You get a crackdown! And you get a crackdown! And you get ...
The big news yesterday was the Mayor Adams and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch excitedly announcing that their "quality-of-life" pilot program — which has featured turning routine traffic violations by bike riders into criminal summonses, with increasingly absurd results — would expand citywide by the end of August.
It was covered by amNY, but we were also on hand at the press conference at the 69th Precinct station house in Canarsie.
We've seen enough of the NYPD's "quality of life" campaign to know that it's quickly turned into a war on cyclists. But since this was the first presser since Mayor Adams announced that he would make Bedford Avenue less safe by removing the bike lane there, I decided we'd ask about that. I thought you'd enjoy the exchange:
Question: Mr. Mayor, you put out a tweet over the weekend that said you're going to remove three blocks of a protected bike lane in Williamsburg in the name of safety. Since January 2024 on this roadway, Rockaway Parkway, between here and Belt Parkway, 155 people have been injured in 218 reported crashes, all of them by car drivers, including 66-year-old pedestrian Claude Blair, who was crossing Seaview just a few blocks from here. And pedestrian Esther Seeley, age 87, was struck and killed by a car driver nearby. Other Vision Zero cities have pedestrianized commercial strips to make roadways safer. Would you consider taking a road like that, or other roads, away from car drivers, who are doing 99.9 percent of the injuries in the city, according your own statistics, away from car drivers and give it to pedestrians for safety?
Answer: What I would do is sit down with my electeds that are here. I will sit down with my civic organizations and groups. I will sit down with the advocates ... in a room and determine what's the best way to continue the success that we have been doing in the city. ... I'm not going to do it [redesign streets] without speaking to my leaders and my communities. I'm not going to dictate to them. I'm going to work with them so we can have safer streets.
Fortunately for me, Council Member Mercedes Narcisse was nearby and I asked her, first, if she thinks car drivers are the primary threat to pedestrians. Fortunately for her, she agreed. Then she rambled on about how "most" of the crashes are caused by unlicensed drivers (which is not true) and how the city has to take care of drivers because they live in transit deserts.
"So you'll talk to the mayor about more transit and then redesigning streets for safety?" I asked her.
She promised she would. Then she drove off in her gold Mercedes-Benz G-wagon — the one with two camera-issued speeding tickets since March 11. She said her husband was driving the $100,000-plus SUV when the tickets were recorded, so maybe she'll talk to the mayor about that, too.
In other news:
- Speaking of hearing from "the community," the community of bike riders was certainly giving the mayor an earful on Bedford Avenue on Monday. (Streetsblog)
- I was a featured "expert" in the Guardian's coverage of the ongoing success of congestion pricing.
- The state is going to spend $37 million on car infrastructure, but at least we're getting a bike lane. (NY YIMBY)
- A Manhattan pedestrian was run over and killed by the driver of an MTA bus. (Patch)
- Andrew Cuomo's campaign for mayor is the ultimate drive-by:
- ... That said, it's probably best if he doesn't get behind the wheel. (Streetsblog, Hell Gate ... with a better headline than ours)
- It wouldn't be Bay Ridge without a senseless fight over bikes. (Brooklyn Eagle)
- And it wouldn't be a train station without a bar, so raise a glass to the first saloon inside Grand Central Madison. (NYDN)
- A cyclist was hurt badly in a Queens hit-and-run. (WABC7)
- Jersey City is crying out for Vision Zero enforcement. (Hudson County View)
- ... While the rest of us are crying out for carless streets so our kids can be safe and free. (Only Sky)
- And, finally, if you’re out having a good time in Williamsburg, look out for the cops writing open-container tickets in the Bedford Avenue station late on Saturday nights. Our tipster spotted these frolickers getting busted for a Bud Light:
