NEW YORK.- On Thursday, October 2 at 6 p.m., the New York Transit Museum will present a screening of the documentary “Contested Streets: Breaking NYC Gridlock,” followed by a discussion led by Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives, Paul Steely White. This evening about sustainability and transportation will take place at the Transit Museum’s subway station home in Downtown Brooklyn. It is free to the public.

Produced in 2006, “Contested Streets” is as relevant today to the city’s transportation debate, as it was when it was first released. The film recalls the rich diversity of New York City’s street life before the automobile age, and travels to cities around the world where innovative solutions have succeeded in breaking the chokehold of urban traffic. New Yorkers focused on rising oil prices, greenhouse gases, squeezed mass transit budgets and the defeat of Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan will enjoy a lively and thoughtful evening about the balance between urban growth and sustainable, city-friendly transportation.

Paul Steely White will lead a discussion about these critical issues. As Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives, White is a leading spokesperson for the movement to reclaim the city’s streets from the automobile. Transportation Alternatives promotes a “rational transportation system” based on a hierarchy that promotes walking, cycling and public transit, and discourages single occupancy vehicular travel.

The New York Transit Museum is the only institution dedicated to collecting, preserving and interpreting the history of public transit systems in the New York metropolitan area. Its mission is to make the Museum’s extensive collection accessible and meaningful to the broadest possible audience. In partnering with Transportation Alternatives, the Transit Museum embraces an expanding role as a historical resource in the important debate about the future of our city streets and the role of public transportation.