Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Bicycling

Think Cars Will Always Dominate Because ‘New York’s Not Holland’? Well, Neither Was Holland!

This is what many New York streets could be like. Photo: Clarence Eckerson Jr.

This one's for all you politicians and community board types out there who reject street safety plans because "New York's not Holland."

Video Valkyrie Clarence Eckerson has just returned from Delft — and his latest mini-doc for Streetfilms shows again why it's foolish to protest life-saving road redesigns on the grounds that New York can't be as nice as The Netherlands. The reason? The Netherlands weren't even The Netherlands until they were The Netherlands.

With expatriates Chris and Melissa Bruntlett as his guides, Eckerson reveals the hidden history of the canal-ringed western Holland city sandwiched between Rotterdam and The Hague. Decades ago, Holland was the Detroit of Europe — filled with cars and roadways designed exclusively for their use. (See below)

This is what the road to the local university once looked like. Now, it's a bike and busway.
This is what the road to the local university once looked like. Now, it's a bike and busway.
This is what the road to the local university once looked like. Now, it's a bike and busway.

But with political will — and the desire to bring livability back to their car-choked streets — the Delfites fought back. It was a 20- to 30-year process to get the cars out of the city center, Chris Bruntlett says in the film. "They did it one street at a time."

That's how the revolution will start here. New Yorkers will simply get sick of roadways with 225,000 crashes per year and 61,000 injuries per year, and 200-plus deaths per year. So, no, maybe we're not Holland yet.

But why not aspire to become better than we are now? Cars are a lifestyle choice that is destroying our city. Can we just make other choices easier?

This was another murderstrip before the Dutch fixed it.
This was another murderstrip before the Dutch fixed it.
This was another murderstrip before the Dutch fixed it.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

City Hall Pauses Upper West Side ‘Smart Curb’ Parking Reforms Amid Predictable Driver Backlash

DOT's nascent effort to convert 70 curbside spots on the Upper West Side from free to metered parking is on hold after drivers threw a fit, City Hall said.

August 26, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: Talking with Ryan Russo (Yes, THAT Ryan Russo) About Bike Networks

The head of NACTO (and maybe the head of NYC DOT in waiting?) talks to America's leading transportation podcast.

August 26, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines: Pay-to-Play Edition

Well-funded delivery app lobbyists are running roughshod at the City Council. Plus more news.

August 26, 2025

Mamdani Pledges to Finish Adams’s Abandoned Bike and Bus Lanes Amid City Hall Bribery Scandal

Mamdani vowed to complete street redesigns that Mayor Adams killed due to political pressure and, in at least one case, alleged bribes.

August 25, 2025

Monday’s Headlines: Summer Streets Post Mortem Edition

One last halcyonic look at Summer Streets. Plus a veritable encyclopedia of news from the weekend.

August 25, 2025

STREETSBLOG ABROAD: We’ll Never Have Paris … Unless We Start Rebuilding Our City Like The French Did

Où es-tu allée, Anne Hidalgo? Notre ville tourne vers vous ses yeux solitaires.

August 25, 2025
See all posts