You are useless. Go back to school. Learn something. Then get a government job.

You’ll be great. Come in at 11 leave at 2. Two hours for lunch. Get nothing done. Suck our nation dry of resources when we need to compete globally.

Also, eggs, panackes and turkey sausage without syrup is my new fave.

G-d Bless.

See you at IHOP.

Mr Kaag

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5862444008740250372&postID=9218045827203972534&page=1

Sounds interesting but not for every one….

I’m sensing a bright shining light emanating from that government cubicle. While we might not agree on everything, we are firmly aligned on this one.

I stand by a comment made on streetsblog moderation policy: Stalinists would be proud.

I can’t wait until the internet is full of so-called ‘moderation policy’s” whereby someone else determines what I can read. Instead of the internet opening up the debate and shedding light on issues, blogs become mouthpieces for unchallenged views.

I think Take a Lesson simply has a vastly different world view as evidenced by his desire for strict moderation on blogs.

I think you and others here have voiced your preference for an ability to filter through comments and responding to them as they see fit. One person’s rant may be another’s cogently argued point. The reader will determine that and frankly that’s something I value at this site: The ability to filter through comments and arguments and decide for myself what’s relevant.

Some kind of moderation policy for racist and abusive language for example, is entirely appropriate. But wholesale deletion of comments because one person finds them irrelevant is backwards and not the kind of site I want to read. In the new era where the line between reader and opinion giver/maker is blurred, it only makes sense to allow free and open debate and allow readers to determine what’s a cogent argument, what adds to the conversation, and what doesn’t. Giving that power to some unaccountable group of moderators is amazingly shortsighted.

I stand by a recent comment on streetsblog: Stalinists would be proud.

If a cargocycle works for a small business, fine, more power to them. As Judd points out, this is exactly what we advocate. But this is hardly a solution that will work for every business in Manhattan. Streetsblog’s post is about treating this as a solution for the masses, which it simply isn’t.

It’s one thing for these things to deliver a catered lunch to some executives, quite another to deliver groceries to the store that supplies the catering company – guess which one does more business and needs more trucks? It’s also one thing for cargocycles to deliver high-end cheese to a fancy restaurant that only some people can afford to frequent, it’s another for them to deliver supplies to large restaurant chains. I can tell you right now, I worked in a restaurant all through college, and if we had been paying the kinds of transportation costs that you get from this type of service, we would have been out of business.

It’s nice if it works in a particular market or niche, but it isn’t a solution for everyone. That is the whole point of my critique, which Streetsblog deleted and has yet to respond to.

Encouraging bike commuting and making improvements in bike infrastructure does require valid and common questions to be addressed. My question was both valid and common. Without convincing taxpayers to fund your bike infrastructure, it isn’t going to happen, and as I’ve pointed out in other posts, Europeans and Asians suck up gas prices that are three to four times as high as ours without abandoning cars, so I wouldn’t take your little movement for granted. I haven’t seen any figures, but I would be surprised if you have even “converted” 1% of commuters to bicycles - and like I’ve also pointed out in posts and comments throughout this site, including the critique post on Cargocycles referenced above - wait until winter sets in and we’ll see how many people keep riding those new bikes they’re buying.

There is plenty of coherent vision on this site. Here’s a synopsis for you: fund all transportation alternatives to the maximum extent possible in accordance with usage patterns, eliminate government waste and single it out for mock and ridicule wherever it is found, and don’t surrender personal freedom and choice in your transportation to some government bureaucrat.

This site is no reaction to Streetsblog’s movement - though I admit we often disagree with them on their points. I could personally care less if New Yorkers want to bicycle everywhere. I don’t live there and I don’t pay taxes there. But I think New Yorkers deserve to be treated to a fair debate on issues that affect their realm of personal autonomy, as the transportation arena does, and Streetsblog doesn’t offer much more than naive cheerleading for bicycles.

The fact is, most New York commuters cannot commute with bicycles. They live too far away from work, have too many things to carry or do on the way, cannot afford to take the extra time, cannot show up to work drenched in sweat, or cannot physically do it. That is the cold, harsh reality staring down the bicycle commuter movement, and it has been there for decades.

I’m all for expanding the bike infrastructure, but I’m pragmatic about the fact that it doesn’t work for everyone.

Oh, and my mistake, semi-trailers can’t fit down the streets of Manhattan, a delivery truck can only carry about 11,000lbs vice 32,000. So instead of 80 cargocycles we’re replacing the towing capacity of one truck with 28 cargocycles. So a truck with a wheelbase of 115” would be equivalent to about 6 cargo cycles. What a great space saver those turn out to be considering that in the same space, you can haul one quarter of the cargo.

