City Council

New York City's 2009 legislative session didn't end without a parting gift from outgoing Lower Manhattan rep Alan Gerson. A new law that passed City Council unanimously before the end of the term mandates that any significant changes to the streetscape be subject to comment by both the local council representative and the community board. Though the comments are not binding, the law seems primed to slow down the process of re-designing streets at a time when projects to enhance bus service and improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists are top priorities in New York City, and hundreds of New Yorkers are still dying every year on city streets. Mayor Bloomberg signed the bill into law on December 28.

Now that Michael Bloomberg, Bill de Blasio, John Liu, and the City Council have been sworn in, attention turns to speaker Christine Quinn's choices to head legislative committees. For New Yorkers who care about street safety and sustainable transportation, the big question is who will run the City Council transportation committee.

Before it's even signed into law, the City Council's inane parking meter "grace period" is already making the job of traffic law enforcement that much harder. Last week a Bronx TEA agent was allegedly assaulted by a 23-year-old motorist named George Collazo, who was under the impression that the new rule had already taken effect. The Daily News reports:

Yesterday the City Council held a hearing on street safety for older New Yorkers. The hearing came while the deaths of Lillian and Peter Sabados, an elderly Staten Island couple run down by Allmir Lekperic on Thanksgiving eve, are still fresh in people's minds. But when it comes to keeping drivers like Lekperic from harming others, The Staten Island Advance reports, some of the borough's council reps seem to think they've exhausted their options:

During his re-re-election campaign, Mayor Bloomberg said he planned to make room for new blood in his administration should he win a third term. It's no surprise that City Hall News named Janette Sadik-Khan as one department head some have targeted for replacement, but while City Council members are often all too eager to complain about the DOT commish and her runaway safety improvements, this particular story cites but one disgruntled, unnamed source:

New Yorkers could spend a third of a million more hours a year stuck in traffic if the “grace period” for parking violations voted by the City Council this week becomes law.

Looks like the City Council is ready to assert itself in the wake of Michael Bloomberg's underwhelming re-election to a third term. They've chosen to draw a line in the sand, apparently, by creating more congestion on New York City's streets.

The City Council on Wednesday approved a bill that could prevent future disasters like last January's Chinatown tragedy, which claimed the lives of preschoolers Hayley Ng and Diego Martinez.

The City Council Transportation Committee will consider a slate of bills Thursday. Several of them should be of particular interest to livable streets advocates. Here's a rundown.