Today’s Headlines

  • More on Cuomo’s Dismissive Comments About Move NY Plan (Capital, NY1)
  • News Tells Cuomo to “Kick the Tires” on Toll Reform: “Time to Cross That Bridge”
  • Driver Seriously Injures Woman, 62, at Canal and Mott; Driver “Not Immediately Charged” (DNA)
  • More Coverage of Boro Ped Safety Plans: Post, AMNY, NY1, WNBC, News 12, DNA, TL, WCBS 1, 2
  • 72 Speeding Tickets in a Month Equals a 2,300 Percent Enforcement Spike for 115th Precinct (DNA)
  • Vision Zero? DOT to Widen Four Busy S.I. Intersections With Turn Lanes; Pols Thrilled (Advance)
  • WFUV Follows Gene Aronowitz to Senior Centers, Where He Educates the Public on Traffic Safety
  • EDC Plans Second LIC Ferry Dock Next to Expanding Residential Developments (Queens Courier)
  • Prospect Lefferts Gardens Parking Lot to Become Residential Development (DNA)
  • Citing Cost, Experts Pour Cold Water on de Blasio’s Sunnyside Yards Affordable Housing Plan (DNA)
  • The Times Visits the Dangers of NYC’s Street-Level Railroad Crossings, Past and Present

More headlines at Streetsblog USA

  • J

    Let’s be clear, Vision Zero is NOT the all-encompassing safety goal that guides all of DOT’s decisions. No, it is a convenient way to appease safety advocates, while generally continuing business as usual in the city. Case in point, DOT is billing a road widening project on Staten Island, which increases crossing distances, as a “pedestrian safety project”. Does anyone buy that B.S.?

  • Jeff

    Just to play devil’s advocate, while straight-up additional capacity is silly because of induced demand, legitimate “bottlenecks” in a street network are indeed an inefficiency that should be addressed. I have no idea whether or not that’s the case here, as I’m not too familiar with the street network in this particular area.

  • BBnet3000

    I think the point of J’s post is that they’re now throwing in “safety” as a justification for every project.

  • kevd

    While some would call Clarkson Ave. Flatbush, and some would call it Lefferts Gardens, or Prospect Lefferts Gardens. And many would call it both Flatbush AND Lefferts Gardens, noone would ever call it Crown Heights.
    Unless they had no idea what Crown Heights, Flatbush and Lefferts Gardens are.
    Sorry to be that guy, but… c’mon! It even says it in the linked article’s dateline.

  • Not a Statistician

    That DNA Info story on the 115th is like congratulating someone for flushing the toilet or closing the refrigerator. How low is the Vision Zero bar when writing around 2 speeding tickets a day while letting other moving violations fall gets a kind of “WOW LOOKIT!” headline from local reporters? Almost no critical thought went into that story whatsoever.

  • Jeff

    And the sad thing is people actually believe this, because we refuse to hold motorists accountable for their individual behavior. That thing where they abruptly change lanes in order to get a few car lengths ahead and then speed up to “beat the light” and then honk just for good measure? That’s just because the intersection doesn’t have enough capacity. They’re just a product of their environment. Completely helpless.

  • Kevin Love

    This is the government equivalent of a root beer company putting “caffeine-free” on their label. Root beer is naturally caffeine free, but, hey, advertising. Just throw it in.

    See:

    http://www.amazon.com/Dads-Fashioned-Root-Beer-Liter/dp/B00GOKHIW8

  • vnm

    Eric Jaffe has a great take on the Move NY plan. Six reasons why it will succeed. He’s right.

    http://www.citylab.com/commute/2015/02/6-reasons-new-yorks-latest-traffic-pricing-plan-will-succeed/385581/

  • Simon Phearson

    A lot of DNA’s stuff is like that. It looks like what this “reporter” did was digest a statistical report, throw in some cross-references to other related DNA coverage, and then attribute a paraphrased statement to the precinct’s CO – it’s not even clear whether she bothered to call his office, the link points back to another DNA story last year. You can almost imagine the “reporter” writing the piece while sitting at her desk in her apartment, in her pajamas, looking out the window at the morning’s light while petting her lapcat absent-mindedly, sipping intermittently at a fresh cup of tea.

    It would really be great to have someone calling the precinct – or a second contact! gads! – and asking them about the overall dip, and why they seem to be focusing more on some violations rather than others, etc. As it is, I’m not sure she did much more than crib a press release (though one not linked by the story).

  • vnm

    Also Crain’s didn’t view Cuomo’s comments on toll reform as “dismissive.” They highlighted how he said they had merit and that he understood the practicality.

    http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20150219/BLOGS04/150219853/cuomo-says-toll-plan-has-merit-and-obstacles

  • millerstephen

    Yikes, my mistake. It’s been fixed.

  • Bolwerk

    The way I read his comments, he’s playing both fields but groping for an easy way to avoid doing anything. He doesn’t like publicly taking positions, but he’s obviously a roadhead.

    If he took an affirmative opinion on it, it might have a chance. But that would mean marshalling his Republikan friends in the state senate. I don’t know if they’d go for it without being bought somehow. Bloomberg gave them donations and did fundraising for them; maybe Cuomo and de Blasio could too?

  • I think it would be a mistake to interpret Cuomo’s remarks as anything other than polite dismissal. The strength of the Move NY plan is that it has in fact moved the needle of political support, and Cuomo specifically attacked that strength in his comments.

    I’m not saying his mind can’t be changed, but the message to take away from yesterday is that Cuomo has no affinity in his gut for this plan. He is a stone-cold politico, and getting him to support it is going to be a huge challenge.

  • vnm

    After reading the Crain’s piece and Eric Jaffe’s piece back to back, the impression I was left with, and I think it would be beneficial for the public at large to be left with, was that there’s momentum and this is moving closer to becoming a much-needed reality.

  • There is momentum in certain quarters, and we covered that Tuesday. But the plan is not going to succeed if we don’t focus on the fact that Cuomo is the primary obstacle. The governor’s remarks yesterday only reinforce that.

  • Andres Dee

    It’s really (technically) easy (and very popular) to lower the tolls on existing bridges & tunnels. It’s another thing to implement tolls where they don’t exist today. Advocates need to insure that the latter happens before the former, or (like Tappan Zee rail) it won’t.

  • Larry Littlefield

    Meanwhile, where is Jim Brennan? Not hiding behind Sheldon Silver anymore is he?

    I believe he proposed $2.5 billion. In borrowed money, to be paid back after he and his supporters leave town. For a $15 billion budget gap, that is almost entirely due to decisions he has voted “yes” for over 20 years.

  • Ian Turner