For a few months in the beginning of 2011, hardly a day went by without some political figure or media pundit inveighing against bike lanes and the Department of Transportation. The attackers ran the gamut from Staten Island Republicans to Democrats holding citywide office, from tabloid editorial boards to columnists for highbrow glossy mags. The story swirling in the middle of it all surrounded a bike lane about a mile long on Brooklyn’s Prospect Park West, which had the backing of most local residents but irritated some powerful neighbors.

PPW bike lane opponents including former deputy mayor Norman Steisel, left, met with Public Advocate Bill de Blasio in February. A month later De Blasio sent a letter to NYC DOT criticizing the agency's evaluation of bike, bus, and pedestrian projects.

Even the most rational observer had to question, at times, whether the multi-pronged attack on the city’s bike policy was really a coincidence. And it turns out that in fact, the self-proclaimed “Neighbors for Better Bike Lanes” had several previously unreported connections to the bikelash of 2011, according to email communications obtained by Streetsblog via freedom of information request.

Former DOT commissioner Iris Weinshall and former NYC personnel director Bob Linn tried to trade on their contacts inside the Bloomberg administration to undermine the PPW bike lane and NYC DOT.

In some cases, NBBL joined up with other bike lane foes after observing them from afar. In others, they had a direct hand in ginning up bad press for bike lanes and DOT. Sometimes they got what they wanted out of their political and media connections. Other times their gambits seemingly went nowhere. And on occasion their efforts completely backfired. We’ll explore these connections in two posts: This one deals with their political and professional contacts, and the next one with their media contacts.

The picture that emerges of NBBL’s behind-the-scenes lobbying contrasts starkly with the process that led up to the installation of the PPW bike lane. While the neighborhood advocates and civic groups who supported the bike lane gathered signatures and helped shepherd the project through the community board process, the opponents traded on their extensive Rolodexes and high-level connections to undermine the bike lane in a secretive and sophisticated campaign.

Two major NBBL players should be familiar if you’ve been following the story: Iris Weinshall, former DOT commissioner and wife of United States Senator Chuck Schumer; and Norman Steisel, sanitation commissioner for Ed Koch and first deputy mayor under David Dinkins. The constellation of former city bureaucrats who put their government contacts to use opposing the Prospect Park West bike lane also includes Bob Linn, city personnel director under Koch, and Connie Christensen, a former arts commissioner.

Note: Streetsblog has already covered NBBL connections to Senator Chuck Schumer, former deputy mayor and Gibson Dunn partner Randy Mastro, City Council Transportation Committee Chair Jimmy Vacca, and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. They are for the most part not included in this piece.

NBBL Spoke With the Public Advocate, City Council Members, Borough Presidents and City Hall About PPW Lane

NBBL leaders Steisel, Louise Hainline, and Lois Carswell, as well as their attorney, Jim Walden, attended a meeting with Public Advocate Bill de Blasio on February 9 (Weinshall was out of town). The meeting was “to discuss bike strategy” according to a confirmation message from de Blasio scheduler Ellyn Canfield Nealon. De Blasio’s office has not returned an inquiry about who called the meeting and what was discussed.

One month after that meeting, however, de Blasio sent a letter to Janette Sadik-Khan calling DOT’s evaluations of its own projects, including of the PPW lane, “rubber stamps.” Impugning the integrity of DOT’s project evaluations echoes a major theme in the NBBL lawsuit. The Post picked up de Blasio’s letter a week later, when DOT publicly abandoned plans for the 34th Street separated busway.

In a more unusual alliance (between the wife of a prominent Democrat and a local Republican politician), Weinshall spoke with Staten Island City Council Member James Oddo on multiple occasions about obstructing bike lanes.

After the bike lane on Staten Island’s Father Capodanno Boulevard was removed in November 2010, Weinshall got in touch with both Oddo and Borough President James Molinaro to learn how they prevailed upon City Hall to take the lane out.

“It would be nice to know how the bp and councilman got it done, whether it was bareknuckles politics or analytic research of impacts etc or a combination,” Steisel wrote on the 23rd.

“I know him well… will call him and Oddo,” responded Weinshall.

Steisel then suggested that Randy Mastro, the one-time Giuliani deputy mayor who had arranged to give NBBL Gibson Dunn’s pro bono services, could serve as a go-between for the Democrat-heavy NBBL to the Republican Molinaro.

In January, Weinshall spoke with Oddo again, and Oddo looped her in immediately when he proposed requiring environmental review for all new bike lanes.

One of Weinshall’s most direct, though ultimately less effective, connections was to Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson, who was communications director for Chuck Schumer during his first Senate run. Marty Markowitz routinely forwarded constituent letters regarding Prospect Park West to Weinshall. When she came across one she particularly liked, she forwarded it along to a Wolfson aide. “Putting it on his desk now,” was the reply, seven minutes later. Weinshall later invited Wolfson to tour the bike lane with her, an invitation Wolfson accepted.

The NBBL entreaties seem to have backfired, however. Wolfson ultimately emerged as one of the city’s top defenders of bicycle infrastructure.

NBBL Targeted Contacts at City Planning, Landmarks Commission, and Public Design Commission as Potential Allies

Bike lane opponents Norman Steisel, Bob Linn, and Connie Christensen called on extensive contacts from their time in government, seeking to enlist senior staff at city agencies in their cause. For the most part these entreaties seem to have dead-ended, but they illustrate a key component of NBBL’s strategy: to foment a kind of civil war within the Bloomberg administration, pitting high-level officials against NYC DOT.

Last summer, Steisel reached out to his former boss Ed Koch about the PPW bike lane and received some assistance from Koch’s former chief of staff, Diane Coffey. “On confidential basis to you, I had lunch with mayor Koch on a number of issues,” reported Steisel to NBBL on August 10, 2010. “Also attending was his close confident Dianne Coffey who told me she introduced Bob Linn to [Planning Commissioner] Amanda Burden who in turn sent someone out to check situation in field, a visit Diane thought has occurred, as well as to do additional analyses.”

Linn, who served as the city’s chief labor negotiator and personnel director under Koch, replied that he had been in touch with Burden, but had not received a report. By that time, Linn had also spoken to Landmarks Commissioner Bob Tierney and First Deputy Mayor Patti Harris, widely acknowledged as Bloomberg’s most trusted lieutenant. Tierney and Harris both have close connections to the Koch administration themselves. Tierney served as counsel to Mayor Koch while Harris worked for Koch both when he served in Congress and in City Hall.

