Anyone who's ever driven into or through Manhattan knows what a nightmarish experience it can be, with gridlock congestion and a lack of available parking spaces. Jim Gehr wants to make it even tougher in the hope of drastically reducing traffic altogether by further reducing parking, shutting down the biggest intersection, and increasing green space.

Gehr is the urban planning consultant whose plans have already been famously (or infamously, depending on your perspective) imposed in London, as well as Copenhagen, and he's proposed similar policies for Stockholm, Oslo, Edinburgh, Cape Town, Zurich and Melbourne. His plans for Manhattan would include shutting down Times Square to almost all traffic, while eliminating parking on some avenues in favor of wider sidewalks to accommodate park benches and sidewalk cafes. The result would be a more pedestrian, cyclist and public transit-oriented Manhattan.

While some elements in the city are opposed to the idea, he appears to have the ear of NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the municipal transportation department wants to hire him as a consultant, and several prominent civic and commercial organizations have his support, as well. If Gehr gets his way, Project Gotham Racing might be the closest we'll ever get to driving Manhattan's streets ever again.

[Source: NY Daily News via Kicking Tires]

Manhattan Project: Proposal seeks to shut down NYC traffic originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 11 Jul 2007 11:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

No disrespect to our friends on the East Coast, but in the "survey results that will probably surprise no one" category: drivers from New York scored the lowest on a Department of Motor Vehicles driving test survey. That doesn't mean New Yorkers are bad drivers ... ahem ... it simply means they don't know the right answers to questions about what to do on the road.

One hundred people from every state and Washington D.C. were given questions that apply to every state from DMV tests. The nationwide average was 77.1 percent. The Big Apple scored 71 percent. But NY isn't alone -- the bottom five states are all on the Eastern Seaboard. And which state do you think had the best group of respondents? That's right: Idaho, leading the curve with 87.1 percent. Second best? Alaska. Apparently, you do better on driving tests in states where you're more likely to hit something other than a person. Who knew?

Thanks for the tip, Peter!

[Source: CNN]

New Yorkers score lowest on the driver's test originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 25 May 2007 14:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We thought Doctor Teeth and the Electric Mayhem had an interesting use for an old school bus, but WCBS in New York is reporting on a Hassidic rabbi who apparently transformed an old bus into a giant Matza bakery.

The flatbreads are traditionally baked in a brick oven, but with the Passover holiday looming, the rabbi evidently wanted to step up production. Oddly, this wasn't the first strange use of that same bus, as it was reported to have been previously used as someone's home and then as a transporter for a race car before starting its fourth life for baking the sacramental unleavened bread in Spring Valley, New York.

The rabbi was confronted by officials after the bus, parked in his back yard and hooked into the house's gas lines, was billowing smoke into the neighborhood, causing a plague of darkness that raised some suspicions. 'Let my misdemeanor go', argued the rabbi, insisting that he wasn't causing any harm. The incident gives new meaning to the term "slaving over a hot oven", but at least he wasn't selling the Matzas through a pyramid scheme.

Follow the link to watch the news report.

[Source: WCBSTV via Winding Road]

Crazy Cracker: NY Rabbi turns bus into Matza oven originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Mar 2007 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

SPY SHOTS - Hyundai Equus replacement sheds more camo originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 11 Mar 2007 15:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Shell Oil, those guys who are getting richer while we all get poorer at the gas pumps, are aiming to break the record for the most expensive advertisement, and the Super Bowl doesn't even factor into it. The fossil-fuels giant is a long-time sponsor of Scuderia Ferrari, and pours millions into the F1 team each year so that enthusiasts and consumers will associate its fuels - Shell V-Power high-performance gasoline, specifically - with Ferrari's racing success. But just to drive the point home even further, Shell is spending close to ?2 million to produce a television commercial.

Wondering how you could possibly spend that kind of cash on a TV ad? No big name endorsements; that's already taken care of. No elaborate sets or costly special effects; you don't need that when you've got a 700-horsepower F1 car at your disposal. The commercial is anticipated to feature an F1 race car speeding around the corners and down the streets of New York, London and Sydney. And we'll bet it's not going to be at five in the morning, either. Closing down big city streets in the middle of the day costs big, and Shell is spending big.

[Source: GrandPrix.com]

Shellfish! Ferrari and Shell close down major cities to film commercial originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 01 Feb 2007 13:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ferrari's continent-crushing rally across the Americas has finally come to its conclusion, having started in Brazil, crossing the Andes through Argentina, through Central America, across Mexico, criss-crossing the United States, passing through Canada and finally reaching its destination in New York. Considering Ferrari's last such journey passed the Great Wall, ending this one at Wall Street made for the perfect conclusion to the Panamerican escapade. (As if the Ferrari name weren't already synonymous with money, power and success.)

The front of the New York Stock Exchange was decorated with a Ferrari banner and flew the prancing horse on yellow next to the Italian and US flags to mark the occasion that saw Ferrari's newest gran turismo complete the king of all publicity tours. The 599 GTB Fiorano featured only mild modifications in order to cope with the rough terrain, with an aluminum undercarriage protection plate to replace the standard aerodynamic underbody tray and a heightened ride height - an interesting contrast to the dropped suspension that usually features on modified sportscars.

Surely Ferrari's forthcoming all-wheel-drive system would have come in handy, though... don't be surprised if Ferrari stages another one of these epic adventures when the four wheels hit the road on the facelifted 612.

Related posts:

• Ferrari Panamerican 20000-mile adventure rolls into Los Angeles
• U.S. stage of Panamerican 20000 kicks off in L.A.
• Exotic Odyssey: The Ferrari Panamerican 20000
  

[Source: Ferrari via Italiaspeed]

That's So Money: Ferrari Panamerican 20,000 ends at Wall Street originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 20 Nov 2006 12:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Board battle looming at GM? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

BREAKING: York quits GM board, Kerkorian won't buy more GM stock originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 06 Oct 2006 13:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.