When Citi Bike is introduced in New York on Monday, it will resemble a sort of cycling stew — bulky bikes to match the behemoths of London, a pricing model that resembles Washington’s and pliable station hardware borrowed from Montreal. . . .

Critics in Washington have accused the program there of becoming a subsidy for white residents and the highly educated, two groups disproportionally represented among members.

In Minneapolis, a largely car-dependent public needed to be convinced that bike sharing was not “a crazy socialist notion,” said Bill Dossett, the executive director for Nice Ride Minnesota, which operates from April to November.

In New York, it appears, officials have been advocating a similar overhaul of the streets since 2009, when the administration’s report imagined a 49,000-bike system. . . . The study cites cycling’s health benefits, the promise of job creation and the idea that it would burnish New York’s “image as a ‘green’ leader.”

Read the rest of this article in the New York Times.

Click here for The City Project’s comment on a New York Times op-ed on bike share programs.

Bike Share in Sevilla, Spain

Riosmontt-trial.org reports:

Only ten days after a trial court issued its historic verdict convicting Efrain Rios Montt for genocide and crimes against humanity, and sentencing him to prison for 80 years, Guatemala’s Constitutional Court, in a 3-2 ruling, overturned the verdict and set the trial back to where it was April 19. This verdict had been the first genocide conviction of a former head of state in a domestic, rather than international, court. . . .

The Constitutional Court, in its judgment on Monday, overturned the verdict and annulled the final days of the trial—sending the trial back to where it was on April 19. (On April 19, the tribunal had heard all prosecution witnesses, but still awaited the presentation of some of the defense witnesses, closing arguments and, of course, the final verdict and sentence.) The Constitutional Court also ordered the official suspension of the trial pending the full resolution of certain legal challenges raised by the defense.

At least for now, the Constitutional Court ordered that the same trial court – Presiding Judge Yassmin Barrios and her associates Pablo Xitumul and Patricia Bustamante – reconvene to consider the case. It gave the tribunal 24 hours to comply “exactly” with these orders or risk dismissal from their posts and the possibility of civil or criminal sanction. In its judgment, the Constitutional Court did not acknowledge explicitly that the trial had already completed, concluding with a conviction.

Read the rest of this article at Riosmontt-trial.org.

the court’s opinion in Spanish is here.

The Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre reports that the Constitutional Court by a vote of 3 to 2 has overturned the conviction and sentence of Rios Montt for genocide and human rights violation. The court ordered that the proceedings return to April 19, 2013.

Robert Garcia writes:

US enjoys impunity for violating international law repeatedly in Guatemala: US overthrew the democratically elected government in 1954, according to CIA. US for decades was complicit in and sponsored genocide, wiping out entire populations of Maya Ixtil; killing, disappearing, or torturing 200,000 people; and systematic rape and sexual violence until peace accords in 1996, according to UN. US intentionally infected Guatemalan people with sexually transmitted diseases without their informed consent beginning in the 1940s in Nazi style experiments condemned at Nuremberg, and left victims untreated and uncompensated to the present day. Waller accepts the premise that US is guilty of crimes against humanity, but argues that US should not be held responsible because “a lot of bad guys had to go free.” The reason US bad guys are free is that the victors write the history. Justice based on deterrence, retribution, and compensation demands US be held accountable.

Read the rest of this discussion at the New York Times

Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchu and Robert Garcia, Anahuak Youth Sports Association Tournament of Peace and Hope

A monument honors the victims inside the main church of Nebaj. Danielle Volpe for the Wall Street Journal

BBC reports:

A court in Guatemala has found former military leader Efrain Rios Montt guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity.

A three-judge tribunal sentenced the 86-year-old to 80 years in prison.

Rios Montt was convicted of ordering the deaths of 1,771 people of the Ixil Maya ethnic group during his time in office in 1982 and 1983.

It is the first time a former head of state had been found guilty of genocide by a court in his or her own country.

The trial for peace, truth and justice in Guatemala . . .

