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Mike Lydon

@mikelydon.bsky.social
10K followers 325 following 601 posts

Co-Founder @ Street Plans | Co-Author #TacticalUrbanism, Smart Growth Manual, Streets for Pandemic Response + Recovery | Board Member @ Congress for New Urbanism | Creator Open_Streets Project | Léo + Luca’s dad | 📍 Brooklyn, NY 🚲 🚶 🚌 🌆

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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I was in Montreal this weekend for the UCI world championships, which allowed me to take some photos of the Ruelles Vertes (green alley) network, a case study in our upcoming book. There are more than 450 across the city, providing an array of citizen-initiated interventions.
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The Moynihan Station steps are one of my favorite public spaces in midtown. The new-ish (?) plantings demonstrate that steps can be so much more than a way in or out of a building. 🤩
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Great to see bike network “infill,” upgrades happening across the city. Here is the new improvements to the old York Street door zone lane, between Adams and Old Fulton.
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Spent the holiday on Governors Island walking and cycling with my family; that plus the abundance of Plane trees is my happy place 🤩
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
A sample of Toronto’s protected and contraflow bike infrastructure, including the “Toronto Barrier” with cute murals.
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Toronto is very intense with its street seat barrier requirements! 👀
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
This was so fun!
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Reposted by Mike Lydon
Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 01/09/2026
New York’s congestion pricing program has resulted in a statistically significant reduction in travel times for EMS vehicles
nber.org
Urban Congestion Pricing and the Response Times of Emergency Medical Services
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Flying in and out of DC is like flying over a TOD diagram, only they built it.
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Ocean Ave sidewalk refresh and protected bikeway is well on its way to completion. #BikeNYC
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Roll out the red carpet! The Flatbush Avenue busway boarding islands are well on their way to completion. 🚌 💫
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
This past weekend we completed pedestrian safety upgrades and a modal filter along Perth Amboy’s Hall Avenue. 🙌🏻
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Dense urbanism requires a diverse network of densely vegetated and well-used open spaces to be livable and climate ready. It may be surprising to some, here are some pics contributing to why the population below Canal Street continues to surge.
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
On my way to a site visit this morning and I received my third rear cargo 🚲 flat in just the last week 🤬. So grateful to Sammy at GothamFix who changed it out in less than ten minutes, for just $20. Incredible deal when you compare his service to what bike shops cost.
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Re: rollout of NYC's pied-à-terre tax exposing license and insurance fraud, it only took my kids 10 months on the back of our cargo bike to identify license plates from all 50 states. Just sayin’! @nyc.streetsblog.org
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Yesterday was a great day out and about in Manhattan enjoying car-free streets. 🤩 📍 Hudson Square Plaza 📍 Lower East Side Open Streets
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Good take here on better preparing for the increased cycling/walking that inevitably comes to rezoned corridors like Kent Avenue. Not discussed is the major miss of not requiring all of the upzonings to build out the Brooklyn Greenway, including wider sidewalks. nyc.streetsblog.org/2026/07/31/e...
nyc.streetsblog.org
Eyes on the Street: It Is Time For Kent Avenue To Be Car-Free - Streetsblog New York City
The Kent Avenue bike lane has become a victim of its own success, so we put some eyes on the street.
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
I love this image of our Slow Streets project in Miami Beach because it shows the difference in scale between the geometry of the motor vehicle and the geometry of active transportation. When we favor the latter, everything from crosswalk size to lane widths get smaller, more spatially efficient.
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Brooklyn 🤩
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
The constant (and loud) drumbeat of technological advancement takes up sooooooo much oxygen, so when I walk around NYC or travel I look for low-tech, human responses to everyday challenges that make me smile. Here are four I earlier this in Italy.
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
“Cities have often been discussed as the laboratories of democracy — we can actually show that this isn’t a fantasy.” www.nytimes.com/2026/07/18/m...
nytimes.com
Zohran Mamdani Knows He Has Political Capital. And He Intends to Spend It.
Lulu Garcia-Navarro sits down for an interview with the mayor of New York City.
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Families for Safe Streets @familiesforsafestreets.org · 17/07/2026
Somerville, MA is the latest proof that tools are available to reduce traffic violence. Officials just need to prioritize established best practices for road safety, including more speed bumps, more visible crosswalks, and better bike lanes. Learn more about Somerville's recent success ⤵️
governing.com
This New England City Hasn't Had a Traffic Death in Three Years
Somerville, Mass., officials say their success is rooted in tried-and-true best practices for traffic safety.
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Normal view from my office vs today… 🇨🇦 🔥 😷
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
I was awestruck by Matera, Italy. Considered the 3rd oldest city on earth, residents lived in hand dug caves, which have been added retrofitted for centuries. Poor conditions and disease forced the removal of 15k inhabitants in the 1950s. A UNESCO designation in 1990s opened the door to restoration🤯
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Where formal public seating goes missing, shaded steps fill the void.
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Lecce’s bike infrastructure is a hodge podge of built-for-purpose protected bikeways and sidewalks retrofitted with small markings or different colored pavers to allow cycling.
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Small gesture, big invitation. 📍 Lecce 🇮🇹
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
I love to spotlight good old fashioned American traffic-calming know-how when I see it. This is Perth Amboy, NJ where 8’ travel lanes along West Side Ave create a classic ‘yield street’ condition. We should have never stopped building low-volume urban streets like this.
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Transphobes Can't Read @lordaslan.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
gm
A post that reads "homosexuality is found in over 400 species

