City Council

So it looks like the lasting media image from last week's City Council hearing on bike policy will be Marty Markowitz's string of non-sequiturs sung to the tune of "My Favorite Things." The routine was allowed to proceed even though committee chair Jimmy Vacca began the hearings with a call for decorum at all times. (Maybe that's what prompted NYC Greenmarket founder and car-free Central Park pioneer Barry Benepe to observe, "The entire process appeared to be staged for the benefits of the loudmouths.")

The definitive account of yesterday's Transportation Committee hearing on NYC bike policy has got to be the stream of tweets from BicyclesOnly, which are still pretty close to the top of his feed if you want to take a look. He reported that former deputy mayor and PPW bike lane opponent Norman Steisel was the first to give testimony, permitted to jump the queue and exceed the two-minute time limit by at least five minutes.

The line to testify at today's Transportation Committee hearing on New York City bike policy was snaking outside into the biting cold well before the 10:00 a.m. start time. More than 70 people signed up to speak, filling up two hearing rooms at 250 Broadway.

Heads up on an important calendar item for next week. On Thursday, the City Council Transportation Committee will hold an oversight hearing on bike policy, which is expected to focus on bike lanes and how they're implemented. The public is invited to testify, so if you can spare the time to help explain to council members why new street designs are making the city safer and more livable, your voice can make a difference.

Bloomberg administration officials have now twice appeared in front of the City Council to oppose legislation requiring that the city post up-to-date information about traffic crashes and summonses online. In April, the NYPD testified that such a reporting requirement would be a burden on the department and that the public couldn't interpret that kind of information. And last week the DOT argued that it wasn't the right agency to release such information.

Now that the City Planning Commission has called for 1,260 parking spaces at the Riverside Center development -- instead of the 1,800 requested by the developer -- the project moves on to the City Council for the final step of the city's land use process. Traditionally, the local Council member representing the district is given a lot of deference by her peers, so we checked in with West Side representative Gale Brewer to see whether she'd be pushing for a further reduction in the number of spaces.

The City Council Transportation Committee held a hearing yesterday on four bills that would release new information about traffic crashes and how the Department of Transportation decides whether to install traffic calming measures and traffic control devices like stop lights and stop signs. All together, the bills would cover a wide spectrum of information, but committee chair Jimmy Vacca said the goal of each is "empowering citizens who want to fight for traffic calming measures in their own community." The measures drew opposition from DOT representatives, however, who seemed to bristle at the prospect of Council-imposed mandates even while pledging support for the intent of the bills.

Attempts to expand car-sharing in New York City got a big boost yesterday when the City Council passed a measure intended to help companies store shared cars. The near-unanimous vote opens the door for businesses that have been shown to reduce car-ownership and driving in other cities. Neither the City Council nor the City Planning Commission, however, took the opportunity to maximize the impact of car-sharing by linking it to reduced parking minimums.

The Flushing Commons development sailed to a 44-2 vote of approval in the City Council yesterday after the city arranged a set of concessions to local merchants who had opposed the project. Chief among them: $3 million to keep the project's oversized parking lot even cheaper.