Linn’s contacts with Burden, Tierney, and Harris were apparently fruitless for NBBL. Linn gradually dropped out of active participation in the group, and after August, 2010 he appears to have stopped replying to Steisel and Hainline when they tried to follow up with him.

The other agency NBBL courted was the Public Design Commission. The PDC must approve the design of most permanent works of art, architecture or landscape architecture proposed for city-owned property, and NBBL had hoped to get them to nix the PPW bike lane. NBBL member Connie Christensen, a lawyer and one-time member of the city’s Art Commission (the precursor of the PDC), reached out to her former colleagues, urging them to stake a stand against the aesthetics of the bike lane. Christensen ended up writing an op-ed for a publication targeted at former commission members. She also spoke with Libby Ryan, who sits on the Landmarks Commission, and offered to team up with Linn to lobby Amanda Burden.

Weinshall Enlisted Engineer Philip Habib to Help NBBL

Streetsblog has previously reported that Iris Weinshall and Louise Hainline, both CUNY executives, tried to enlist CUNY professor Robert “Buzz” Paaswell to assist them. He wasn’t the only transportation expert to whom Weinshall reached out.

Transportation consultant Philip Habib agreed to meet with Hainline at Weinshall’s request in the summer of 2010. Habib’s firm has performed transportation planning for major projects including the World Trade Center reconstruction, Donald Trump’s Riverside South developments and the Time Warner Center. His primary suggestion to Hainline, on July 1, 2010, was to sue the city over the bike lane. He appears to have been the first to recommend this course of action; no NBBL communications mention legal action prior to July.

Weinshall also relied on another CUNY-employed transportation expert for assistance. Judy Bergtraum served as Weinshall’s deputy at both DOT and at CUNY, and Weinshall routinely consulted her former first deputy commissioner about Prospect Park West. In a typical conversation last November, Weinshall asked Bergtraum whether bike lanes needed to go through ULURP, the city’s land use review process. “Any word on ULURP of bike lanes?” wrote Weinshall. “No not yet,” responded Bergtraum. “I am meeting with philip habib this afternoon… i will ask him.” This conversation took place during the afternoon on the Monday before Thanksgiving, over CUNY e-mail accounts.

Weinshall also turned to Bergtraum when she had questions about the statute of limitations on Article 78 lawsuits (the type of lawsuit NBBL eventually filed against the city) or whether the city’s bicycle master plan had gone through environmental review when first written. Bergtraum’s involvement in the Prospect Park West fight extended beyond factual inquiries; Weinshall also informed Bergtraum when this reporter reached out to Weinshall for comment.

In the next installment we’ll take a closer look at NBBL’s media connections. Stay tuned.

As Public Advocate, de Blasio commands a citywide bully pulpit and can highlight just about any issue he cares to. The position was created to serve as an “ombudsperson” — someone who listens to the public and speaks up for their interests.

Pedestrian safety and traffic congestion are the top two concerns of New Yorkers, according to a 2008 survey by the Citizens Committee for New York City. And, as Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign told Streetsblog after de Blasio was elected in 2009, the public advocate could use his office “to press for picking up the pace and scope of Bus Rapid Transit routes.”

But de Blasio has not had much to say on these issues. When he has spoken up about livable streets, he has tended to sympathize with opponents of current NYC DOT initiatives to improve bus service and bike safety.

Instead of asking the city to pick up the pace of bus improvements, he asked for more bureaucratic delay before DOT went forward with the 34th Street Transitway (de Blasio’s suggestion came just before the city announced that there would be no separated busway in the project). Most recently, he applauded the decision not to stripe a bike lane on Bay Ridge Parkway that was voted down by the local Community Board: “This was an important step forward that shows a willingness to respect the input of residents and community leaders.” In contrast, de Blasio has not come out and said he supports the Prospect Park West bike lane, which was requested and approved by the local community board in his old district.

Past citywide office holders have raised the profile of street safety and sustainability issues. Former city comptroller Alan Hevesi called attention to rampant traffic violations with a 2000 report estimating that motorists run red lights more than a million times each day in New York City. De Blasio’s predecessor as public advocate, Betsy Gotbaum, who was widely considered a meek presence in the office, pointed out the folly of including so much parking in the city’s plans for the Far West Side of Manhattan.

De Blasio has not yet announced a mayoral run, but the Times reported last week that he raised nearly $700,000 in the first half of this year (less than Christine Quinn, about the same as Scott Stringer, more than Bill Thompson). As a big-city mayoral contender, de Blasio would have some catching up to do before he could plausibly claim to be a progressive candidate on transportation issues. The bar is high these days: Rahm Emanuel campaigned for mayor of Chicago with a strong commitment to expanding transit and bike infrastructure in his platform — promises that he is now delivering on.

Here is an overview of de Blasio’s record when it comes to transit, street safety, and public space issues.

• Car-Free Prospect Park: As a council member, de Blasio helped win more car-free hours in the park, and supported a car-free summer trial.
• Congestion pricing, bridge tolls, and MTA funding: De Blasio voted against congestion pricing as a council member in 2008. He then supported Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s plan to add bridge tolls pegged to the subway fare on currently free bridges.
• The 34th Street Transitway and street redesigns in general: This March, de Blasio released a letter to NYC DOT in which he called for an environmental impact assessment of the proposed separated busway on 34th Street. De Blasio questioned DOT’s evaluation of several street redesigns, including the Ninth Avenue bike lane and Select Bus Service on the Bx12 route, calling for greater attention to be paid to traffic impacts in both cases. “In addition,” he wrote, “evaluations of Times Square and Herald Square Pedestrian Plazas, Broadway Boulevard, and Prospect Park West bike lanes all universally supported the DOT’s proposals, no matter the impact they had on surrounding areas.” The letter was then quoted in the New York Post.
• Bike lanes: As a council member, de Blasio supported the 9th Street bike lane in Park Slope. As public advocate, he commended DOT for abandoning a plan to stripe a bike lane on Bay Ridge Parkway that would not have removed any parking spaces or travel lanes. The plan was opposed by local electeds and Brooklyn CB 10. He has not taken a position on the Prospect Park West bike lane, which is in his old council district.
• Parking: De Blasio has a form on his website for constituents to tell him about defunct no-parking zones or broken fire hydrants that can be converted to curb parking.

