Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Bicycle Safety

Mayoral Candidates Take a Stand on NYPD’s Treatment of… Transit Crime

Quick, what aspect of police work and law enforcement were mayoral contenders addressing when they said the following at Friday's candidate forum?

    • Bill de Blasio: "It's hard to report crimes and get the kind of response that you deserve...The police need more training to treat these crimes with urgency...Police need better training and we need to strengthen the laws."
    • Christine Quinn: "If we see any situation where police or DA's are not taking those crimes seriously, we need to take action no matter what elected position we are in."

Were they talking about traffic violence and NYPD's lackluster crash investigations? Nope, they were responding to questions about assault against bus operators and harassment and crime against bus and subway passengers.

Safety on the transit system is important, but so is safety on the streets. And so far the candidates haven't approached the NYPD's failures on traffic violence with the same fervor they displayed Friday evening for tackling transit crime.

Tom Allon called for "GropeStat" to pinpoint problem harassment locations. "If there's somebody who's a serial offender, the DA's office should take away his MetroCard. Ban him from the subway, ban him from the bus forever," he said.

Streetsblog followed up with Allon after the forum to ask if this banned-for-life standard should apply to deadly drivers. "There should be a zero-tolerance policy. We have to crack down on people who are a menace to other people," he said. "It's one of those crimes that doesn't get enough attention."

Also at Friday's forum, Allon -- who called gas surcharges a "sin tax" -- took a perplexing view of bicycling, saying that the Bloomberg administration has installed bike lanes "in a hodgepodge way." He said the city needs a "coordinated and intelligent strategy for bike lanes" that places them in residential areas and not on commercial streets, "so we don't impede traffic."

"We've got this bike-share program coming up, which will obviously be a boon to the city," Allon added. But he quickly found the dark cloud to this silver lining. "I'm concerned about 15,000 bikes being on the streets in the next years," he said.

The other candidates who mentioned bicycling and walking were Adolfo Carrión, who said NYC needs "to create a bike-friendly city and bike friendly workplaces," and Albanese, who offered a strong endorsement of bike lanes. The other candidates remained silent on the issue at Friday's forum.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

New Bill Would Block Apps From Deactivating Workers Without Cause

A Brooklyn Council member wants delivery app companies to be more human and less robot.

July 18, 2025

Friday Video: Is Berlin a Great Biking City?

Have recent moves by anti-bike, pro-car legislators ruined the experience in the capital of a unified Germany? Sort of!

July 18, 2025

Eyes on the Street: Meeker Avenue Bike Lane Is a Failure

The Department of Transportation still hasn't finished a critical bike lane under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway that the agency has been stalling for over four years even after identifying the strip's danger and lack of proper signals.

July 18, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Cuomo’s Road Rage Edition

Why does Andrew Cuomo drive so recklessly? Plus other news.

July 18, 2025

Fixing Third Ave. Was Once ‘Top of List’ For Eric Adams — But as Mayor He Backed Off

Mayor Adams has delayed a redesign of Brooklyn's Third Avenue despite once saying safety fixes there should be "at the top of our list."

July 17, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines: Jerry Nadler Edition

U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler faced off with Sean Duffy on Capitol Hill. Plus more news.

July 17, 2025
See all posts