Streetsblog New York City

The Post had a short item today, which we've linked to a couple of times, reporting that members of the City Council have sent a letter to Mayor Bloomberg asking for changes in the congestion pricing proposal that would raise fees for New Jersey car commuters or have the Port Authority commit more funds to the MTA.

The Daily Politics got hold of the letter [PDF], which appears below in full, including the names of its 20 signatories -- some of whom, like David Yassky and Melissa Mark-Viverito, are pricing supporters.

Dear Mayor Bloomberg:

We are writing to urge you to correct an unfairness in the "congestion pricing" policy proposed by the Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission, prior to the upcoming votes in the City Council and the State Legislature.

We are concerned that the burden of paying for congestion pricing will fall too heavily on New York City residents - and in particular on residents of Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island - while commuters from outside the City will remain unaffected.

Under the current proposal, bridge and tunnel toll payments would be credited against the $8 congestion charge. This means that commuters who currently pay tolls to use the Port Authority and Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority river crossings will pay no additional congestion fee. The bulk of these drivers live outside of New York City. At the same time, drivers who enter Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge or the Williamsburg Bridge will pay the full $8 congestion charge. Most of these drivers do live within New York City.

This is blatantly unfair.

As City Council Member Jessica Lappin trains her sights on businesses that employ bike delivery workers, her colleague from Queens, Hiram Monserrate, has vowed to take on another pressing issue: making it cheaper for people to drive to sports stadiums.

On Wednesday Monserrate announced that he is submitting a "consumer protection bill" to end "price-gouging at or around NYC sports arenas." Specifically, the bill would set standard fees across the city and impose penalties for exceeding them during "special events," like baseball playoff series.

From Monserrate's press release:

Councilmember Monserrate decided to introduce the bill after he joined with friends to attend Sunday's post-season baseball game between the NY Yankees and the Cleveland Indians. He observed a dramatic increase in parking fees around Yankee stadium to $50 and even attempts to charge up to $150 by unscrupulous operators.

"As a Met Fan from Queens, I decided to attend [read: drive to] last Sunday's game and show some support to our other New York Team, the NY Yankees. I observed several lots with Parking Lot Full signs, all operated by Central Parking Company. They were advertising a $50.00 fee to park. Shockingly, and to add insult to injury, one particular lot (also operated by Central) had a "FULL" sign in front but the attendants told me if I paid $150.00 they would park my car," Monserrate said.

He added, "As we look forward to both the NY Mets and NY Yankees playing in next year's post-season, we need to enact consumer protections against price-gouging for New York fans. While New Yorkers cheer for the hometown teams our City needs to protect us from price-gouging parking lot operators who unfairly take advantage of NY fans."

So, to Monserrate, being asked to pay market rates for auto storage at a sporting event that is accessible by transit qualifies as an "insult."

The council member might want to check with the Yankees before tightening up those fees too much. They're going to need all the revenue they can get.

Upper East Side City Council Member Jessica Lappin has announced legislation that would make business owners responsible for cycling violations committed by their delivery workers.

City Room has the scoop:

Ms. Lappin, a Democrat who represents the Upper East Side, said she has regularly received complaints from constituents about unsafe conditions. A nine-year-old constituent, Annabel Azziz, wrote to her, saying, “We can’t take a walk without being nervous of bicycles zooming next to us.” Another constituent, an elderly woman, was hit by a bike last Thursday and needs hip replacement surgery as a result, she said.

Although she did not have statistical evidence, Ms. Lappin said she believed that workers who use bikes are in general less responsible than recreational cyclists, who, she said, were more likely to use helmets and obey traffic laws.

“I hear in community meetings, night after night, that people are afraid to walk down the street,” Ms. Lappin said in a phone interview.

Under the bill, the employer of a worker found to have broken the law while using a bicycle for commercial purposes would be liable for the violation. Ms. Lappin said that shifting the liability from workers to their employers would give businesses a greater incentive to ensure that their employees are following the law.

Bicycle riders who violate traffic regulations can be fined between $100 and $300, with an additional $200 fine if the rider hits a pedestrian. Ms. Lappin said her bill would not increase the penalties, but only shift the fine from the workers to the employers.

Streetsblog has certainly had its share of animated discussions on cyclists and traffic law, but Lappin's proposal immediately reminded me of a recent story in New York Magazine describing the horrendous working conditions endured by Chinese restaurant bike delivery workers, including the loss of income they face when a customer complains about cold food due to 'slow' delivery (not to mention what happens if they're injured in a crash). How would Lappin's proposal affect that dynamic? Might business owners simply deduct incurred traffic fees out of an employee's pay? Just one of many angles to consider, of course.

Also, anyone know what the fine is for a motorist who hits a pedestrian these days?