Noah Kazis contributed to this post.

That's what armed thieves are said to have stolen from a young Columbia alum prior to being pulled over by police in Central Harlem, and before one of them sped south on Lenox Avenue in the minivan that soon hit another vehicle and spun into Graham, her aide, and a construction worker Tuesday morning.

Photo via Daily News

Responding to accounts that NYPD was chasing Williams down pedestrian-packed streets at the time of the crash, which also injured two people in another vehicle, Commissioner Ray Kelly claims no departmental rules were broken. The Times reports:

Witnesses said they saw an unmarked police car about a block behind, its lights flashing and its siren blaring.

But the police account, pieced together from radio transmissions and reports, makes clear that responding officers did not have time to give chase, and that the unmarked police car began its pursuit only two blocks before the Chrysler crashed.

"Police cars did go south behind the car, but they were at least a block away," Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said. "I wouldn't consider that a close pursuit. I would consider it appropriate police tactics. It was an unfortunate series of events that caused a nun to lose her life."

So for Ray Kelly, and the Times, this case appears to be closed. However, on his Twitter feed yesterday Public Advocate Bill de Blasio indicated that he intends to look into the recent rash of NYPD-involved crashes. A call to de Blasio's office confirmed same.

Even if one accepts the department's version of this latest catastrophe as the final word, it's clear that an examination of NYPD pursuit policy (if not the propensity for drunk driving among off-duty cops) is overdue. Here's hoping that effort bears fruit before more New Yorkers are killed and maimed for nothing.

Here's the answer we just received from a de Blasio spokesperson:

Given the MTA’s current fiscal outlook, Public Advocate de Blasio believes that our City and State have to make tough choices. The Governor and the State Legislature should not reduce payroll taxes while forcing the City to pay more than its fair share, especially since upstate communities also benefit from the MTA. We should look at other options such as stimulus funding, weight based registration fees or reviving Speaker Silver’s proposal to impose bridge tolls that are tied to the cost of subway fares. But over the long term the MTA must be more accountable and responsible with managing its budget.

What can the incoming city comptroller and public advocate do to improve the lives of millions of daily subway and bus riders over their next four years in office?

Public Advocate-elect Bill de Blasio and Comptroller-elect John Liu.

While it's right to hold the mayor accountable for what the city does on public transportation, there's much that Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu can do on behalf of the city's commuters.

Both gentlemen took stands on key transportation issues as council members. Liu served as chair of the council’s transportation committee and de Blasio promoted the return of F express service in Brooklyn and proposed a "Transit Rider’s Bill of Rights." Additionally, Liu voted for congestion pricing, de Blasio against. Later, de Blasio favored East and Harlem River bridge tolls pegged to the subway fare to fund the MTA, which Liu opposed.

So there’s every reason to expect them to be vocal on transportation. And they’ll have plenty of opportunities to take action. To start with, millions of New York City bus riders have a big stake in the service improvements that newly appointed MTA Chair Jay Walder and Mayor Bloomberg have each made a high priority. De Blasio and Liu, if they choose, can use their new offices to help give millions of transit riders the best possible outcome as these plans advance.

Let’s start with what the public advocate can do. This office was set up to be an “ombudsperson,” which in everyday English means listening to complaints from the public and working to make sure they are resolved. In addition, the public advocate looks for patterns of problems in service delivery.

A good place for de Blasio to start would be to encourage some of the 2.4 million daily weekday bus riders to call his office. They have an earful of woes to talk about, such as slow, unreliable and crowded service. I hope that Advocate de Blasio can make cataloguing the complaints of riders a top priority. The precedent is there. Carol Bellamy, who served several years as president of the City Council (the precursor to the public advocate), was so vocal on transit that former Governor Mario Cuomo appointed her to the MTA board.

The Bloomberg administration has proposed using Bus Rapid Transit strategies on several pilot routes to quicken service and improve reliability. These include providing truly exclusive bus lanes, giving buses priority at traffic signals, designing bus stops to reduce conflicts with traffic, and having riders pay fares before board. Another ingredient -- bus-mounted cameras to enforce exclusive lanes -- may become available if Albany approves the necessary legislation.

A limited form of BRT -- called Select Bus Service -- is already in operation on the Bx12 on Fordham Road and Pelham Parkway in the Bronx. It has reduced travel times 24 percent. Another SBS route has started on 34th Street in Midtown. And still another one is due on First and Second Avenues in Manhattan next September.

The Straphangers Campaign hopes that de Blasio uses his bully pulpit to press for picking up the pace and scope of Bus Rapid Transit routes. He can take up the cause of camera enforcement for bus lanes, helping its chances in Albany. He can also serve a mediating role to make sure the concerns of community players are taken into account without endangering the effectiveness of BRT improvements. Stakeholders include bus passengers, community leaders, bicycle riders, and small businesses. Especially in the outer boroughs, which stand to gain the most from BRT, the public advocate's independent voice will carry a lot of weight.

Comptroller Liu can come to the aid of bus riders as well, by using his audit powers to make sure BRT strategies work for New York. The comptroller is an independent elected public servant and his views on BRT will carry a different kind of weight than NYC DOT or the MTA.

Bus service, of course, is not the only transportation issue that these two citywide offices can take on. For example, outgoing comptroller Bill Thompson did a great job documenting how New York City was shortchanged on state transit aid. (See this report.) And his hard-working transit aide Joseph Rappaport keeps many important issues alive, from cuts to transit service to making the MTA more transparent.

Among possible future audits for the new comptroller to consider:

• On-time performance and other official NYC Transit statistics
• Reviewing the work of the new line managers
• Reviewing the MTA capital program to see where it is over timeline and budget
• The status of “mega-projects" like the Second Avenue Subway.

Citywide officials like the comptroller and the public advocate are automatically considered potential candidates for mayor in the next go-round. If they choose to run -- either for mayor or for re-election -- they of course will be judged on what they've done for New Yorkers, including millions of subway and bus riders.

For the next four years, Mike Bloomberg will be joined in citywide office by Democrats Bill de Blasio and John Liu.