Homophobia is found in one"
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Every so often you can squint and feel like NYC is a world-class cycling city.
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Still incomplete and still not perfect but the new Brooklyn Bridge-Centre Street bikeway link is a symbol of the no issue too small, can-do spirit of the mayoral new administration. #BikeNYC
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Doug Gordon @brooklynspoke.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
"...his is a new era for New York City and no longer will we allow the whims of the few to come before the well-being of the many.”
thecity.nyc
McGuinness Makeover Begins in Greenpoint After Years of Street-Redesign Scandal
Prosecutors charged local power players last year with bribing Adams administration officials to slow the Brooklyn boulevard remake.
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Alex @mplsalex.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Helped my youngest build a bench today, using only 2 2x4s for a bus stop on the 38. He painted it some fun colors too!
A blue and silver wooden bench in the grass next to a 38 bus stop post.
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
Found these gems on display at the Museum of the City of New York today.
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
This is all you need to know about what a disaster of a venue MetLife Stadium is for all events, not just FIFA. 😑
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Turning bus stops into micro forests is possible simply by bumping out the curb for in-lane stops. Shade ✅ Shelter ✅ Stormwater capture ✅ Smoother bus ops ✅
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
The new boulders on the Vanderbilt #OpenStreet are Luca test, Luca approved! 🤩
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Checking in on some of our Meatpacking District projects, which are starting to feel like they were always meant to be there.
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Grant Olsen @grantaskswhy.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Same promo code ☝️ should work on Tactical Urbanism @mikelydon.bsky.social transit advocacy book @carterlavin.bsky.social Killed by a Traffic Engineer @wesmarshall.bsky.social When Driving is not an Option @nondriver.bsky.social Curbing Traffic @modacitylife.com #NACTO26
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
Talking parks, advocacy, funding and open streets! Thanks for always bringing the community together, @kathyparkprice.bsky.social!
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Traffic-calming is good; reducing actual driving is great. Go for great.
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DD Coutts @deedeecoutts.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Isn’t that the truth.
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Kevin Duggan @kevinduggan.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Reading between the lines of recent @nyc-dot.bsky.social community board presentations reveals a more confident agency under Mayor Mamdani than under Adams, with DOT actively pushing back against overblown and downright false narratives that bike lanes worsen traffic or block first responders.
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Jersey City’s pedestrian-only Newark Avenue was thriving tonight because no cars + good weather = good economic and social outcomes.
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
It’s high time we create a comfortable Brooklyn Bridge gateway in DUMBO with seating and increased sidewalk space.
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
The humble traffic cone (pylon) does it again. #TacticalUrbanism
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
One upside of working east coast hours while visiting the west coast is taking morning calls on sunrise walks. 🤩
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
“In London cyclists now outnumber cars in the City by 2 to 1. Paris, where they now outnumber motorists across the whole city, is catching up with Europe’s traditional bike capitals, Amsterdam & Copenhagen…In Copenhagen, bikes account for almost half of commuter trips to work/school.” @economist.com
economist.com
Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport
Pedal power is booming, spinning up a new culture war
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Reposted by Mike Lydon
Yonah Freemark @yonahfreemark.com · 08/04/2026
Paris metropolis: Striking reductions in car use due to proactive efforts to encourage bike, walking, transit: —Less car ownership: From 0.5 cars/HH in Paris to 0.36, 1999–2022. Outside of Paris: 0.88➡️0.8 —35% less gas sold 2005–24 —15% fewer gas stations between 2019–24 www.apur.org/sites/defaul...
Trend in average number of cars per household. City of Paris shown in light blue; Paris metropolis overall in middle blue; Paris metropolis outside of Paris in dark blue.Trend in gas sales in Paris and the near suburbs, in thousands of tons.Gas stations in Paris metropolis. Light blue dots show stations that were open in 2024. Dark blue dots show stations that closed between 2019 and 2024.
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Mike Lydon @mikelydon.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
One man’s Rivian top-off is everyone else’s trip hazard 🫠
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