CONTESTED STREETS explores the history and culture of New York City streets from pre-automobile times to the present. This examination allows for an understanding of how the city - though the most well served by mass transit in the United States - has slowly relinquished what was a rich, multi-dimensional conception of the street as public space to a mindset that prioritizes the rapid movement of cars and trucks over all other functions.
Central to the story is a comparison of New York to what is experienced in London, Paris and Copenhagen. Interviews and footage shot in these cities showcase how limiting automobile use in recent years has improved air quality, minimized noise pollution and enriched commercial, recreational and community interaction. London's congestion pricing scheme, Paris' BRT (bus rapid transit) and Copenhagen's bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure are all examined in depth. New York City, though to many the most vibrant and dynamic city on Earth, still has lessons to learn from Old Europe.
FEATURED INTERVIEWS:
New York
Mike Wallace Historian, Pulitzer prize–winning author of Gotham: The History of New York
Kenneth T. Jackson Historian, Columbia University
Fred Kent Executive Director, Project for Public Spaces
Tim Tompkins, Executive Director, Time Square Alliance
Kathryn S. Wylde President and CEO, Partnership for New York City and Chamber of Commerce
Majora Carter Executive Director, Sustainable South Bronx
Sam "Gridlock" Schwartz Former Department of Transportation Commissioner
Paul Steely White Executive Director, Transportation Alternatives
Copenhagen
Lars Engberg Lord Mayor of Copenhagen
Jan Gehl Urban Planner and Architect
Soren Elle Chief Traffic Engineer
Paris
Eric Britton EcoPlan International and The Commons
Corinne Lepage Former French Minister of the Environment
Cecile Gruber Advisor to Deputy Mayor Denis Baupin
London
Robert R. Kiley Commissioner, Transport for London
Patricia Brown Executive Director, Central London Partnership
Councilor Simon Milton Leader of the City of Westminster
Stephen Joseph Executive Director, Transport 2000
Hestor Brown Living Streets
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The DVD is available for purchase through the Transportation Alternatives website. It features the 57-minute film, extended interviews, trailers and links to related websites.
A co-founder of the production company Cicala Filmworks, Stefan has worked in independent film for over 12 years. Credits as a writer, director and/or producer include The Hungry Ghosts (2009), The Higher Force (2008), The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela (2008), Arranged (2007), Contested Streets (2006) and Confess (2005).
Awards include: the Teddy Award for Best Feature Film at the Berlin Int'l Film Festival (2008), Best Film at the Brooklyn Int'l Film Festival (2007), Best Screenwriter at the Hamptons Film Festival (2005), Grand Prize in Digital Filmmaking from Panasonic (2004), and the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Screenwriting (2003).
DIANE CRESPO(Producer)
Diane and Stefan met working in off-off Broadway theatre, where she directed and produced a series of one-act plays he had written. They went on to form the production company Cicala Filmworks, where their initial focus was creating documentaries for clients such as the Guggenheim Museum, the NYC Department of Education, and Roundabout Theatre. As the company grew, she also produced and directed numerous music videos and commercials for clients such as Ben Folds Five, 1-800 Flowers, and 97.9 La Mega.
Recent film credits include producing the documentary Contested Streets (2006), directing/producing the award-winning feature Arranged (2007), and producing a TV pilot entitled Circledrawers (2009) for Icelandic filmmaker Olaf de Fleur Johannesson.
WILLIAMS COLE(Archival Producer)
Williams recently completed producing GIULIANI TIME, a feature documentary that premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and is scheduled for national theatrical release from the Landmark theater chain in 2006. Before GIULIANI TIME, Williams worked on a variety of network, cable and independent documentary film productions for CBS Eye on People, A and E/The History Channel, Nick Broomfield, Stephanie Black and Estela Bravo, as well as field produced at the network newsmagazine Fox Files. He graduated from Columbia University and was a Fulbright Scholar at the London School of Economics, where he earned an MSc in Media and Communications while working in the BBC Documentaries Department with Nick Fraser. He is currently in pre-production on SHOW ME, a documentary being produced with Cicala Filmworks.