And how few votes were cast. Total turnout -- 1.1 million out of about 4 million registered voters -- looks to be even lower than in Ed Koch's election to a third term, back when a million fewer people lived in the city. Participation in New York City's democratic process hasn't been this paltry since the days before women were enfranchised.

The Thompson camp appeared to take some satisfaction in the relatively close finish. Still, Democrats have got to be second guessing themselves today. No doubt much hand-wringing will ensue about the failure of President Obama and local power brokers to rally around the party's standard bearer.

But here are some numbers to chew on: Thompson lost by 50,000 votes, and New Yorkers make more than two million bus trips every day. What if the Democratic candidate had actively campaigned on specific ideas to improve bus service? Vastly outspent or not, Thompson couldn't clear the bar set by Freddy Ferrer in 2005 despite an electorate that seemingly felt little enthusiasm for the incumbent. (Disgust with the term limits extension may explain why Bloomberg himself garnered 200,000 fewer votes than he did four years ago, even though his approval rating, at 70 percent, remains quite high.)

Instead, when it came to New Yorkers' transportation concerns, Thompson sounded few consistent themes except the notion that self-serving complaints from a few local merchants should take precedence over safety gains and transit improvements on our streets. The Democratic Party -- purported defender of the working class and the environment -- failed to make the connection between urban transportation, economic opportunity, and sustainability.

Overall, transportation remained a second- or third-tier issue during the campaign. Under Janette Sadik-Khan, Bloomberg's Department of Transportation has made notable strides to improve walking, biking, and transit, but the mayor seldom strayed from his core themes of falling crime rates and rising student test scores. In the televised debates, parking tickets got more attention than pedestrian safety. The city's 2008 toll of 292 motor vehicle fatalities and annual rate of 50,000 traffic injuries were never even mentioned.

Transportation issues may not have affected this election, but this election will affect transportation policy. Bloomberg will be joined on the citywide stage by two ambitious Democrats, John Liu and Bill de Blasio, whose records on progressive transportation have so far appeared to vary according to the political opportunities available. With Liu in the Comptroller's office and de Blasio taking over as Public Advocate, each now commands a high-visibility bully pulpit, presumably with an eye cast toward 2013. Each can choose to reinforce, ignore, or obstruct livable streets policies.

And the next four years will be an intensely active time for livable streets in New York City. Since Bloomberg appointed Sadik-Khan to run DOT in 2007, we've seen a string of innovations: the city's first rapid bus corridor, major new pedestrian plazas, and the beginnings of a safer, protected bike network. As of today, these important changes to New York's streets exist mainly as experiments and fragments. Expect the question of how to allocate street space to play out on a much bigger scale as the city attempts to expand and solidify its recent progress.

This term also gives Bloomberg the chance to address the gaping holes in his sustainability agenda. By 2013, will NYCEDC and the City Planning Commission still foist anti-urban disasters like the Gateway Center Mall and East River Plaza on New York's car-free majority? Will NYPD rein in reckless driving so New Yorkers can walk and bike without fear? Bloomberg's legacy on the environment, transportation, and quality of life depends on these questions as much as anything.

In the days ahead, Streetsblog will publish a series of essays from local advocates and experts about New York City's transportation and public space agenda for the next four years. What should the mayor set his sights on, and how much can the city accomplish? We'll kick things off next Monday, so stay tuned.

Right now, you might just want to breathe a sigh of relief -- no one's about to rip out bike lanes or ax plans for bus improvements. At least not for the next four years.

With extremely low turnout expected for tomorrow's mayoral election, Bill Thompson and Mike Bloomberg canvassed the city over the weekend trying to drum up some enthusiasm for their candidacies. For Thompson, the itinerary included a stop in Bedford Stuyvesant this Saturday to protest plans for improving bus service along Nostrand Avenue.

Hopping off the campaign truck at the corner of Fulton and Nostrand, Thompson and the entire citywide Democratic ticket joined local council rep Tish James for a quick show of solidarity with Nostrand Avenue Merchants Association president Lindiwe Kamau. Kamau takes issue with bus improvements planned for Nostrand because, she claims, dedicated bus lanes will eliminate curbside parking along the corridor. Here's the thing: The most recent renderings of Select Bus Service on Nostrand [PDF] depict buses operating in an existing travel lane. The curbside parking lane would still be there.

That didn't stop Thompson, James, John Liu, and Bill de Blasio from lending their support for a few minutes, standing beside Kamau and repeating stock phrases about "protecting small businesses." The biggest constituency they addressed appeared to be the press. About four reporters were on hand, outnumbering Nostrand Avenue merchants by approximately four-to-one. After a light cycle or two, the pols hopped back on the truck and were driven away.

If the Democratic ticket had walked over to the B44 stop around the corner, they would have found a much larger and more captive audience to address. Their message might not have gone over very well though.

Around the corner: Waiting to board the B44.

On a typical weekday, more than 40,000 people ride the B44 on the Nostrand corridor. On Saturdays, average ridership is about 29,000. B44 riders can definitely use some relief: They currently depend on the second-most unreliable bus route in the city, according to the Straphangers Campaign. The improvements promised by Select Bus Service -- pre-paid boarding, dedicated travel lanes, signal priority -- would speed trips and enable buses to stick to their schedules.

Around the corner from Saturday's presser, dozens of people were waiting for the next B44, many carrying shopping bags on a warm fall afternoon. Henrietta David, one of the older women waiting at the stop, told me that she doesn't bother glancing at the posted schedule to find out when the next bus will arrive; the bus comes when it comes. There was nowhere for her to sit as she waited. After a bus pulled up, it took a good two minutes for everyone to board.

When I had asked Kamau why she opposed plans for BRT on Nostrand, the indignities and inconveniences of riding the bus weren't foremost in her thoughts, nor were her own customers' transportation needs. She said merchants already get ticketed for parking their cars on this stretch of Nostrand during the p.m. rush, when the west side of the street is a no-standing zone. "We already have problems with parking," she said. "Our merchants get tickets constantly."

We're off today for Yom Kippur but here's a reminder:

Two important citywide elected positions are going to be decided in tomorrow's Democratic primary election run-off. David Yassky and John Liu are vying to be New York City's next Comptroller and Bill de Blasio and Mark Green are running for Public Advocate. Since no serious Republican opposition is expected in November's general election, the winners of tomorrow's run-off win the whole enchilada. 

