Wednesday’s Headlines: The Streetsblog Effect

Mayor Mamdani’s handlers didn’t call on Streetsblog to ask a question at Tuesday’s “Vision Zero Reimagined” press conference, but don’t worry, dear reader, our reporting still made a huge impact on the news of the day.

First, the basics: Mayor Mamdani summoned the press corps to a Department of Transportation plant in Maspeth to formally release his 104-page vision for the future of Vision Zero. The plan had been shared with reporters in advance, and most outlets posted quick hits.

Ours, however, was definitely not quick, but it was a hit. Streetsblog readers learned something in our piece that no one else reported: The NYPD’s long-documented massive, post-pandemic decline in writing tickets to address driver recklessness — i.e. tickets for failing to yield to pedestrians, for running red lights, for blowing through stops signs, etc. — had shifted to policing electric bikes, scooters and mopeds, which, despite the general feeling that these devices are causing chaos on our streets, have not done anything near the scale of damage still being caused by reckless drivers.

The NYPD’s boasting in Streetsblog about its shift from policing drivers to policing cyclists — about as bass ackwards an approach to Vision Zero as you can get — was on most reporters’ minds at the Tuesday presser. Several reporters asked Mayor Mamdani about this shift in policing, but Max Rivlin-Nadler of Hell Gate was the most pointed:

“You know, earlier today Streetsblog reported that the NYPD has shifted its enforcement to e-vehicles and e-bikes [even though] we know, statistically, the number one danger for pedestrians, for cyclists, for anybody on the street are vehicles [cars and trucks]. My question is, how do you get the NYPD to ramp up its enforcement of drivers who run red lights, who speed? Even just biking here today, taking the alleged Grand Street bike path, it was completely blocked by trucks, cars, no enforcement whatsoever. How do you get the NYPD on board, because much like other plans we see laid out, the NYPD kind of shrugs.”

The mayor’s barely bothered to answer:

Our goal here is not going to be measured in terms of the number of tickets that are issued, but rather behavioral change. And the NYPD is a partner in delivering that change. So, too, is the redesign of streetscapes across the city. We’ve seen, for example, one of the most effective ways at delivering increased bus speeds is not just from ticketing of police officers, but rather from … automated ticket enforcement, as well as the redevelopment of the streets themselves for the creation of those busways and bus lanes. So we are looking at every single tool that we have.

Chris Sommerfeld from Politico followed up with another attempt: “The statistics are going down on traffic enforcement from the NYPD,” he said. “I’m wondering if you just have a sense of why there’s such a steep drop, and if you’re going to actually order your NYPD to step up that enforcement.”

The mayor didn’t answer: “Every single member of our task force, all the 19 members … are going to be partners in actually delivering on Vision Zero Reimagined, and what that means is we’re going to be taking a hard look at how best we can change behavior that we’re seeing in violation of our street safety laws, and then utilize that. That includes the PD.”

The mayor, perhaps, can be forgiven for not leaning on the NYPD for enforcement, though “enforcement” (along with “engineering” and “education”) is one of the three “E’s” of Vision Zero. The reason? The NYPD is neither a Vision Zero partner nor is it under control of the mayor. It does not respond to actual data (which show a tiny number of pedestrians are being injured by e-bike and e-scooter riders) nor does it seem to read this mayor’s talking points. He repeatedly says, for example, that the city should be doing whatever it can to expand micro mobility, which is safer, more sustainable, and causes far less congestion, but the NYPD only seeks to discourage it — the agency’s boasts to Streetsblog prove it.

So it’s no surprise that the mayor spent almost the entire press conference deflecting questions about the NYPD and focusing on the great parts of his Vision Zero Revisited project (which we also wrote about yesterday). Those are the things he can control and, from these pixels to Flynn’s ear, he’ll hopefully accomplish.

For the record, had we been called on to ask a question, it was going to be this: “You said in your statement today, ‘We should not have to wait for another family to lose a loved one before we make a street safer,’ but another family did indeed lose a loved one on Canal Street last week, where DOT has a safety plan, but has put it off until next year at the earliest. And the Bedford Avenue bike lane remains unprotected despite constant danger to cyclists, whose families might be next. So why are you making them wait?”

We didn’t get to ask it, but, in fairness, Hizzoner said he would increase the “scale” and the speed of street safety projects. More to come, we suppose.

— Gersh Kuntzman

In other news:

• Next up for the Mamdani administration: a new streets master plan, which Hizzoner said is coming soon. (The City Reporter)
• The Army Corps of Engineers’ New York office is officially decamping to Jersey City. (City & State)
• Three cab drivers have died on the job in the last three months. (The City Reporter)
• Julie Menin “might know developers more intimately than most, but she isn’t going to fight their battles.” (The Real Deal)
• The city’s new “Stripe Hog” uses extreme water pressure to remove old street markings. (NY Times)
• California High Speed Rail consultants blew a half-million dollars on “airfare without documentation, luxury rideshares to a gym, tiki bar, cigar bar in D.C. and nightclubs.” (KCRA)
• The MTA is seeking bids for the 125th Street crosstown segment of the Second Avenue subway. (Daily News)
• Bensonhurst NIMBYs are apparently cool with parked cars, but not with trees. (ABC7)