Is a 1.3 mph Increase in Crosstown Traffic Speed “Innovative?”

The Staten Island Advance reports on Monday’s press conference outlining the qualities that leading City Council members would like to see in the next DOT Commissioner. The Bloomberg Administration
responded to the Council with the following statement:

The Mayor will appoint a commissioner who will carry out policies to meet the sustainability challenges he outlined in his ‘2030’ speech and will continue [outgoing DOT] Commissioner Weinshall’s work reducing pedestrian fatalities and increasing safety for all New Yorkers through the implementation of innovative programs like Thru Streets.

The Advance also notes: 

Bloomberg, who with Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden pushed through the unprecedented bans on smoking and trans fats, should take that same intrepid approach with the next transportation commissioner, said Gene Russianoff, attorney with the Straphangers Campaign.

Meanwhile, a source inside DOT Commissioner Weinshall’s office says that Deputy Commissioner for Traffic Operations Michael Primeggia, who is often credited by Weinshall as the architect of DOT’s Thru Streets program, is “being considered” for the commissioner’s job.