If you've ever wanted to know what it feels like to be a powerful Democratic party Boss with lots of political influence, then do this on Tuesday morning September 29: Wake up, slap some suspenders over your shoulders, and stuff a cigar in your face and a pocket watch in your vest. Waddle over to your local polling place and simply cast a vote. That's it. That's all you have to do to wield serious power on Tuesday.*

Only 11 percent of registered Democrats bothered to vote in the primary two weeks ago and turnout for tomorrow's run-off is going to be absurdly low. If you are one of the few people who show up to the polls on Tuesday, your individual vote will count for a lot. You may never again have so much influence over a citywide election, so get out there and enjoy it just like Vito Lopez does. On Tuesday your one vote makes you the Boss.

Find your polling place here.

* Actually, if you really want to feel like a Democratic Boss, then you should drive to the polling place, don't walk. Once you've arrived feel free to park in front of a hydrant or in some other illegal spot. Remember: You're the Boss!

After the quiet tenure of Betsy Gotbaum, the next public advocate will probably seek a higher profile simply to justify the continued existence of the office. Almost any topic is fair game for the public advocate to focus on, so there's plenty of headline-grabbing potential for a crusading elected official who cares about traffic safety, sustainable transportation, and the allocation of scarce street space. Lax traffic enforcement and the ongoing abuse of government parking placards, for instance, immediately leap to mind as worthy targets of a public advocate investigation. Someone with a better flair for PR than Gotbaum could force some action on these and other issues.

Here's a brief rundown on the contenders:

Norman Siegel is running for this office for the third time. A former director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, he's won over many New York City bike activists by advocating on behalf of cyclists' rights, and he thinks the NYPD needs better training in their treatment of cyclists. His responses to the TA candidate survey reveal an enthusiasm for car-free parks and congestion-busting parking policies. Notably, the civil rights attorney told TA that automated enforcement cameras to deter speeding and red light running pass muster from a privacy perspective.

Western Queens Council rep Eric Gioia gained some significant livable streets cred when he voted "yes" on congestion pricing last year, a position he has embraced. Gioia told TA that the city should "revisit" congestion pricing, and he's given some thought to the city's long-term development, citing the need to "situate growth in mixed use areas, with easy access to mass transportation." That's a refreshing insight to see from a citywide candidate and hints at a potential public advocate exposé of the city's unsustainable parking policies and traffic-inducing development patterns.

Mark Green pretty much defined the public advocate position, serving two terms before his 2001 mayoral bid flamed out and the Gotbaum era began. He's out to prove that another go-round won't just be a retread. Based on his TA survey response, he's up-to-speed on some of the more pressing and current transportation topics facing New York City. The need for congestion pricing, a robust BRT network, and open data on traffic crashes are all on Green's radar.

Council member Bill de Blasio redeemed his "no" vote on congestion pricing, sort of, by endorsing Shelly Silver's compromise bridge toll plan this spring. But it came too late and too quietly to make much of a difference during Albany's closed door talks on transit funding. While he's no bike lane hater, the best you can say about his transportation positions is that he's still in favor of bridge tolls pegged to the subway fare, and he'd like to see a car-free trial in Prospect Park.

There you have it. The polls open at 6 a.m. on Tuesday.

"In just two months, New York City commuters will face drastic fare hikes and service cuts unless our state government solves the MTA’s budget crisis. Time is running out and Albany needs to act now. In light of these troubling circumstances, I am supporting Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s proposal to combine a payroll tax with a toll on the East and Harlem River bridges set at two dollars, the same amount as a subway fare. Final legislation must permanently keep these tolls at the level of subway fares and the revenue generated should be used to maintain and improve outer-borough transportation services. In the past I have supported several different solutions to this problem, from reinstating the commuter tax to increasing driver registration fees. Now, above all, I believe Albany needs to fix this problem before straphangers across our city are left carrying the burden by themselves."

De Blasio's support of bridge tolls is notable for a few reasons. As far as we know, he's the sole City Council member to come out in favor of new tolls, when he could just as easily have remained silent. And considering his opposition to congestion pricing, de Blasio's stance on East River tolls is all the more surprising.

The timing is also significant. Now that Albany's suburban contingent has put its foot down on the proposed payroll tax, could de Blasio help revive Silver's toll plan, rousing key senators like Velmanette Montgomery to do the right thing?

Meanwhile, candidates for de Blasio's council seat have also weighed in. Brad Lander, Josh Skaller and Gary Reilly have all called on Albany to take action, with Lander and Reilly specifically endorsing East River bridge tolls.

Make Sure Your Voice is Heard. Tell the MTA these cuts and hikes are unacceptable! Riders in this City already fund a disproportionate amount of the transit system, and the MTA’s proposed service cuts would prove dire for millions of working New Yorkers. Despite tough economic times, straphangers should not be forced to bail out the MTA. Tell the MTA there is another solution to this problem – reinstating a commuter tax could create similar revenue without placing the entire burden on our City’s residents. Join Bill at the MTA hearing on January 28th in standing up for straphangers.

Standing up for straphangers? Is that what de Blasio was doing when he voted against congestion pricing less than a year ago? 

And de Blasio certainly knows the MTA has no control over whether or not there's a commuter tax, as surely as he hopes voters don't see any connection between today's "unacceptable" situation and his own failure to get behind measures like congestion pricing. Even now, he can't bring himself to come out in support of the Ravitch Commission's recommended tolls on East River bridges.

Instead, let's attack the MTA on the commuter tax. That's some real leadership, Bill.

The latest push to remove auto traffic from the park has prompted Brooklyn Community Boards 7 and 14, along with Assembly Member Jim Brennan (718-788-7221), to demand an environmental review before such a trial is implemented.

In other car-free parks news, Mobilized Moms will lead a Central Park rally today at 4:30 at 72nd St. & Central Park West. The Moms are expected to be joined by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and City Council Member Gale Brewer.

Dear Mayor Bloomberg, 

As Brooklyn representatives, we ask you to explore a simple and inexpensive policy change that could greatly improve the lives of our constituents -- to study the possibility of making Prospect Park car-free with a three-month car-free trial. We call upon your office, the New York City Department of Transportation and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to implement a three-month pilot program to close the Prospect Park drives to vehicular traffic and to study the effect of this policy on park use and traffic on local streets. 

