Polly Trottenberg

At PS 75 on the Upper West Side today, just blocks from where 9-year-old Cooper Stock was struck and killed by a turning taxi driver last month, Mayor de Blasio released the blueprint [PDF] for how his administration will achieve Vision Zero, its goal of eliminating traffic deaths within a decade.

In 2013, NYC recorded a record-low 333 homicides, yet at least 286 people lost their lives to traffic violence. At a press conference yesterday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said it's "shocking to see how much those two numbers correspond."

Calling traffic fatalities an "epidemic" that deserves immediate attention from the city, Mayor Bill de Blasio launched his administration's "Vision Zero" agenda this afternoon, setting out to eliminate traffic deaths within a decade. The most important news to come out of today's announcement is that his administration will enlist multiple agencies to tackle the multifaceted problem of traffic violence. A working group led by the city's police, transportation, health, and taxi commissioners is tasked with coming up with an action plan by February 15.

This afternoon, Mayor de Blasio is expected to be joined by Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg at a press conference about traffic safety. The event is at PS 152, near the site where 8-year-old Noshat Nahian was killed by an unlicensed tractor-trailer driver last month.

A group of street safety advocates braved the cold yesterday outside Mayor Bill de Blasio's inauguration and received an impromptu visit from Polly Trottenberg, de Blasio's pick for transportation commissioner.

Bill de Blasio has appointed US DOT Under Secretary for Policy Polly Trottenberg to lead the New York City Department of Transportation. Trottenberg is a veteran federal policy maker, whose resume includes stints working for New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan on the 1998 federal transportation bill and for Senator Chuck Schumer.