Traffic Calming

DOT is following nature’s lead with inexpensive and effective treatments that slow driver turns year-round.

Mayor de Blasio gave the go-ahead to DOT's plan for a road diet, wider pedestrian medians, and a two-way protected bike lanes on 111th Street in Corona. The mayor made the announcement last night at a neighborhood town hall in response to a question from Vero Ramirez of Mujeres en Movimiento.

City Hall can move ahead with the redesign without a community board vote in favor. It's simply cruel to keep in place dangerous crossings with high-speed traffic when a better design is ready to go and so many people have campaigned for safer conditions for so long.

After a decade of documenting nature's traffic calming, I decided to go out to the snowy streets of Jackson Heights for one final Streetfilm about the craze we helped start: sneckdowns!

Sneckdowns are "snowy neckdowns" formed as motorists drive through melting snow and slush. With nine inches of snow in Central Park as of this afternoon, NYC is in for some serious sneckdown action. The next few days will be prime time. Share your finds with the #sneckdown hashtag on social media.

The decision says that when local governments are aware that a street design leads to dangerous driving behaviors, they have an obligation to act.

She wanted her kids to be safe in the front yard, so she held the sign over her head and stood in the middle the street. Police slapped her with a jaywalking ticket.

A leader of the Throggs Neck Merchants Association tried to thwart DOT's safety plan for East Tremont Avenue at a town hall in the Bronx last night and was firmly rebuffed by Mayor de Blasio, Council Member Jimmy Vacca, and Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. After the exchange, Raisa Jimenez, whose son Giovianni Nin was killed by a hit-and-run driver on East Tremont earlier this year, made an emotional plea to prevent the further loss of life.

Mayor de Blasio will hold a town hall in Throggs Neck tonight, and Transportation Alternatives organizers are expecting a significant turnout from a small but vocal group of area residents and businesses who oppose a DOT road diet for East Tremont Avenue.