Prospect Park is the lifeblood of the communities we represent. It is their place to exercise, to escape the heat of a hot apartment, to celebrate a birthday party, to barbeque, to listen to great music and to play with their kids. Just being in Prospect Park and enjoying all it has to offer makes life better. 

Because Prospect Park is such a popular destination for our constituents, it is busy. From morning till night, the loop drive is packed with people walking, running, and riding bikes.  When cars are permitted to drive through the park, these people are often put in danger. A recent speeding survey found that over 90% of cars travelling through the park were going beyond the posted speed limit —- up to 50 mph. Runners and cyclists may find themselves just feet from this traffic and have no barrier to protect them from deadly collision. 

The dangerous and unhealthy environment created by this traffic scares people away. A 2006 survey of 450 park users found that 4 out of 5 people would use the park more often if cars were banned. This survey also found a 40% drop in people entering the park when cars are permitted. As our city struggles to fight a rise in obesity, asthma and diabetes, we call on you to explore solutions to this troubling situation. 

While the benefits of prohibiting cars from the park are many, we also recognize that closing Prospect Park to traffic may have an impact on the surrounding community. Conducting a three-month study and trial closure, to fully analyze the resulting effects on traffic and related quality of life issues would allow the City and the community to understand the full impact of a full closure. Furthermore, this study would allow the Department of Transportation the opportunity to analyze how the traffic patterns around the area are affected by the Prospect Park loop drive and to gauge what mitigation measures might be necessary to deter traffic buildups in the surrounding community, were the park to be car-free. 

Parks are the very foundation of a healthy population. As public leaders, we need to do everything in our power to make our public parks and recreational areas as safe and inviting as possible, while also making sure to balance the diverse needs of the surrounding communities.  

Sincerely,     
David Yassky   Bill de Blasio    Letitia James

"For me, investment in transportation infrastructure is the key to the continued success and prosperity of our city," Reilly tells Streetsblog. "Within my own corner of Brooklyn, I envision robust F/V and G service along the Culver Line, with express and local service. I see a Smith/Ninth Street Station that is ADA compliant. And I see better bus service, particularly along a re-imagined B61 line, perhaps split into two routes to better insure against disruptions."

Reilly, a 33-year-old attorney, says he would work for a "sustainable funding regime" for citywide transit and livable streets infrastructure and initiatives, including curbside parking reform and "some form of congestion pricing." If elected, he says, "there will be at least one loud and clear voice for transit, for pedestrians and for cyclists on the Council."

As noted in today's New York Times, the 2009 campaign season is well underway, and Reilly has a crowded field to contend with in District 39. CB6 District Manager Craig Hammerman, Pratt Center for Community Development Director Brad Lander, Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats President Josh Skaller, and Gowanus Canal Community Development Corporation Executive Director Bob Zuckerman are also vying for the seat. (The Brooklyn Paper has short profiles of all five.) All of the candidates are Democrats. All except Reilly live in Park Slope.

Photo: Tom Callan/The Brooklyn Paper

This plan, sadly, does not ensure that we will see mass transit improvements and expansions where they are most needed -- in the outer boroughs. The "lock box" attached to the congestion pricing plan only guarantees that the funding is used for transit improvements in general -- not for improvements in Brooklyn or the other boroughs.

So BRT on Nostrand Avenue, increased capacity on the C train, and dozens of new buses on the B41 line -- those transit improvements don't count? What about the 28 station rehabilitations Brooklyn is slated to receive in the MTA capital plan? According to the logic of this letter, the plan isn't worth the paper it's printed on unless every borough has its own transit lock box.

Besides, take away $4.5 billion in funding, and every subway rider in all five boroughs will feel the pinch. If fares go up in the next 18 months, let's see de Blasio try to pull off the same type of grandstanding he performed in December, when he unveiled a "Subway Riders' Bill of Rights" during the run-up to the last fare hike. Did we miss the 11th Amendment -- "Free trips for motorists over East River crossings"? You can't claim the mantle of straphangers' champion after voting against the best chance to stave off a huge funding gap at the MTA.

Brooklyn's share of the promised improvements in the MTA capital plans pales in comparison to Manhattan's. 

Again with the Manhattan-centric argument. Never mind that the mass transit system is a network, and people from all over the region rely on subways in Manhattan [disclosure: I live in de Blasio's district].

At this time, I am just not prepared to ask cops, firefighters, teachers, and the working people of Brooklyn to shell out $2,000 a year for false promises that aren't going to be realized.

Aside from the fact that this phrasing is a rather naked expression of beholden-ness to public sector unions, 55.8 percent of households in de Blasio's district don't even own a car, according to the 2000 Census. Those households earn, on average, about $47,000 a year. Households that do own a vehicle have an average income of more than $84,000, and only 3.7 percent of workers commute by car to the central business district. Way to stick up for your constituents, Bill de Blasio.

The New York League of Conservation Voters announced earlier this month that it is forming a new political action committee called Climate Action PAC. Sitting at the top of the PAC's legislative agenda: getting congestion pricing passed.

When it comes to climate impact, said NYLCV spokesman Dan Hendrick, "congestion pricing is the most sweeping proposal on the table; it's head and shoulders above the rest of what's out there." The Climate Action PAC will spend about $300,000 on elections this fall (you can donate online), to be divvied up among six races for seats in the state Legislature, Hendrick projects. Pricing votes will also be the number one factor that NYLCV considers in making its next round of endorsements for state legislators and City Council members.

"We've signaled that this congestion pricing legislation could give us a quantum leap in terms of improved mass transit and cleaner air," said Hendrick. "We're not only going to weigh this heavily when making endorsements, but how people vote on congestion pricing will weigh very heavily in how we use the PAC money."

While funding challengers is riskier than supporting incumbents, threatening pricing foes and undecideds with the stick of a well-funded opponent could have a more immediate impact on the vote at hand. The PAC is still weighing its options on this point. Asked whether candidates who challenge anti-pricing incumbents would be targeted for PAC funds, Hendrick said, "We would definitely consider that."

NYLCV also rates council members on an environmental scorecard. Council members' pricing votes will go a long way towards determining whether they receive a positive score heading into 2009 city elections. "We're gonna give a lot of extra weight to congestion pricing [in the next scorecard]," said Hendrick. "You're going to have a significantly lower score if you vote against it."

