Ben Fried

The Streetsie votes are in and it's time to hand out virtual hardware. But first, a friendly reminder that Streetsblog needs your support.

Welcome to the reader's choice portion of the 2013 NYC Streetsies. Before you vote, take a moment to consider everything that's changed this year. Look at all the pedestrian, bike, and bus improvements we have to sift through to anoint the best. Six years ago, before the Janette Sadik-Khan DOT had time to really get rolling, we didn't have nearly so much (or such high-quality stuff) to choose from.

The Federal Highway Administration is seeking to impose a new layer of bureaucratic review on New York City bike projects, which could significantly delay the implementation of street redesigns that have proven to reduce traffic injuries and deaths.

Your donation to Streetsblog will go twice as far if you contribute to our year-end pledge drive by December 31. Thanks to a generous anonymous donor, all contributions to Streetsblog NYC will be matched up to $10,000 -- you'll get more bang for your livable streets buck by giving today.

Earlier today Bill de Blasio settled one of the big questions of the transition period, announcing that he's going to move into the mayoral residence at Gracie Mansion. Next question: How's he going to get to work?

Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio has selected Bill Bratton to serve as New York City's next police commissioner. Bratton occupied the same post from 1994 to 1996 under the Giuliani administration and is credited with pioneering data-driven policing techniques. After Bratton left, one of the innovations his deputies introduced was TrafficStat, a system that tracked crash data, held precinct commanders accountable for street safety performance, and brought different agencies together to address problems.

Earlier today Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio named Anthony Shorris to the post of first deputy mayor. An experienced public official whose resume in city government extends back to the Koch administration, Shorris will be tasked with the day-to-day running of the city. His selection is seen as reassuring the city's business establishment without alienating de Blasio's progressive base.

As recently as 2007, there were no protected bike lanes in New York City, plans to enhance major bus routes were sitting on a shelf, and city transportation officials were still trying to do things like convert neighborhood commercial streets into high-speed traffic sewers. Streetsblog and Streetfilms helped change that. We raised expectations for our streets and showed people what's possible. When NYC DOT became a national leader in progressive transportation policy, we countered the reactionary opponents of street redesigns with fact and reasoned analysis.

Well, a few words from Andrew Cuomo made clear that fixing NYC's broken road pricing system won't be on the table before next year's statewide elections. But some opponents of congestion pricing -- notably, Eastern Queens City Council Member Mark Weprin -- are warming to Sam Schwartz's toll reform plan, which calls for a uniform price on entry points into the Manhattan core, including the East River bridges and 60th Street, paired with lower prices on less congested, outlying bridges.

Earlier this month, NYC DOT put out a major new report, Making Safer Streets [PDF], that collects before-and-after data from dozens of street redesigns and distills five key principles to reduce traffic injuries. The excitement of election week overshadowed the release, but this is an important document that livable streets supporters will want to bookmark. It's an accessible guide to how DOT approaches the task of re-engineering streets for greater safety.