A Roundy and a Roundy: Take the Money, Bill!
That was then! Cartoon: 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.
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