A quick glance at NYLCV's 2006 scorecard [PDF] indicates that several Council members who currently enjoy positive ratings may see their scores drop. The following Council members all had 2005-2006 scores of 63 percent or higher, but have indicated that they are undecided or opposed to pricing: Bill de Blasio, Alan Gerson, Jessica Lappin, James Gennaro, Eric Gioia, Peter Vallone, David Weprin, Thomas White, Charles Barron, Lew Fidler, Vincent Gentile, Dominic Recchia and Michael McMahon.

While all of the above, with the exception of Lappin and White, will be term-limited out of the council come 2009, de Blasio and Barron are running for Brooklyn Borough President, and Vallone is leaning towards running for Queens Borough President. Weprin is campaigning for Comptroller, and Gioia is running for Public Advocate having promised to manage a carbon-neutral campaign. Gennaro, meanwhile, chairs the Council's committee on environmental protection.

NYLCV has operated a PAC for 15 years, but the newly unveiled Climate Action PAC has more resources at its disposal than its previous incarnation. Last year the NYLCV PAC spent $110,000, helping three candidates for municipal office (in Brookhaven, Schenectady, and Yonkers) attain victory.

After the vote on congestion pricing has been settled, urban issues will continue to be a focus of the PAC. "The whole thing about global warming is that it's redefined what pollution is," said Hendrick. "The connection between transit and the environment is much more obvious to people now."

Care of the Observer Politicker comes this video from earlier today. Speaking at City Hall, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn turns around a question from a reporter on whether the MTA can be trusted with congestion pricing revenues, given that promised upgrades tied to the recent fare increase will be delayed. Quinn calls the MTA's actions "outrageous," and suggests the congestion pricing lock box will give the city more control over the transit agency.

Said Quinn:

"To me, this is a strong reason why we need congestion pricing. It's a reason why we need a separate, sustainable revenue stream targeted at capital expansion of mass transit in the City of New York ... We need that money to go somewhere separate, where the MTA's board is not the final and only authority over it."

The Observer's Azi Paybarah says Quinn is "optimistic" that pricing will get approval by the council.

Standing behind Quinn is the undecided Bill De Blasio. 

A crowd of nearly 200 filed into the auditorium at St. Francis College in downtown Brooklyn last night, ready to pop a few questions to DOT about residential parking programs. But first, three of Brooklyn's City Council members gave some of their first public comments since the Congestion Mitigation Commission delivered its final recommendations last week.

David Yassky kept his speech short, pretty much sticking to the sentiment that RPP is good because it will "give neighborhood residents first crack at the parking spots on residential streets."

Tish James, who had previously expressed support for congestion pricing if RPP was attached, staked out the position that Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, and Prospect Heights -- her district -- should all be covered by RPP, regardless of what happens to pricing. (This foreshadowed a major theme of the evening -- fear that one's neighborhood would be left outside looking in when the RPP boundaries are drawn.) James then ran through her "wish list related to congestion pricing," which ranged far and wide, including: capital improvements to transit ("the G train sucks"), taxi stands, more bike lanes, ending placard abuse, and re-instating the commuter tax. It wasn't exactly clear at the end where she now stands on pricing itself.

Bill de Blasio opened by saying, "I need to see complete, tangible, absolute progress on RPP before I can think of supporting congestion pricing." He then proposed that RPP zones should be allowed to sprout all over the city in neighborhoods near subway lines, to deter park-and-ride behavior. At one point he delivered some provocative rhetoric about weaning ourselves from the automobile, preparing for a different future, and changing our habits. But his verdict on pricing? "We don't expect the current plan on the table to pass."

When DOT Deputy Commissioner Bruce Schaller and his team took the stage, they were somewhat on the defensive. A Windsor Terrace man (who later identified himself as the chair of Community Board 7) had accused the previous speaker, Joanne Simon of the Boerum Hill Association, of "drawing a line around her neighborhood." The offense: Simon had showed the audience a map of the 2004 downtown Brooklyn RPP study, which applied to Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, and parts of Fort Greene.

So Schaller took pains say that RPP would be available to many neighborhoods on an opt-in basis. Though not every neighborhood would be eligible, Schaller reacted favorably to de Blasio's idea of mapping RPP zones near subway lines. He recapped DOT's recent neighborhood parking workshops and outlined the four basic RPP options DOT is currently weighing. In a straw poll at the end of the event, almost everyone in the audience, except for the Windsor Terrace contingent, said they wanted some form of RPP. The most popular variant was DOT's Option A.

A few interesting nuggets came out of the Q & A session between the audience and Schaller's team, though many questions were more interesting for the attitudes revealed than any information brought to light. Here are some highlights:

Q: When will there be a pilot program?
A: If congestion pricing goes according to plan, a test RPP program would go into effect prior to spring 2009.

Q: What political authorization is necessary to proceed with RPP?
A: The city can implement a temporary pilot on its own, but it needs state approval for a permanent RPP program.

Q: Will DOT hold forums in Sunset Park, Windsor Terrace, and other neighborhoods?
A: DOT wants to be in touch with neighborhoods and anticipates talking to different Community Boards about RPP.

Q: How will boundaries be determined?
A: DOT will look to community boards to help decide. The size of a zone should be reasonably compact, conforming to notions of what a neighborhood is (i.e. not just a few square blocks, but not half the borough either).

Q: Why give local employees permits at all?
A: One view is that they contribute to the local economy and should be accommodated, another is that they should take transit or park off-street like other non-residents. Some sort of balance based on the context of the neighborhood is probably desirable.

Q: Won't the only stores that can withstand RPP be big boxes and those with big parking lots?
A: No, most people who shop at local merchants are already parking at meters, so RPP wouldn't affect them. (That was the answer given; no one said anything about all the people who walk, bike, or take transit to shop and eat out.)

Q: What about people whose cars are registered outside the neighborhood in order to get cheaper car insurance -- will they be eligible for permits?
A: There was no firm answer to this at first, then a consensus seemed to emerge that RPP permits should be based on where cars are registered, which would bring insurance cheats in line.

Q: What steps will be taken to ensure that permits are not loaned, stolen, or sold?
A: They will have the license plate or vehicle registration number on them.

