Transportation Alternatives, the city’s biggest bicycle advocacy group, has been promoting a new “street code” for cyclists, encouraging them to heed by certain rules in order to make biking a better experience for everyone. Here’s their motivation:

We know – and studies show – that more bicyclists make for safer cycling, and safer cycling will encourage more people to get out and ride. This is a virtuous cycle that we can work together to continue. Either as individuals or as a relatively small group of 140,000 cyclists in a city with a population of 8 million, cyclists are going to have to work with other street users to make our streets safer. In this effort, the publics’ perception of cyclists matters as much, if not more, than any new bike lane or even scores of new riders.

The self-imposed rules include always yielding to pedestrians, not blocking crosswalks, only going in the direction of traffic, and wearing a helmet.

To promote this Biking Rules campaign, Transportation Alternatives is hosting a PSA competition, which is open to photo and video entries until August 31. Your participation could help make our streets safer and more welcoming to new cyclists, and you could even win a new bike, video camera, or messenger bag!

If you think the High Line is cool, check out the plans for the new Queens Plaza. From Urban Omnibus:

The Queens Plaza Bicycle and Pedestrian Landscape Improvement Project transforms the tangle of urban infrastructure cutting through Long Island City from a harsh, disorienting industrial maze into a lush, navigable landscape, a gateway to Long Island City that organizes various flows and scales while providing a refuge for residents, workers and the road-weary.

(If you’ve never experienced that “harsh, disorienting industrial maze,” you can take a snarky yet informative little tour thanks to the folks at ForgottenNY Street Scenes.)

Urban Omnibus interviewed three members of the design team behind the project. If you’re interested in the interplay between art, ecology, and infrastructure, or if you’ve ever just gotten lost somewhere between Queensboro Plaza and Queens Plaza, it’s worth a read.

Anyone out there know when this lush “urban canopy” is set to rise, let alone open to the public?

We’re excited to finally see All Day Buffet’s New York 100, a list of some of the most “innovative, rule-breaking, model-changing ideas to come out of the Big Apple.” In the nonprofit category, we love the nods for our friends at Common Ground, along with social media trendsetters Charity Water. We, ahem, echo the sentiment behind honoring Echoing Green, and second the kudos for other social innovators like Starting Bloc and SHE. We also love technology innovators like the Open Planning Project and MobileActive.org. Of course, we congratulate all of the people and ideas on the list!

We’re looking forward to investigating some of the unfamiliar names on the list (Stoked Mentoring and Hello Health sound particularly cool to me), and letting you know what we discover in the coming weeks!

News from the past week:

• Sikh Students Speak Out: “We Want Safe Schools Now!” (RaceWire)
• Talking Trees on the Concourse (Mount Hope Monitor)
• Push to Close Schools on Muslim Holy Days Gains Momentum (Mount Hope Monitor)
• When ‘Slumming’ Was the Thing to Do (City Room)
• Summer Brings a Wave of Homeless Families (New York Times)
• Tour galore for 1,000-plus bicyclists (Daily News)

Since proximity to the L train greatly increases the chances of gentrification for a neighborhood, Bushwick has rapidly grown to include many new bars, cafes, and—apparently—”sustainable” mini golf. The Putting Lot recently opened up just in time for (an unusually rainy) summer off the Jefferson stop of the L train.

Bushwick is a historically industrial neighborhood that suffered a great deal in the 70’s, leaving a large number of abandoned lots and buildings. Recently the neighborhood has seen an influx of young people and artists over the last decade. The Putting Lot acquired one of the neighborhood’s many empty spaces and filled it in with an nine-hole mini golf course designed by some local artists and architects. I haven’t made it out there just yet, but this is how they describe the course:

Playing a round at the lot is an interactive experience, requiring golfers to step inside the artist’s visions and the ideas that have inspired them. Through the transformation of the lot, the construction of the holes, and a series of events held in the public area, we hope to provide a forum for discussing urban sustainability in a new context.

