Divorce NY Style: The Council and DOT Have Moved to Splitsville
It’s the battle of who could care less — and safety is losing. Buried in last week’s report that officially confirmed the Department of Transportation’s failure to meet legal benchmarks for bus- and bike-lane construction was this juicy tidbit: Out of 51 City Council members, only six responded to a request from DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez for recommended locations where street safety improvements should be made in their districts. Rodriguez had sent the request after a Council oversight hearing at which Council members reiterated frequent complaints that the DOT either ignores their district or engages in top-down, one-size-fits-all bigfooting against local desires. “Your suggestions … will be a critical component of our data-driven planning efforts to achieve the laudable goals of 50 miles of protected bike lanes and 30 miles of protected bus lanes a year,” Rodriguez wrote at the time. Despite the agency’s apparent effort to listen to the electeds closest to the voters, Council members chose one of three responses:
No
Hell no!
Not my job!
The “no’s” came from lawmakers who have traditionally supported street safety projects and from some who have traditionally not supported street safety projects. Council Member Gale Brewer (D-Upper West Side), for example, admitted through a spokesman that she did not respond — because her office has sent so many letters to DOT that have gotten no response. The “hell no’s” came from staunch opponents of the DOT’s efforts to make roadways safer for cyclists. Council Minority Leader and bike lane opponent Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island), made his opinion about the agency’s whole endeavor clear. “Where is the box for suggestions on how to help drivers get from point A to point B in their cars,” Borelli told DOT in an October email obtained by Streetsblog. “What is the point of this exercise if no one at DOT gave a fiddler’s fart about the opinion of residents, elected officials, and community board in opposition to the recently installed Hylan Blvd bike lane.” Borelli’s definition of DOT’s mandate is one that focuses solely on drivers’ experience begins at home, not at 55 Water St. According to the Census, Staten Island residents owned 216,422 cars in 2000. Just 20 years later, there are 248,370 cars on Staten Island, an increase of 15 percent. In a call with Streetsblog, Borelli admitted that he has no interest in adding cycling lanes on the Rock. “If I get an email from DOT about a bike lane I don’t even open it up,” he said, adding that he found Rodriguez’s email “irrelevant because the problem with bike lanes is that they put them wherever they want without any significant input or need.” And though Borelli (and others) have long held that DOT ignores communities, that may be how the city’s top elected officials want it. Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Transportation Chair Selvena Brooks-Powers apparently did not offer suggestions to Rodriguez, saying through a spokesperson that picking corridors for bike and bus lanes is a job for city experts, not lawmakers. “The law places responsibility for identifying bike and bus lane locations for the Streets Plan, and following through on them, with the administering agency, not lawmakers,” said Mara Davis in a statement. “Redirecting responsibility for this work is inconsistent with the details and spirit of the law that DOT is tasked with implementing.” The result [PDF] of all this buck-passing, anger and apathy is clear: In 2023, the DOT built just 5.2 miles of protected bus lanes out of 30 miles required, and 32 miles of protected bike lanes out of 50 miles mandated by the Council’s 2019 legislation. Rodriguez’s request for help came amid a year when cycling deaths were soaring, eventually reaching a horrifying 30 fatalities, and buses slowed back down to 8.05 miles per hour, the lowest speeds since the pandemic, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. DOT consistently blames Council apathy for its failure to meet legal benchmarks, citing “political challenges” that affect its work. “Often attempts to redesign streets are met with opposition from elected officials and community boards,” the latest report reads. But it’s also true that Mayor Adams cut agency spending by 5 percent and there was a considerable staff exodus during the pandemic, as Streetsblog previously reported. And the mayor has also set up an entirely new chain of command, led by the mayor’s chief adviser and opponent of street improvement projects Ingrid Lewis-Martin, to intervene in prominent cases, such as the Fordham Road bus upgrades in the Bronx, the McGuinness Boulevard road diet, and the Ashland Place protected bike lanes. That new chain of command and a cityscape littered with stalled or canceled projects makes a mockery of Rodriguez’s request for input on the ground since projects like McGuinness Boulevard had the backing of all the local elected officials, yet was still watered down by the mayor, who publicly mocked local Council Member Lincoln Restler in the process.
Disappointing. Despite previous commitment to build a better Bedford Ave, the corridor has dropped off the @NYC_DOT list, despite being in a priority Tier 1 area and requiring little else than flipping the location of existing bike lane and parking. What’s up, @OsseChi? pic.twitter.com/YoUdyeU4uv
We are your Cost-Effective Solution for Standard & Urgent Delivery of Small Packages around Seattle, WA and the Greater Puget Sound.
At The Seattle Courier Company, we are not just a delivery service. We are a solution when it matters most. We work with all budgets to provide the solution you need today! Give us a call any time 24/7 365 at the number listed below. We are happy to take your call anytime around the clock!
We Are Experienced, Licensed, and Insured Couriers Who Are Dedicated to The Needs of our Customers!
What We Deliver
Mail, Gifts, Garments, Auto Parts, Dry Cleaning, Tools, Supplies, Groceries, Documents, Process Servers, Small Errands, Medicine, Messages, Merchandise, YOU NAME IT!
How We Do It
No Mileage Fees. No Peak Charges. No Excess Waiting Charge.
Weekend Delivery Available!
Airport Deliveries Available!
Free Return Service within 10 miles of pickup address!
We Palletize Shipments!
Cargo Storage Available upon Request!
Drop Shipping to USPS, Fedex, and UPS!
Local Convenience Delivery Available (Food, Snacks, Groceries, etc...)
Comments
Post a Comment