71 SQUARE MILES

The warming weather has made us all a bit more open and happy lately on the sidewalks, and I’ve had a number of very special experiences. A little girl fell asleep on my shoulder while we were sitting next to one another on the bus riding back from a walk that ended in Canarsie. It was one of those moments that I felt a very deep connection to the Brooklyn community and a small reminder of why I’m doing this work.

In contrast, I’ve been thinking nonstop about pedestrian safety after my own has come into danger recently. It’s always been an issue, but I’ve created new rules for my walks to ensure I’ll be around when reform comes about. I now wait for all vehicles in the turn lanes to pass an intersection instead of walking immediately when the walk signal appears and always wear very bright colors. There seems to be a lot awareness about this issue lately- in DeBlasio’s Vision Zero initiatives and on a recent Freakonomics podcast episode. I’m very curious to see the actions of the mayor, though I know shifts in the mindsets of drivers will require an extremely long-term view. Some day our children will think this infrastructure of ours was insane.