Photo: bondidwhat/Flickr

A couple of weeks ago I nearly spit out my morning coffee over the front page of Metro NY when I read that my City Council member Jessica Lappin was opposed to Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan. Dismissing residential parking permits as "a hunting license" Lappin said she was afraid of a "crush of cars" at the at the 86th Street boundary.

In the past, my group, the Upper Greenside, has worked with Lappin to bring new greenmarkets to our neighborhood as well as other environmental issues. Based on our conversations about traffic, she seemed very positive about the idea of congestion pricing. She once wrote a letter to former DOT commissioner Iris Weinshall at our request about the dangerous traffic congestion around the Queensboro Bridge.

Last Friday, while Mayor Bloomberg was testifying in front of the State Assembly about congestion pricing, I accompanied Ann Seligman from Environmental Defense on a visit to Lappin's legislative office to advocate for the mayor's plan. Lappin jumped in immediately, saying, "I support congestion pricing, I just have some tough questions about the details." She described her position as close to Governor Spitzer's. She wants to see something happen but has some concerns over the plan's details.

Read more...

New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan enjoys a lighter moment with Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz as Noah Budnick of Transportation Alternatives welcomes cyclists to the 2007 Tour de Brooklyn.

The third annual Tour de Brooklyn bike ride rolled through the borough Sunday with sunny skies, temperatures in the low 70s and a light breeze along a scenic waterfront route. For the first time, the event was led by New York City's transportation commissioner, newly appointed Janette Sadik-Khan, who introduced herself to riders at the beginning of the ride and praised cycling (transcript of her remarks follows below the fold).

Speaking with Streetsblog before the event, the commissioner said she is considering a car-free Central Park summertime trial and talked about the need to improve cycling conditions in New York City. "I think there's been a renaissance in cycling," she said, "and I think you're seeing that energy come from a lot of the investments that we've made in the city's bike infrastructure -- making it easier for people to get to where they need to go and connecting the different bike paths we have in the city to create a strong biking backbone."

She said improvements to the cycling lane system would begin this summer, and called them "smaller interventions, urban acupuncture, to make it easier for people to see the city." In Brooklyn, the Department of Transportation plans to create 20 lane miles of bike lanes this year and 15 more next year, she said.

The commissioner said she enjoyed cycling. "I think it's one of the best ways to get around," she said. "Of course, the emphasis for us now is to make it as easy as possible. Sometimes it's not as easy to get around, and that's basically what the mayor's emphasis is on the sustainability 2030 plan is to make it easier to get on their bike to get to work, to get on their bike to get to school."

If congestion pricing is implemented, the department would encourage a broad modal shift toward public transportation, she said, playing down fears of a "border effect" expressed by lawmakers such as Jessica Lappin in which communities fear people driving to the border of the congestion pricing zone, seek to park for free, then board transit. "We believe that it's not as big of an issue as people fear," she said. "We think that it’s more likely that people are going to make those modal choices early on."

Hinting at a broader philosophy of urban space, Sadik-Khan noted that the success of street space might be measured in terms other than volume of automobiles moved in a given period. "The streets and sidewalks are the living rooms of New York," she said. "We have to figure out the best way to utilize those living rooms."

Below the fold, a transcript of the commissioner's remarks to the Tour de Brooklyn riders.

The 86th Street border of Mayor Bloomberg's proposed congestion pricing zone is emerging as the northern front of an increasingly intense political battle. Last week, Upper East Side City Council Member Jessica Lappin worried that congestion pricing would bring a "crush of cars circling around 86th Street looking for parking spots." Over on the West Side Council Member Gale Brewer and Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal expressed similar concerns.

On Memorial Day, I had a chance to speak with Micah Kellner, the Democratic Party's candidate for the New York State Assembly seat left vacant by Pete Grannis who was such a strong environmental advocate Gov. Spitzer elevated him to the head of the Department of Environmental Conservation. I asked him to clarify the report in the New York Sun that he opposed Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan, despite supporting the plan "in concept." He said:

The purpose of congestion pricing is to reduce traffic and congestion, not just shift congestion to a different neighborhood. I believe having the border at 86th Street will be a disaster for the people living between 86th and 96th Streets. It will create gridlock there and turn the area into a parking lot. I think the border should be at 59th Street. I also want the mayor to commit to incentives for night deliveries and to support the cross-harbor freight tunnel, which he continually flip flops on.

When I challenged him on his vision of Carmmegedon in Yorkville and Carnegie Hill he responded with a few ancedotes of comments he's heard on the campaign trail: People looking for parking on 88th Street would not be able to look below 86th Street. People working near 86th street would exit the FDR at 96th street, park and walk the rest of the way.

I told Kellner that my greatest concern was that the bickering over where to draw the line would delay or sink the whole plan. He was not worried. "I think we will see congestion pricing of some type get implemented. There will be a vote and it will pass."

