Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
DOT

Eric Adams Taps Ydanis Rodriguez to Head the Department of Transportation

12:01 PM EST on December 20, 2021

Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez. File photo: Gersh Kuntzman

It's our December donation drive. Help us stay on these important stories. Click here or the icon above.
It's our December donation drive. Help us stay on these important stories. Click here or the icon above.

Well, this could be some good news.

Sources have told the New York Post that Mayor-elect Eric Adams has selected Washington Heights Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez — a key supporter of Vision Zero, but also a key political supporter of the incoming mayor — to be his Department of Transportation commissioner. And advocates are cheering the move, which was later confirmed by the Adams transition team.

"In his years as Council Member Ydanis has been very committed to street safety as a goal and we are delighted by his nomination," said pedestrian advocate and Manhattan Community Board 4 Transportation Committee Co-Chair Christine Berthet.

Danny Pearlstein of Riders Alliance says his group has long seen Rodriguez as an ally.

"Ydanis Rodriguez has been a long time champion of fairer, safer streets that work for all New Yorkers," he said. "We look forward to partnering with him, Mayor Adams and Speaker Adams to bring about much better bus service, increase equity and reduce our carbon emissions."

Paul Steely White, the former head of Transportation Alternatives, said he was initially "disappointed" when Rodriguez became chairman of the Council's transportation committee in 2014 because he wanted Queens Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer to get that post. But White was pleasantly surprised on Monday.

"It did not take long for Ydanis to prove himself, and win me and others over," White told Streetsblog. "From his unyielding support for Vision Zero and Families for Safe Streets, to car-free day and transformative projects like car-free parks and the 14th Street busway, he's dedicated his career to leading the transition to the post-car city. I am confident that he'll continue in that vein, and implement Mayor Adam's vision for a most just, accessible city."

Eric McClure of StreetsPAC echoed that.

"I’m optimistic that he will ... surprise people as DOT Commissioner the way he surprised a lot of people, me included, as Council Transportation Chair," McClure said. "There was a fair amount of trepidation amongst advocates when he got that post, and I think it’s safe to say he significantly exceeded those expectations."

Rodriguez is well known to street safety advocates for his support for Mayor de Blasio's Vision Zero initiative. Here's a short resume:

Ydanis Rodriguez (left) with then-transportation Alternatives Executive Director (and skeptic) Paul Steely White and Council colleague Jimmy Van Bramer.
Ydanis Rodriguez (left) with then-transportation Alternatives Executive Director (and skeptic) Paul Steely White and Council colleague Jimmy Van Bramer.
Ydanis Rodriguez (left) with then-transportation Alternatives Executive Director (and skeptic) Paul Steely White and Council colleague Jimmy Van Bramer.

As solid as Rodriguez is on the issues, he will face a huge challenge running the DOT, a vast, sprawling agency with a $1.3-billion budget that is about to take over key responsibilities over crash investigations, outdoor restaurant regulation, open streets, much bigger legal mandates for bus and bike lane construction and, most important, an imperative to bring down road deaths after the bloodiest year of the Vision Zero era. The agency is much-criticized for prioritizing drivers above all other road users. Not to mention that Adams's electoral coalition included many drivers and placard-class members, so it's a question of whether Rodriguez is being hired to appease or to challenge them.

"He will have to dig deep in how to achieve traffic safety by removing engineering and cultural obstacles in the agencies," said Berthet when asked about the challenges.

McClure also suggested that Rodriguez would be inheriting a demoralized agency — something other insiders have said as well.

"It will be very important that he surround himself with smart, progressive policy people at DOT, retain the people who are doing good work now and boost morale internally, and continue to push policies that he’s embraced as Transportation Chair, like greatly reducing the number of cars in the city," McClure said. "He’s clearly been frustrated at times by the administration’s recalcitrance on policies that the Council has advanced, and now he’ll be in a position to do something about it. I also think it’s a positive thing that there’s a well established working relationship between Ydanis and advocates, and that should help us all hit the ground running."

In the end, most advocates believe that Rodriguez represents a solid pick because he has a good heart.

"In his time as chair of the Committee on Transportation, Ydanis Rodriguez demonstrated immense compassion for victims of traffic violence," said Doug Gordon, co-host of the "War on Cars" podcast. "It's that kind of empathy for vulnerable street users that I believe will inform his work at DOT in the years ahead."

Berthet recalled that Rodriguez once asked Families for Safe Streets members to speak first at a Council hearing so that DOT officials would be in the room to hear the testimony.

"That kind of thing," Berthet said, "is culture busting."

Clarence Eckerson of Streetfilms put together a short montage of Rodriguez's greatest hits:

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Council Votes to Repeal Decade-Old Law, Expedite Bike Lane Installation

The City Council repealed a notorious. out-dated law that imposed lengthy delays on the city before it could break ground on new bike lanes.

December 7, 2023

Dynamic! MTA Could Hike Congestion Pricing Toll 25% on Gridlock Alert Days

The MTA said it had that power, and modeled it in its environmental assessment (see footnote 2 below), but no one ever reported it, until Wednesday.

December 6, 2023

Judge Orders Trial for Hit-and-Run Driver Who Turned Down ‘Reasonable’ Sentencing Offer

Judge Brendan Lantry turns down driver's request for mere probation for killing a delivery worker in 2022. The trial will start in January.

December 6, 2023

Wednesday’s Headlines: Another Big Day at City Hall Edition

Today is going to be another busy day for the livable streets crowd. So get ready with today's headlines.

December 6, 2023

Reporter’s Notebook: Will Eric Adams Ever Publicly Embrace Congestion Pricing?

The governor, the head of the MTA and the city's leading transit thinkers all celebrated congestion pricing on Tuesday as an historic moment while Mayor Adams spent Tuesday failing to live up to it.

December 6, 2023
See all posts