The town hall-style meeting will focus on whether the permits, which would probably cost a small annual fee, could help alleviate curbside parking problems and traffic in Downtown. Council Members David Yassky, Laetitia James and Bill de Blasio have organized the event, which is expected to draw several hundred residents, and DOT commish Janette Sadik-Khan is scheduled to attend. Councilman de Blasio sees the forum as the first step in developing parking strategies for all of Brooklyn. "Lack of a coherent parking strategy has been an ongoing problem in Brooklyn," de Blasio told us. "I think this forum represents a step in the right direction, and I look forward to extending this conversation to communities throughout the borough."

As John Kaehny wrote on Streetsblog last month, bringing a different perspective to these events can change the tenor of the debate:

One person can make a big difference at these workshops.

At the first round of workshops held late last year, I was the only non-car owner at my table of eight at Harlem's Alhambra Ballroom. But me being there changed the discussion from one of endless demands for more free parking space -- which I heard at another table, as my group was being organized -- to a more considered discussion of the implications of DOT's proposed changes.

By the end, a majority of the motorists at my table supported DOT's suggested changes. More than half of the households in New York City do not have a car. But non-motorists should have a say in the parking changes that affect them as bicyclists, bus riders, pedestrians and people who breathe the air. Take a couple of hours and show up. Your voice will be heard.

Spencer Wilking reports:

The city's traveling road show of community advocates, local politicians and concerned residents, otherwise known as New York City's Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission, stopped in Brooklyn Thursday night as part of its whirlwind seven county tour.

At the hearing Brooklyn politicians delivered a resounding rejection of Mayor Bloomberg's plan for congestion pricing. From the Assembly (Joan Millman and Hakeem Jefferies) to the State Senate (Velmanette Montgomery and Carl Kruger) to the City Council (Vincent Gentile and Lew Fidler), to a candidate for Borough President (Bill de Blasio) they strode to the podium and railed against the plan calling it "Manhattan-centric" and bad for Brooklyn. Except for Councilmember David Yassky (who with great dexterity managed to support congestion pricing AND agree with his fellow Brooklyn politicos), endorsements for congestion pricing were left to residents and advocates. Council member Leticia James came close to supporting it but just couldn't do it, "at this time."

Brooklyn politicians voiced concern that their borough would become a "park and ride" community for those headed across the East River, clogging already crowded streets. They demanded the inclusion of residential parking permits to spurn this practice. Likewise, the usual argument that congestion pricing is an unfair tax on poor and working class families was cited more than once.

"I don't want to be known as an Assembly person from the largest parking lot in New York City," said Assembly member Joan Millman. "This will punish hardworking New Yorkers who live in the outer boroughs."

Millman, whose district is, literally, the tip of Long Island's traffic funnel into Lower Manhattan, crushed on a daily basis by regional through-traffic, went on to say that buildings, not vehicles were the true culprits of air pollution.

Instead of the current congestion pricing plan, politicians demanded better bus routes, more water taxis, advancements in the hybrid car, HOV lanes and a harbor freight tunnel for trucks. The need for improved subway service was a common lament, summed up by Council member Tish James, "For the record: The G train sucks."

Specific funding for these ventures was left mostly ambiguous, or as Council member Vincent Gentile put it: "The State legislature can find some options."

Unlike Commission members Vivian Cook and Denny Farrell, Richard Robbins' daughter was at the hearing.

Councilmember Bill de Blasio, like Millman, represents a district heavily burdened by regional traffic congestion. But he has his sights set on Brooklyn Borough Hall these days. So, after complimenting fellow Brooklyn Council member Lew Fidler's "bold" plan to raise payroll taxes, build three new tunnels, and wait for General Motors to sell hydrogen cars, De Blasio noted that Bloomberg's plan lacked guarantees and was executed in the last throes of its administration. "I appreciate the goals of congestion pricing, but there are too many unanswerable questions to move forward," De Blasio said.

As a departure from the Brooklyn party line, David Yassky pledged his support for the Bloomberg plan, but on the condition that improvements to mass transit be implemented beforehand.

Long Island Assembly member Michelle Schimel was a surprising voice in favor of congestion pricing and more livable streets. "New York must be more human, more walkable, more bikeable," she said. Schimel added that she took the LIRR and subway to reach the hearing.

The most persuasive plea for congestion pricing came from a group of young people with the United Puerto Rican Organization of Sunset Park (UPROSE), a community group who say that the Gowanus Expressway is poisoning the neighborhood. Jennifer Casamayor, 21, who works for UPROSE and lives in Manhattan, said, "many children are currently suffering from respiratory issues as their bodies are still developing."

A member of UPROSE watches testimony along with members of the Commission.

Another member of UPROSE, Joaquin Brito, 16, of Bayridge, delivered the best line of the night, "If you can afford the $8 for a tall latte and cookie from Starbucks you can afford congestion pricing."

Other residents took the pulpit to advocate for congestion pricing. Many cited the problems of air quality and the opportunity New York City has to be a leader against global warming.

Richard Robbins, who works for AT&T and lives in Manhattan, held his one-and-a-half-year-old daughter as he spoke at the podium (he insists she wasn't a prop, Mom was merely working late). "The system is broke," he said. "When she grows up they'll be a better system in place, we have the opportunity to do that now."

This was the second to last of seven public hearings on the issue. The crowd at Brooklyn's New York City Tech numbered at around a 100, leaving plenty of room in the Klitgord Auditorium.

Reporting by Spencer Wilking. Photos by Aaron Naparstek. 

Council Members Bill de Blasio (D-Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Kensington), Simcha Felder (D-Midwood, Bensonhurst and Boro Park), and Domenic Recchia (D-Coney Island, Gravesend, Bensonhurst) will stand with community activists and representatives of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership and Transportation Alternatives on Thursday, June 28, 2007, to rally in support of the restoration of express service on Brooklyn's F line.

"To let existing transportation infrastructure go unused is a disservice to the Brooklynites who rely on mass transit every day," says de Blasio.

An online petition in support of restoration launched by community activist Gary Reilly has generated 2,500 signatures in two weeks. "Investments in transit pay off in increased quality of life for everybody," says Reilly. "Let's get this done."

"A remarkable shift in conscious is happening in New York City, with a renewed commitment to strategic planning for the future," says Felder. "But let's not allow our focus on the future to distort our sight of what's right in front of us. The MTA plans to restore F express by 2012. We think it can happen sooner than that."

The rally is at 2:00 at the Church Avenue F Station (Church and McDonald) in Brooklyn.