Elections

StreetsPAC announced its pick for Manhattan borough president today, along with endorsements in four more City Council races.

It may be news to the national audience of BuzzFeed, but Anthony Weiner once said he would hold ribbon cuttings on his first day in Gracie Mansion to rip out the city's bike lanes. He now insists the expletive-laced promise was a joke, but he's firm in his opinion that at least two of the city's bike lanes should be removed. He reiterated that position in an interview with BuzzFeed's Ben Smith yesterday, adding that he's "not going to be bullied" on the issue by "policy jihadists."

This morning, Transportation Alternatives released the results of surveys it sent out to mayoral and City Council candidates. While council candidates expressed a wide variety of opinions, mayoral candidates primarily hammered home positions most of them have already discussed during the campaign, while revealing a few new details on their transportation and street safety policies.

As if on cue, Bill de Blasio today released a plan to reduce city traffic fatalities to zero within 10 years.

StreetsPAC announced its pick for public advocate today, along with endorsements in five more City Council races.

Last night at a candidate debate hosted by block associations in Harlem, incumbent Council Member Inez Dickens, first elected to the District 9 seat in 2005, faced off against challenger Vince Morgan, a community development banker and former chair of the 125th Street Business Improvement District. While transportation didn't come up much in the debate itself, some important differences between the candidates were discernible -- particularly on the issue of Select Bus Service on 125th Street and the city's plans for a waste transfer station on East 91st Street.

StreetsPAC has released its mayoral candidate questionnaire.

In a City Council district in the heart of the Bronx, where the overwhelming majority of households are car-free, an aide to Council Member James Vacca distinguished himself last night by vocally supporting congestion pricing, on-street parking reform, and protected bike lanes.

If you were hoping for inspiring leadership from the City Council on transportation issues after the next election, you may want to look somewhere other than District 35, which covers the neighborhoods just east of downtown Brooklyn. Two-thirds of households in the district are car-free, according to the 2000 Census. But while most candidates supported traffic calming improvements at a forum last night, they were unanimous in their opposition to removing on-street parking spaces, and many were reluctant to support policy changes that would cut down on driving in the district.