Danger!

Apparently I've been living next to a death trap for the last year and a half:

http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/03/14/streetfilms-one-way-is-the-wrong-way/

(The 8th Avenue scenes would have been shot right in front of my building.)

I'll grant that 7th Avenue is nicer to walk down than 8th Avenue, but that's because 7th Avenue is mostly full of shops, and 8th Avenue is mostly full of other people's houses. Yes, elderly people and families feel comfortable walking down 7th Avenue, but that's because they're on the sidewalk! I walk down the sidewalk on 8th Avenue every day and I have never once been run over.

On the other hand, the closest I have come to being run over is crossing Union St, one of the few east-west two-way streets in the neighborhood. And when I'm biking, sure the fast cars on 8th Avenue make me uncomfortable, but the narrow lanes and parked cars on 7th Avenue make me a lot more nervous.

I'm sure there are good arguments for keeping 7th Avenue two-way, but I really don't see that "Look! Fast cars scary!" is one of them. And I wish they'd stop picking on 8th Avenue.