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

A Roundy and a Roundy: Take the Money, Bill!

That was then! Cartoon: Bill Roundy

Editorial cartoonist Bill Roundy by editorial cartoonist Bill Roundy.
Editorial cartoonist Bill Roundy by editorial cartoonist Bill Roundy.
Editorial cartoon of Bill Roundy by editorial cartoonist Bill Roundy.

Sleepy de Blasio strikes again!

Our editorial cartoonist Bill Roundy couldn't help being infuriated at the mayor's ongoing reluctance to create more space for pedestrians and cyclists on the crowded Queensboro Bridge — a bizarre public opposition to a project that Streetsblog even lined up the funding for!

You remember your history: First, the conversion of one lane of car traffic into a pedestrian path couldn't happen, the city said, until the completion of a roadway project on the upper level of the span. Then the city said it couldn't do the work because the lane would require a special security fence that would supposedly cost "multi" millions of dollars.

More recently, officials trotted out a new excuse: the work would require much more than a mere fence, but new designs for pedestrians at the entrance and exit of the bridge (though that appears unlikely).

To our cartoonist, the mayor first was stalling, now he's just being obstinate — and for no reason, given that he has consistently said he wants "the future" of New York to be more about sustainable modes of transportation and less about the private car.

What better way to start that process to Utopia than by taking away a single lane from cars on a bridge that often has more cyclists and pedestrians on it anyway (albeit all crammed into the north outer roadway currently)?

All of Bill Roundy's cartoons are archived here.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Thursday’s Headlines: Tisch Comes Clean Edition

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch finally commented on her department's crackdown on cyclists. Plus more news.

May 15, 2025

Tisch Rap: NYPD Criminal E-bike Summonses Surge 4,000 Percent

The NYPD wrote twice as many criminal court summonses to e-bike riders in two weeks than it wrote all of last year — an astronomical increase that is a remnant of a repudiated racially biased police practice.

May 15, 2025

Quiet Desperation: NYPD’s Tisch Didn’t Tell DOT About Her Crackdown on Cycling

The NYPD commissioner did not inform her counterpart at the Department of Transportation that police would begin issuing criminal summonses to cyclists.

May 15, 2025

Not the Same Ol’ MTA: Cost of Upgrading Subway Signals is Cut in Half

A new design-build strategy, plus removing old signals fully, is credited for cutting costs in half. Take that, Sean Duffy.

May 15, 2025

Lander, Labor Activists Slam Cuomo After ‘Goliath’ DoorDash Gives $1M

The donation from the the app company is seen as a way of influencing a possible future mayor to side with the tech giant.

May 14, 2025
See all posts