City Council

On Wednesday, the City Planning Commission approved a zoning amendment to require bicycle parking in new construction. The City Council now has a 50-day window to vote on and finalize the measure. 

As we reported last week, Maria Baez and a handful of other City Council members want to issue free parking permits to every public school teacher in New York City. As the system presently employs some 95,000 full-time teachers, in addition to 18,000 part-time teachers and paraprofessionals, Intro 894 would encourage hundreds of thousands of car trips per year just as the city is making efforts to reduce driving by government employees by reining in parking placard issues.

Last week's Chinatown disaster has prompted a good bit of discussion about idling vehicles. As it happens, two bills are wending their way through the City Council that would tighten idling restrictions and foster improved enforcement.

Transit-riding New Yorkers, take heart. In these tough times, your City Council members are at this moment pushing a slew of bills that will make your lives easier. All you have to do is trade your MetroCard for a set of car keys.

It sounds as if yesterday's City Council Public Safety Committee hearing on Resolution 145, which calls on state lawmakers "to address the legal loopholes that allow dangerous and deadly drivers to drive under the influence of drugs or to drive with a suspended or revoked license," could have gone better.

Sick of walking around cars parked on the sidewalk? Fed up with the excessive traffic cruising for parking spots in your neighborhood? Tough luck. A gaggle of City Council members has got nothing for you, but they do want to ease up on the car owners who contribute to these problems.

With news swirling about possible cuts to New York's bike network build-out and City Council oversight of street re-designs, we'd be remiss not to pass along this anecdote from the Bikes in Buildings hearing earlier this week. After DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan wrapped up her testimony to council members, she was peppered with questions about how her department goes about installing bike lanes, TA's Wiley Norvell told us:

New bike infrastructure in New York City could be on the chopping block as the City Council and Mayor Bloomberg revise spending projections downward. On Sunday, Speaker Christine Quinn and the City Council released $495 million in proposed budget cuts over the next two years, including an item that would slash spending on bike network expansion in half. DOT's bike network funds would drop from $9.6 million to $4.8 million in 2009, and from $11 million to $5.5 million in 2010. Download this PDF and scroll down to the first item numbered 841, "Reduce Bike Network Development Funding."