Home delivery is a fraction of the trike’s business. They deliver to restaurants. They also do some catered events in Midtown, almost all of which are held in offices not homes. Have you ever considered interviewing people or giving them a call prior to one of your rants? It might help with the accuracy a bit.

Reading Lewis’s rant you’d think they’re biking $50 grilled cheese sandwiches to the Upper East Side for Thurston Howell the IV’s after school snack.

But who cares.

The point of the Streetsblog post, it seems to me, was to show that it’s possible to deliver cargo in Manhattan by trike, these cheese guys have found that it’s faster and cheaper and better for their business, and here’s a photo of them doing it.

If you and Lewis want to be outraged about that and write misinformed 10,000 word rants based on it, go for it. The world is a better place with you focusing your energies on harmless things like that.

Your last points are valid.

Look, we have no problem with the cargocycle, or individuals and businesses that choose to use them. We’re not advocating for banning them, or substantially reducing their number through regulation, taxation, or planning. If someone wants to ride a cargocycle, that’s great.

We are pro-cargocycle in the same sense that we’re pro-car, pro-bus, pro-subway, pro-light rail, pro-long distance train, pro-airplane, pro-bicycle, and pro-walking. We believe that individual Americans should make their own transportation choices, without the government trying to move them in one direction over the other.

For example, we advocate for a massive expansion of subway, commuter, and long-distance lines into the suburbs (just as we advocate for a massive expansion of highways). Inside cities, things get tricky because you can’t keep expanding outwards. So make all options available on the existing space: sidewalks, bike lanes, motor vehicle lanes, subway lines.

We are very inclusive. Streetsblog is US vs. THEM. Their end state is to get rid of cars in cities. We think that’s wrong.

You write: “The company that runs that cargo cycle doesn’t deliver cheese to the homes of wealthy Manhattanites. It delivers to restaurants. Restaurants order cheese in $50+ batches.”

Look at their website: http://www.artisanalcheese.com/products.asp?dept=1040

Read the following direct quote:

As seen in the New York Times, Starting April 15, Artisanal Premium Cheese, purveyors of the world’s finest cheeses, in conjunction with Rickshaw Revolution will begin same day delivery to customers in midtown from 34th to 63rd streets, river to river. Look for coming expansion plans!

Within hours Artisanal will fulfill your request, directly from five custom-designed cheese aging caves masterminded by the Artisanal Affinage staff. Choose from more than 200 selections of international premier quality artisanal cheese, from Humboldt Fog to Abbaye de Belloc; Sbrinz to Monte Enebro we have the cheese for every special occasion or evening relaxing at home.

The cargocycle rickshaw doesn’t deliver cheese to the homes of wealthy Manhattanites? What are you talking about?

- The company that runs that cargo cycle doesn’t deliver cheese to the homes of wealthy Manhattanites. It delivers to restaurants. Restaurants order cheese in $50+ batches.

- So what if semi-trailers carry 32,000 lbs worth of cargo? No one is talking about cargo trikes replacing tractor trailers. Semis aren’t allowed on most side streets in NYC. Semis can’t park in Manhattan. Semis can barely move in Manhattan because of all the single-passenger vehicles that clog the streets and semi drivers hate driving in the city. Semis don’t do the local deliveries in Manhattan for the most part.

I think this “cheese” post is useful and utterly harmless and Lewis’s response is bizarre. The post points out that it’s possible and even desirable to do local delivery trips by bike in Manhattan. It seems like you guys are advocates for the motor vehicle. Wouldn’t it be better for you as a driver in NYC if we got more local deliveries done in these small, spatially-efficient cargo trikes rather than having our streets clogged with panel trucks making delivery runs of less than 3 miles?

The history of the $50 cheese.

Streetsblog published this post:
http://www.streetsblog.org/2008/05/22/the-latest-innovation-from-paris-cargocycles

To prove a point, the post linked to this NYTimes article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/dining/16cheese.html

Lewis wrote a contrarian response on Streetsblog, which was removed.

So Lewis made his points here:
http://www.commuteroutrage.com/2008/06/02/streetsblog-streetcritiques

I have no idea what you’re talking about regarding the $50 cheese thing but am increasingly convinced that, whatever you wrote in the Streetsblog comment section, it was likely to be lengthy, incoherent, hostile, off-topic and worthy of being deleted.

Here’s a little news for you: Encouraging bike commuting and making improvements in urban bicycling infrastructure in North American cities really doesn’t require anyone to address Lewis Derkin’s questions in a blog’s comments section. America isn’t waiting for Lewis Derkins to be convinced. The movement is underway and $5 gas is doing all the convincing that needs to be done.

All this focus you guys have on Streetsblog suggests that you guys have no coherent vision of your own to put forward. You are essentially a reaction to that movement.