Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 11h

So bad for the future of the game that kids have no shot of staying up to watch so many playoff games

Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 13h

Pedestrian-only spaces are not just for Central Park. They are the secret ingredient to great walkability and a fundamental element of livable cities. Let's stop treating them as a park luxury and start making this low-stress living a standard feature of our streets.

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 18h

"The residents of Harlem can't be trusted to hang out in public parks, so we need fence them out most of the time" is not an argument progressives should endorse, but it's the implicit premise of all the @greenthumbnyc.bsky.social "community gardens" scattered around the neighborhood.

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 19h

The Harlem Rose Garden seems like a nice place to read a book for anyone that has the day off today, but sadly this community garden has ZERO open hours during the week.

In fact it's only open 10 hours a week, half the legal requirement. Doesn't Harlem deserve real parks?!

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 21h

"Our publicly owned rail passenger company forced a different publicly owned railroad to kill electric freight" doesn't give me a lot of confidence replacing our current system with socialism will fix our environmental challenges.

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 1d

This is what happens when transit policy prioritizes protectionism (Buy American/Buy America) over riders. SEPTA is relying on ancient cars, and the system is suffering. Time for Dems to scrap these outdated rules and prioritize modern transit.

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 1d

I've been thinking about it for a while now, and I've decided "On High" from Alexander Liberman in New Haven is a cool piece of public art.

Would look cooler without those cars mucking up the view though. Unfortunately that's true for most urban public art in American cities.

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 1d

You literally get to see the city from novel angles on parade days.

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 1d

"What if Napoleon had established a Jewish state in 1799?" opens up all sorts of possibilities.

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 1d

Sansom Street looks so much cooler with the new Josephine building.

This corridor west of Broad could be an amazing new urban canyon IF they kept private cars off the street.

Philadelphia really needs to take better advantage of all the legacy narrow streets. It's such a blessing!

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 1d

Wow, this 5th Square member really nailed it 🤣

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 1d

Any candidate promising to build shaded beer gardens overlooking playgrounds would get my vote.

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 1d

There were definitely some people hanging out in the sun in the middle of the Sheep Meadow yesterday, but A LOT of the visitors to Central Park were spending time in the shade.

A little bit of open space is fine, but honestly most American urban parks just need more trees.

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 1d

Should a medical office be prohibited from seeing patients during evenings or weekends?

That's the proviso Temple had to accept to re-develop the vacant Rite Aid on North Broad. All because base zoning is restrictive, even with a subway stop on the same block:
www.ocfrealty.com/naked-philly...

The Doctor Is In (And the Pharmacist Is Out): Temple Taking Over North Broad Rite Aid - OCF Realty

www.ocfrealty.com

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 1d

Cities aren't loud, cars are (🔊🔊🔊)

Even in the middle of this bustling Open Streets the loudest noises you hear are automobiles, probably on one of the crosstreets where motor vehicles were still allowed.

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Reposted by Daniel Trubman

Ben S @bensh3.bsky.social · 2d

My experience in Philly is that NIMBYism is central to the preservationist agenda, and it allows them to ally with the worst deep-pocketed opponents. The whole city is a historic context, and Sec of Interior Standards 9 and 10 allows them to block anything they don't like

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 1d

You can't help but notice during the Open Street days in the Upper West Side that the east-west streets already have very little traffic on the weekends. Just enough to make walking around way less pleasant.

All just to provide free parking to the rich right near subway lines.

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 2d

Hard to imagine SEPTA's collapsing Regional Rail system turning it around absent federal receivership that's accompanied with tons of new funding to immediately purchase a bunch of new trains (from abroad maybe?)

That's not going to happen, so I'm pretty despondent 😥

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 2d

It's great how NYC will often open up avenues for festivals, like 6th Ave here this afternoon.

But keeping motor vehicle traffic flowing on the cross streets like 33rd St here really undermines a lot of the effort to create a safe & comfortable shared public space.

Let's not half-ass it anymore.

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 2d

The Airport line is only the 6th highest ridership Regional Rail line, but I think SEPTA is going to have to cannibalize trains and crews from other routes to help it during all of the big events scheduled in Philly next year.

These cancellations are just too embarrassing for the region.

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 3d

Even in October the big courtyard in front of the Adam Clayton Powell Jr State Office Building is empty because nobody wants to bake in the heat without any shade.

As our cities get hotter we need to rethink these plazas. This is a great location, but largely wasted space.

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 3d

Golden Globes giving out a podcast award is pretty funny, but actually a bit terrifying that a full mask-off antisemite like Candace Owens can be nominated for a mainstream award like this?

I could go for fewer reminders that the golden age of American Judaism is over.

variety.com/2025/biz/new...

Golden Globe Awards Unveil Top 25 List of Podcasts Eligible for Inaugural Audio Award

'SmartLess,' 'The Joe Rogan Experience,' 'Call Her Daddy' and 'The Megyn Kelly Show' are among the top 25 podcasts eligible for the new Golden Globes kudo.

variety.com

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 4d

One of the advantages of expanding the shared dumpster program in NYC (preferably in place of off-street parking) will be making it easier to hang out on our nice sidewalk furniture without having to spend time right next to loose trash or barely piled up cardboard mountains.

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 4d

This car was driving around Manhattan without any license plates, effectively making it immune to traffic enforcement for safety infractions like posting up on the sidewalk.

Cars like this should immediately get impounded. That would prevent crime and save lives.

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Daniel Trubman @danieltrubman.bsky.social · 4d

I really miss being able to walk to synagogue. When we walked we never had to worry about getting stuck on the subway with competing TikTok videos blasting through the whole car.

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