Comments on: Streetsblog Interview: Ryan Russo

By: Jerry Ciotola

Jerry Ciotola — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 13:43:19 +0000

What is DOT doing to improve bike safety on the South Shore of Staten Island, particularly from New Dorp Lane to Buffalo Street via Hylan Boulevard, a major thorofare and dangerous to cyclists and pedestrians alike. I would like to solicit DOT’s proposals.
thankyou.

By: Maureen

Maureen — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 15:50:37 +0000

Ianqui spoke my thoughts. It’s true; cyclists are a minority as a “street user” because itâ€™s unsafe in New York City to ride your bike or roller blade, and it’ been that way for quite some time. I work all day in an office and hoped that I could cut costs and get in an exercise program at the same time by biking or blading to and from work, but I nearly got killed. Some people have actually gotten a kick out of screaming at bicyclists to get out of the way, like we don’t have a ride to be in the road! Meanwhile, it’s disgusting how cars have gotten larger and louder (since the suv’s can’t get around eachother they are honking ALL of the time), and nothing is being done.

Another travesty is the lack of road rule enforcement:
Cars in bus lanes, cars parked at bus stops, bicyclists not following road rules and ignoring traffic signals and riding the wrong way on a street.

These are all concerns that need to be addressed by the DOT, and Mr. Russo should realize part of his “new job” is to connect with the public so he might want to give reading streetsblog a shot as opposed to being too busy. Man, am I tired of hearing how people are too busy like nobody else in the world is busy. What a lame excuse.

By: someguy

someguy — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 15:22:34 +0000

In Russo’s defense, A) what he said wasn’t a lie, and as some of you have pointed out, the argument can go both ways. Like any truth (as opposed to opinion), it can both help and hurt any cause. B) He wasn’t saying that the fact that currently a small proportion of street users are bicyclists is a reason to not expand bike facilities – in fact he is an extremely strident supporter of bike facilities. He also happens to be very pragmatic and knows how to speak politically and in language that appeals to different perspectives rather than polarizing people, and for better or worse that’s what will get you places in government, particularly NYCDOT. Like he said, it’s all the more reason to convince average NY’ers why we should invest in these facilities, which isn’t such an unreasonable thing to do, is it?

By: d

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 14:23:02 +0000

By Russo’s logic we should widen sidewalks and plant grass in the streets of Times Square, closing it to traffic, since on any 100-foot stretch of roadway through that crossroads there are easily 500+ pedestrians for every 50 cars.

By: ddartley

ddartley — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 14:00:43 +0000

Another “we should write” comment:

We should write DOT and request that Mr. Russo read Streetsblog as part of his job. Both the blog entries and the user comments contain insights inspired by real people’s real use of NYC streets, and they could be very useful to DOT. It is not the common kind of blog full of thoughtless or meaningless raving, and that might not occur to people at DOT.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 01:15:53 +0000

If we follow the argument that cyclists are a minority so we should not accommodate them, then we must apply the argument to car drivers too. We must tear up all the roads because car drivers are most certainly a minority group as well. Pedestrians far outnumber everyone else in NYC.

Shall we repave all of New York, or at least all of Manhattan, with sidewalks instead of streets? I think the anti-bike-lane/pro-car crowd wouldn’t like its own argument used against itself, would it?

By: Books for a Penny

Books for a Penny — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 00:10:37 +0000

Ianqui, i second your point. Plus, if Ryan and the DOT metted out street space according to the proportion of travelers, then bus riders and pedestrians would get a HELLUVA lot more than they get now.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 22:10:51 +0000

I am pleased that Mr. Russo bikes everywhere…therefor he knows first hand how dangerous the drivers are out there. I am sure he has to hold back when speaking in a public forum since he works for the city, but if he really does bike ‘everywhere’ then he definitely knows the score.

I expect him to be an ally to cyclists and pedestrians. But I also agree with ianqui, I fear he might be too fair to motorists…
I guess in our wildest dreams we would have a hair on fire environmentalist – like a warrior for our cause – but I guess that not very realistic.

I do feel that cars are automatically in the wrong for simply using precious fuel, and polluting on a mass scale. But we will never have that sentiment echoed in the beurocracy of the government…or will we?

By: Glenn

Glenn — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 22:03:19 +0000

One thing for everyone and Mr. Russo to consider about "community input" is that the community boards do not necessarily represent the full diversity of views of local residents. They are unelected volunteers that do a lot of great work and provide a nice forum for community input, but often the membership is an older age segment that simply don't bike. Also time is limited at those meetings for more nuanced and indepth discussion. I urge the DOT, Mr. Russo and other agencies to consider opening a dialogue on a more personal basis with advocates, community neighborhood associations and engage them more outside formal meetings. My organization Upper Green Side stands ready to work with Mr. Russo and others on making cycling safer in the Upper East Side.

By: ianqui

ianqui — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 21:42:34 +0000

It does sound like Mr. Russo is trying to be sensitive to the biking community, and obviously the city is moving in the right direction. But it doesn’t help the relationship between cyclists, communities, and drivers when he chooses the following terminology:

The reality on the ground right now is that cyclists are a minority street user. On most corridors cyclists don’t outnumber pedestrians or vehicles. When we install bike lanes we give cyclists a disproportionate percentage or roadway space relative to their numbers.

Why are cyclists a minority street user? Perhaps because it’s currently unsafe to bike in New York City. If the plan is to encourage more New Yorkers to use cycling for transportation (as it should be), then it is up to the city to provide safe ways for them to do that, just as they install crosswalks to make pedestrians safe, or stop lights to make drivers safe.

He’s right though–somehow people must learn that cars and drivers do not have an inalienable right to the streets that they currently think they have, and I hope that somehow a giant PR campaign can be mounted.

Also, secret message to Mr. Russo: If you’re interested in what the communities have to say about cycling and pedestrians, then you SHOULD find the time to read Streetsblog. It’s not like it’s a commitment of more than 5-10 minutes a day, and we’re your main constituency.