Bill de Blasio

Appearing with WNYC's Brian Lehrer for his weekly "Ask the Mayor" segment this morning, Mayor de Blasio said the city's Vision Zero effort is "still in its infancy" and that "there's a lot more to do." The remarks come at a time when the city's two-year run of reducing traffic deaths seems increasingly unlikely to continue in 2016.

The 18-month shutdown of the L train between North Brooklyn and Eighth Avenue may be three years away, but officials still have to move quickly to help hundreds of thousands of L passengers get where they need to go. So far, city officials and the MTA have yet to provide much in the way of specifics.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference yesterday that pedestrian islands on Eastern Parkway were removed because unnamed elected officials wanted to make room for West Indian Day Parade floats, which would have otherwise posed a risk to the public. The mayor indicated the median islands would not have been installed had the city realized they would interfere with the parade, which is held once a year.

DOT removed pedestrian islands on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights yesterday, undoing years of street safety advocacy work on the part of local residents and community board members with no public process, and no one in the de Blasio administration is taking responsibility.

NYPD filed no charges and issued no summonses after a driver struck and killed Michael Schenkman, 78, while he biked on Northern Boulevard in Bayside.

A group of City Council members has endorsed Mayor de Blasio's plan to reform the way commercial waste is collected.

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.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton announced today that he will leave NYPD next month, after a little more than two and a half years as police chief under Mayor de Blasio. He will be succeeded by James O'Neill, a career officer who currently serves as chief of department, the senior uniformed position within NYPD.

The impending L Train shutdown should be a blessing in disguise -- the impact of losing service west of Bedford Avenue for 18 months is so great, there's no good option that doesn't involve carving out lots of street space for buses, biking, and safer walking. Major redesigns of 14th Street, the Williamsburg Bridge, and the streets connecting to the bridge are called for.