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FOR decades, New York City's Department of Transportation tried to make this town as friendly as possible to cars, mainly by giving them enough room to move as quickly as possible. Under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, however, the department has been encouraging alternative transportation by reassigning street space long reserved for cars and trucks to bikes, buses and pedestrians. To accommodate all this movement, the city can no longer be as accommodating as it has been toward stationary vehicles. Before traffic reaches a standstill, as it threatens to do, the city should start phasing out curbside parking. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]