Green Justice reports The City Project’s Assistant Director and Counsel Ramya Sivasubramanian testified before the California Assembly Committee on Local Government to promote community health, parks and recreation for all through reform of Quimby park funding on May 8, 2013 (AB 1359 – Hernandez). KCET’s SoCal Connected will also air the news story “Quimby and The Laws That Govern L.A. Parks” on Friday, May 10, 2013, at 9:30 p.m. KPCC Southern California Public Radio airs “LA mayor’s race: What about the parks?” on May 8, 2013.

KCET SoCal > Departures > Land of Sunshine > Green Justice > Community Health, Parks and Recreation for All: Reform Quimby Park Funding Statewide

Low-income people and people of color disproportionately lack equal access to green space throughout California. This has profound impacts on health and quality of life.

The City Project’s policy report Healthy Parks, Schools and Communities: Green Access and Equity for Southern California documents that children of color living in poverty with no access to a car suffer first and worst in access to green space, active living, and health.

The parks and health reform bill, which passed out of committee after the hearing, would provide cities and counties with the flexibility they need to invest park development fees in park-poor areas – defined as areas with less than three acres of parks per thousand residents. The bill would also authorize the use of Quimby fees to promote joint use of parks, schools, and pools to improve park access for all.

Click to read the letter from diverse allies in support of the bill. The diverse and growing alliance includes members of the Acjachemen Nation, Anahuak Youth Sports Association, the Asian and Pacific Islander Obesity Prevention Alliance, the Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council, California Wilderness Coalition, The City Project, Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles, and Retired California State Parks Superintendent Jack Shu.

KCET SoCal Connected Public Television Quimby and The Laws That Govern L.A. Parks

Learn more about park funding reform by tuning in to the news story “Quimby and The Laws That Govern L.A. Parks” by SoCal Connected on KCET-HD public television on Friday, May 10, at 9:30 pm. “Ever wonder why there aren’t more parks in your LA neighborhood? It’s not a lack of money. There are millions of dollars just sitting there ready to be spent, but a little known law seems to be slowing down its spending and slowing down the greening of LA.” The show includes an interview with Robert Garcia from The City Project and Green Justice.

KPCC Southern California Public Radio LA mayor’s race: What about the parks?

Listen to the complete story on KPCC Southen California Public Radio:

Los Angeles mayoral candidates talk about improving quality of life, and for many residents that translates into access to parks and recreation programs. But today’s parks system is financially stressed.

It’s a story of closed pools, locked gates, unlit fields, canceled or diminished recreation programs and barely-staffed playgrounds. . . .

Speaking about the mayor’s race at Vista Hermosa Nature Park near Downtown L.A., [Robert] Garcia said the candidates have both pledged to support The City Project’s goals. Those include creating more park space in L.A., revising funding formulas to improve parks in every neighborhood and equalizing residents’ access.

Listen to the complete story on KPCC Southen California Public Radio:

Los Angeles mayoral candidates talk about improving quality of life, and for many residents that translates into access to parks and recreation programs. But today’s parks system is financially stressed.

It’s a story of closed pools, locked gates, unlit fields, canceled or diminished recreation programs and barely-staffed playgrounds. . . .

Speaking about the mayor’s race at Vista Hermosa Nature Park near Downtown L.A., [Robert] Garcia said the candidates have both pledged to support The City Project’s goals. Those include creating more park space in L.A., revising funding formulas to improve parks in every neighborhood and equalizing residents’ access.

“So that’s good news,” Garcia said. “The bad news is that politicians make promises all the time and then don’t keep them.”

The City Project cannot endorse a candidate in the mayor’s race, but it does evaluate their records. Garcia said Councilman Eric Garcetti claims to have created more new parks in his district than any other council member. A spokeswoman for the Recreation and Parks Department said that could not be verified because they don’t keep such information by district.

Garcia said he was disappointed with Greuel as controller because she did only one audit of parks, whereas her predecessor did numerous audits.

“It’s still hard to distinguish the two candidates because neither one has done much,” Garcia said.

Vista Hermosa Nature Park is everything most L.A. city parks are not. . . . It’s an example, Garcia says, of what could happen elsewhere in L.A, elects a mayor who is dedicated to improving city parks.

Click here to read the pledges by Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel to create diverse, thriving, healthy communities for all.

Click here to read the letter from diverse allies seeking full and fair park funding for all.

Sharon McNary, KPCC, at MRCA’s Vista Hermosa Natural Park