and over the Manhattan skyline and viewable from Hoboken. Here are a few shots I was able to take during the cold.

Moon Over Manhattan 1-26-2013 HDR #2

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December 1, 2012

Photo of the Day–42nd Street in New York City

Filed under: New York City,Photo Of The Day — Tags: , , , — TheBoken @ 11:10 AM

NYC 42nd Street HDR 2

Today’s Photo of the Day is from 42nd Street in New York City using HDR. 

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November 26, 2012

PATH Service opens up to World Trade Center Monday November 26 – Hoboken Station Still out of Service

Hoboken Advisory: Governor Cuomo and Governor Christie Announce Reopening of World Trade Center and Exchange Place Path Service on Monday, November 26 (today)

Dear Hoboken Resident,

Please see the announcement below just issued by Governors Christie and Cuomo regarding additional partial service restoration of the PATH system to the World Trade Center and Exchange Place. Regarding service to Hoboken, the annoumcement states: “Service at the Hoboken station, which saw unprecedented and widespread flooding remains suspended due to the fact vital switching equipment was destroyed and cannot be salvaged. Crews are working 24/7 to replace the signal equipment and restore communications in the tunnels, a process that is expected to take several weeks.”

Governor Cuomo and Governor Christie Announce Reopening of World Trade Center and Exchange Place Path Service on Monday, November 26

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie today announced that weekday PATH service will resume to Lower Manhattan along the World Trade Center line beginning Monday, November 26 at 5 a.m.

The World Trade Center PATH line will run Monday through Friday from 5 a.m-10 p.m., with stops in New Jersey at Newark, Harrison, Journal Square, Grove Street and Exchange Place and in New York at the World Trade Center. Disabled access will be available at Newark and World Trade Center.

Floodwater from the storm surge of Hurricane Sandy had inundated the World Trade Center station, covering its track bed with several feet of water. Port Authority PATH crews have worked around the clock to remove millions of gallons of water from the tracks and platforms and also to fix and replace damaged switching and signal systems as quickly as possible.

Weekend service will not yet be available to enable crews to continue the remaining necessary repair work. The restored service to the World Trade Center will be in addition to the PATH service currently running from Newark in New Jersey to 33rd Street in New York. That line is running seven days a week between the hours of 5 a.m.-10 p.m. and includes stops in New Jersey at Newark, Harrison, Journal Square, Grove Street and Newport stations and stops in New York at 9th, 14th, 23rd and 33rd Street.

Once service resumes at the World Trade Center on Monday, service on the 33rd Street line will resume running between Journal Square and 33rd Street and will make all station stops including Christopher Street in Manhattan. Weekend service on the Journal Square to 33rd Street line extends to Harrison and Newark in New Jersey. Disabled passengers have access to the platforms at Newark, Journal Square, Newport and 33rd Street. Service at the Hoboken station, which saw unprecedented and widespread flooding remains suspended due to the fact vital switching equipment was destroyed and cannot be salvaged. Crews are working 24/7 to replace the signal equipment and restore communications in the tunnels, a process that is expected to take several weeks.

To provide additional mass transit options from Hoboken to Manhattan, the Port Authority and New Jersey Transit are operating a ferry service from the Hoboken Ferry Terminal. NJ Transit customers will now be able to take a bus to the Hoboken Ferry Terminal and then transfer to a ferry that will take passengers to Pier 79 at 39th street in Manhattan. The fare is $5 and ferries will run back and forth between Hoboken and Manhattan from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Monday thru Friday.

Free shuttle buses will be provided from Pier 79 to midtown Manhattan. Passengers who normally use the Hoboken station to get to Manhattan can also choose to make the ten minute walk to the Newport station, or take advantage of several other ferry and bus alternatives. Ferry service to Lower Manhattan is available from Liberty State Park and to Midtown Manhattan from Weehawken, New Jersey.

In addition, NJ Transit has increased the number of No. 126 buses from Hoboken to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in both directions. For up-to-date information on PATH service, visit the Port Authority’s website at www.panynj.gov/path/ and follow them on Twitter @PATHTweet.

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October 26, 2012

Photo of the Day – New York City Downtown at Night from East River

Filed under: New York City,Photo Of The Day — Tags: , , , — TheBoken @ 11:15 AM

Today’s Photo of the Day shot with an iPhone 4s and no tripod (hence the graininess)  is of New York City Downtown at night from the East River. A number of Hoboken commuters see this view every day when they take the ferry home. Now, with it getter darker earlier, there are some great night time views on the way home back to The Boken.

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August 31, 2012

Photo of the Day – World Trade Center and Stonehenge

Today’s photo of the day is this editor having a bit of fun with FilterMania2 and Instagram iPhone apps. I have been working on a series of shots of the World Trade Center with other wonders of the world and I thought Stonehenge would make a nice contrast in architectural styles.

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