Streetsblog provides high-quality journalism and analysis for free — which is something to be celebrated in an era of paywalls. Once a year, we ask for your tax-deductible donations to support our reporters and editors as they advance the movement to end car dependency in our communities.
If you already support our work, thank you! If not, can we ask for your help?This year's fundraiser includes a special gift for our biggest supporters. Don't miss out.
Together, we can create a more livable, walkable, bikeable, equitable and enjoyable city for all. Happy holidays from the Streetsblog team!
Presumptive Council Speaker Julie Menin says she wants to work with incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani on his affordability agenda — but her record suggests she won't be a complete partner on livable streets.
In an opening promissory note, the Upper East Side Democrat did say that street safety initiatives are of the “utmost importance.”
“From supporting expanded outdoor dining ... to supporting free buses, I’ve consistently backed efforts that improve how New Yorkers move through our city,” Menin told Streetsblog in a statement that also cited the "pressure" she brought on the Adams administration to open the South Outer Roadway of the Queensboro Bridge to pedestrians.
Menin said she's lined up the support to become Speaker when the new Council votes on Jan. 7. She did not endorse a mayoral candidate during the election cycle, but her district was a stronghold for ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo. That, plus her mixed record on livable streets issues, such as supporting a bike licensing bill, makes some activists nervous.
"I think obviously we are not fans of the bill," said Eric McClure, executive director of StreetsPAC. "We've pushed back hard against it. Regulation of bikes — whether they be analog or electric — has never worked anywhere. It's been counterproductive to encouraging people to cycle."
But overall, even a cautious hand like McClure was confident because "clearly she is really smart and her experience is pretty significant."
And others are working to assure the public that Menin is going to be a great partner for incoming Mayor Mamdani.
“There’s a reason so many of us who supported Mamdani are supporting Julie Menin,” said Council Member Shaun Abreu on X. “We’ve seen how Julie moves in public and in private, and we know she’ll stop at nothing to advance the affordability agenda.”
An Upper East Side e-bike mindset
Menin told Streetsblog in her statement — which came after she declined a face-to-face interview — that she is willing to work with Mamdani on making streets safer, but she is also a supporter of the growing backlash against e-bikes.
She shows up to meetings of the anti-bike E-Vehicle Safety Alliance, and has embraced the group's legislative agenda, such as a proposal to ban e-bikes from parks, even though e-bikes cause a tiny portion of the city’s traffic injuries.
The EVSA wants to ban e-bikes from parks.
Menin also remains a co-sponsor of Intro 606 by outgoing Council Member Bob Holden (D-Maspeth) that would require the Department of Transportation to create a system to license and register e-bikes, which DOT said would cost taxpayers $19 million. Menin said she supports the bill because older residents complain about feeling unsafe, but did not say if she would bring it to a vote next session. Instead, she shifted her statement to focus to regulating the delivery app industry.
“One area that could be considered in the Council’s next legislative session is licensing third-party delivery apps to ensure that their drivers are following the rules of the road,” Menin said. A third-party app licensing scheme has not yet been introduced in the Council, but it was a part of the Mayor Eric Adams's draft proposal for a Department of Sustainable Delivery, which Speaker Adrienne Adams never moved.
Staying on the fence
When it comes to street redesigns, Menin seems to want it both ways: she commiserates with Upper East Side drivers while saying she prioritizes safety for everyone. At a ribbon-cutting for the protected bike lane on Third Avenue, Menin was all smiles, but later, she sent a letter asking DOT to rethink the corridor’s “green wave” light timing, whose "benefit" she questioned. The DOT says it discourages e-bike riders from speeding and running red lights and reduces car speeds, which makes crashes less lethal.
She told the New York Post that the DOT should “review” a redesign that added more space between the bike lane and the car travel lane on E. 62nd Street near the Queensboro Bridge since car drivers were complaining that the cycling infrastructure impedes on their ability to dodge the Congestion Pricing toll, but was sure to add that the solution should “make our streets safer for pedestrians, drivers, and cyclists.”
Menin's resistance to these changes didn't stop them from happening. That's because when it comes to transforming the streetscape, a mayor can direct the DOT to pedestrianize space, install protected bike lanes, bollards, daylight intersections, and expand the Open Streets and School Streets programs — all without the need for Council approval.
“The city administration has omnipotent power over the streets. The Council has no formal role. You can piss [the Council] off, but the mayor can do whatever he wants,” Jon Orcutt, a former DOT policy chief under the Bloomberg and de Blasio administrations who now is the director of advocacy at Bike New York, told Streetsblog.
When the mayor needs the Council
Some parts of Mamdani’s street safety agenda would require Council action, like regulation of the app delivery industry. Menin's expertise as the former commissioner of the Department of Consumer Affairs and the current chair of the Council committee that oversees the renamed agency, could make her a good partner in this effort, but she likely sees the issue differently from Mamdani: After all, Uber spent over $100,000 to support Menin's reelection bid in 2025.
The major app companies operating in the city – Uber, Wonder Group (Seamless, GrubHub, Relay), DoorDash, and Instacart – are constantly fighting the city on regulation, now lobbying against a bill which supporters say would end unfair worker deactivations.
In hearings, Menin has asked tough questions of the company representatives and has a pragmatic focus on the amount of resources the chronically underfunded Department of Consumer and Worker Protection will need to enforce new regulations. But she has not signed onto the deactivation bill, Intro 1332, which has 28 co-sponsors.
Delivery workers rally outside of city hall for a bill that would give them "just cause" protections. Photo: Sophia Lebowitz
Menin took two positions on the bill.
“The September hearing highlighted both the need for due process and the operational challenges that come with this type of decentralized work,” Menin told Streetsblog in her statement. “There’s room to strengthen Intro 1332 so it protects workers from unfair removal while still addressing legitimate safety, service-quality, and privacy concerns.”
Despite this, those who are working to pass the bill are hopeful.
“I know that she is really willing to listen. I was really compelled to see her so worried about deactivation, asking critical questions to understand the industry,” said Ligia Guallpa, the executive director of the Workers Justice Project, which includes Los Deliveristas Unidos.
Vague on vital committee chair
Menin will have the power to choose a chair for the Council’s Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which is currently led by Council Member Selvena Brooks-Powers (D-Rockaway). Brooks-Powers was much criticized for a car-first perspective, but she occasionally pushed DOT to take accountability for its commitments to building more bike and bus lanes.
It's unlikely she'll be reappointed, as most Speakers want to appoint loyalists to such vital jobs, but Menin said she is still weighing her options.
“This is a position that touches upon all areas of daily life and will require a Chair that can ensure our local laws are being implemented and who can advance innovative ways to reimagine our public spaces. Those conversations will continue in the coming weeks as myself and Council colleagues consider and determine chairmanships,” she said.
A Brooklyn driver drove onto a busy sidewalk in central Williamsburg and maimed a 33-year-old pedestrian. Why can't our officials prevent this kind of predictable incident?
The former head of the FDNY slammed a Queens judge for pitting the Fire Department against the safe streets movement in a ruling that erased a bike lane.