Think about all the important ways you use your phone in daily life. You use it to build relationships with family and friends. To make doctor’s appointments. To secure an apartment. To find a job.

But what if you were phoneless?

Enter Community Voice Mail (CVM), a nonprofit that strives to keep those who are in crisis or transition connected. In three minutes you can acquire a new local telephone number and voicemail—making it easier for potential employers and more to get in touch.

CVM has been around for over a decade now and has branches all over the country, including a site in NYC at Partnership for the Homeless. In a city where the numbers of jobless continue to grow, having a phone is nothing less than crucial.

Community Voice Mail levels the playing field for homeless and unemployed New Yorkers so that they can conduct the essential business of their lives.

I love the fact that by providing something as simple as a consistent telephone number, CVM is helping to restore dignity in people’s lives. If you can’t phone home, CVM at least makes it possible for home to call you.

Have you ever wanted to take a cab, but felt it would be financially and environmentally irresponsible? Once again, the internet is here to save the day!

Check out these ridesharing services, so the next time you need a ride, you can save money, reduce your carbon footprint, and maybe make a new friend. Hooray!

• Hitchsters connects people going to and from the airport, uses environmentally friendly car services (it’s unclear what exactly that means), and allows you to track your carbon footprint. You can also specify a preference for the gender of your co-rider.
• Zipcar is not so much a ridesharing service as a car sharing service. You pay an annual membership fee, and then an hourly or daily fee to use one of the cars parked conveniently around the city.
• Mint is similar to Zipcar, but only in NYC.
• RideAmigos has an emphasis on ridesharing services for events, but can be used by anyone. Apparently, it can even improve your love life, as evidenced by this testimonial:

Last week I got matched up with a co-worker. I had always wanted to talk to her but never had a good reason to approach her. This was perfect. Now we split cabs three times a week and this weekend we’re going out on our first date!

Also, keep an eye on this story. The NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission has proposed six new group ride routes to and from popular destinations (passengers can get out at any point along the route). Passengers save money, cab drivers earn more, and more people get where they need to go with fewer cars. Not a bad deal.

Recent news:

• Bette Midler Whacks Weeds, Taps 50 Cent to Turn New York Green (Bloomberg.com)
• ‘Meet the Bronx River,’ oarsmen say (Hunts Point Express)
• Local Man Works to Improve Police-Community Relations (Tremont Tribune)
• Lessons Learned at Kids’ ‘African’ Market (Norwood News)
• Council Votes for Two Muslim School Holidays (New York Times)
• AIDS coalition launches “Test Me for HIV” campaign (The Indian Express via Voices That Must Be Heard)
• Translating for mom and dad: A heavy burden for immigrant children (World Journal via Voices That Must Be Heard)

In the “What’s in a Name?” feature, we highlight New York-based organizations and programs that have clever, quirky, mysterious, revealing, or non-traditional names.

All Day Buffet isn’t a restaurant or catering service, and The Feast is not even a food-centric affair. All Day Buffet is actually a company that promotes and invests in creative projects and innovative ideas that aim to change the world, and The Feast is a conference they organize to bring together these creative and innovative types.

So what’s with the name? Michael Karnjanaprakorn of All Day Buffet explained to me: “The name came from realizing that there was a ‘buffet’ of good things to choose from, we just wanted to get ‘full on good’ doing something.”

In attending a couple of their events, I definitely came away with the sense that there are just so many great ideas and great people out there to work with. Just thinking about all of these forward-thinking initiatives makes my mouth water.

To enjoy the summer weather (finally!), you’ll have plenty of opportunities to wander, bike, and play in the streets without having to worry about those pesky automobiles:

• Summer Streets is happening again this year, connecting Central Park to the Brooklyn Bridge for three Saturdays in August.
• Weekend Walks is an expansion of the Summer Streets program into 13 neighborhoods in all five boroughs. These events will include kids’ activities, live music, and more.
• Block Party NYC shows you how to plan your own car-free street celebration, or find one that your neighbors are planning.
• Car Free Broadway is still in effect every day at Times Square and Herald Square.

Have fun!