Williams is also a widely published freelance writer whose work has been seen in Harper's, The Village Voice, In These Times, Extra!, Dox, Black Book and other publications. He is also a founding editor and writer for The Brooklyn Rail.
MARK GORTON(Co-Producer)
Mark is the founder of The Opening Planning Project and Lime Wire LLC, as well as Managing Director and the owner of Tower Research Capital LLC. As an undergraduate at Yale University, Mark studied electrical engineering and was graduated magna cum laude. He then earned a Masters degree in electrical engineering at Stanford University. After Stanford, Mark worked as an electrical engineer for Martin Marietta (now part of Lockheed Martin) where he specialized in digital signal processing and speech recognition. He created modems for the Air Force which were designed to perform in the presence of enemy jamming signals on the electronic battlefield of the future. This experience helped hone the mathematical and computer skills which have made the development of his current trading methodologies possible. From 1991-1993, Mark earned an MBA at Harvard. Mark then joined Credit Suisse First Boston where he worked as a trader in the fixed income proprietary-trading department from 1993-1998. Mark was the most profitable and most consistently profitable trader in his group.
PAUL STEELY WHITE(Consulting Producer)
Paul Steely White is the Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives, the leading local bicycle, pedestrian and transportation reform group in the United States. Paul is an internationally known author and lecturer on bicycling, walking and transportation reform. Paul is quoted frequently on these issues by the local and national news media and has appeared frequently in local, national, and international media. He has also appeared in publications such as The New York Times, New York Daily News, New York Post, and the New York Observer. Paul is frequently invited to speak on pedestrian safety, traffic calming and cycling issues by transportation and community organizations, including the Transportation Research Board (TRB). Paul has a degree in Biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Masters Degree in Environmental Science from the University of Montana in Missoula. Before joining Transportation Alternatives in April 2003, Paul served as Regional Director for the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, a non-profit group based in New York City.
SOHRAB HABIBION(Composer)
After cutting his teeth in high school punk bands, Sohrab started singing and playing guitar in Edsel, a D.C. indie rock outfit that released 4 critically acclaimed albums and numerous singles. He moved to New York in 1997, acquired a handful of computer and studio skills, and focused on various audio projects between graphic design gigs. Sohrab has written, recorded, edited and mixed music, sound effects and dialog for cartoons, games, Web sites and other assorted interactive media. He has worked with the well-regarded French singer Alain Bashung, Brazilian-American guitarist Arto Lindsay, the NYC-based post-punk band Girls Against Boys, SoHo design company Funny Garbage and even with Debbie Harry on the score by experimental New York choreographer, dancer and director Richard Move for Mikhail Baryshnikov's White Oak Dance Project. Sohrab and Michael also scored Arranged for Cicala Filmworks and recently completed the music for To Have Not, And To Hold, a documentary for PBS' Frontline series.
MICHAEL HAMPTON(Composer)
Michael began his career in the early 80's Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, playing guitar and writing music for, among others, S.O.A (with Henry Rollins) and One Last Wish (with members of Fugazi), releasing several records on the seminal Dischord label. Later he was the songwriter/guitarist for Manifesto, whose sole LP made them press darlings in England, where they were lauded by both the NME and Melody Maker. Since then Michael has scored Activision's "Minority Report" video game and an impressive 66 documentaries for the Discovery Channel, including 17 episodes of the award-winning "Wings" series and, more recently, "The Chain." He just completed music for "Brilliant Simplicity," his second documentary collaboration with Metropolis magazine. Michael's music has been used by 20th Century Fox, TLC, Lifetime, Paramount, HBO, the WB, NBC, Nick Jr and MTV. He and Sohrab also scored Arranged for Cicala Filmworks and recently completed the music for To Have Not, And To Hold, a documentary for PBS' Frontline series.