At a City Council transportation hearing yesterday Manhattan City Council Member Jessica Lappin expressed anxiety about the effects of congestion pricing on her Upper East Side district. The ill-informed Lappin, who clearly has not read Donald Shoup's 750-page masterwork, The High Cost of Free Parking, asked DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan if the city would be building new municipal parking garages to accompany Mayor Bloomberg's traffic-reduction plan. Metro reports:

Under the mayor's congestion pricing proposal, drivers will have to pay a toll to go south of 86th Street in Manhattan. At a City Council hearing yesterday, Councilwoman Jessica Lappin drew a bleak picture.

"There will be a crush of cars circling around 86th Street looking for parking spots that don't exist," said Lappin, who feared the downtown-bound bridge-and-tunnel crowd would use her Upper East Side district as a parking lot before catching a train. "I envision idling, and more congestion, and more pollution in the air, because there aren't places for these cars to go." Parking in a garage would be out of the question, she said: "The garages up there are full."

Janette Sadik-Khan, two weeks into her job as the city's transportation commissioner, had a simple solution: a residential parking permit. Such permits would allow only residents to park on the street. Violators would be fined and perhaps towed.

Lappin wasn't buying it: "A residential parking permit is a hunting license." She believed plenty of outsiders would still be looking for a place to land. "Is the city considering municipal garages?" she asked.

Among the three cyclist fatality clusters identified by the joint report by the City Departments of Health, Police, Parks and Transportation, the Queensboro Bridge is by far the worst. The entrance intersection at 60th and Second also claimed the award for the most unticketed incidents of block the box in the Borough President's study of lax enforcement of basic traffic rules.

My local group, Upper Green Side, approached Councilmember Jessica Lappin to bring attention to this issue and she shared our concern about safety. Based on our conversation, she wrote this letter below to Department of Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshall.  You can take action yourself by telling Councilmember Lappin of your concerns around the Queensboro Bridge (212-535-5554) and also by filing your own personal complaint about safety around the Queensboro Bridge to the Department of Transportation.

Dear Ms. Weinshall:

            I am writing regarding the dangerous Queensboro Bridge path used by cyclists and pedestrians in my district.

            The Queensboro Bridge site is the most fatal crash cluster for cyclists and pedestrians in Manhattan. According to NYPD data, between 2002 and 2004, motor vehicles killed 5 pedestrians, 3 cyclists and injured 765 pedestrians and 141 cyclists in the one square mile area around the Queensboro Bridge path's Manhattan entrance located at East 50^th Street to East 69^th Street, between 5^th Avenue and the East River. By comparison, at the Queens entrance of the bridge no cyclists or pedestrians were killed and only 94 pedestrians and 10 cyclists were injured.

            The Queensboro Bridge area was highlighted as one of the most dangerous sites for cyclists and pedestrians in a joint report from the New York City Departments of Health and Mental Hygiene, Parks and Recreation and the New York City Police Department. This report confirms the reality that people live with as they risk their lives trying to exit the Queensboro Bridge.

            I appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to your reply. If my office can be of any assistance please do not hesitate to contact my Policy Director, Caroline Mello, at (212) 535-5554. Thank you for you assistance in this important matter.

Sincerely,

JESSICA LAPPIN
Council Member
5^th District, Manhattan

Thursday, July 20, 2006 at 2:30 pm
New York City Council
250 Broadway, 14th Floor Hearing Room (across from City Hall).

FILM SCREENING & DISCUSSION
with the NYC Council's Transportation Committee
"Contested Streets: Breaking NYC Gridlock"
Thursday, July 20th, 2:30 pm

Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringerand New York City Council Members John C. Liu, Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., Daniel R. Garodnick, G. Oliver Koppell, Jessica S. Lappin, Miguel Martinez, Michael E. McMahon, Darlene Mealy, Diana Reyna, and Larry B. Seabrookinvite you to a special screening and discussion of a new documentary film, Contested Streets: Breaking NYC Gridlock.

WHEN: Thursday, July 20, 2006 at 2:30 pm (the film runs approximately 57 minutes); discussion to follow.

WHERE: New York City Council, 250 Broadway, 14th Floor Hearing Room (across from City Hall).

WHAT: "Contested Streets" shows how to create gridlock-free, livable streets, right here in New York City. The film features experts from Downtown to the Bronx, as well as London, Paris and Copenhagen who together show how to meet the transportation needs of NYC's rapidly growing population. To watch a short trailer for the film, please visit: http://www.contestedstreets.com/trailer.html.

WHY: Gridlocked streets are a concern to all New Yorkers from our business community that depends on uncongested streets to speed commerce, to moms and dads who want their children to be able to walk and bike to school without fear. This film shows ways that cities around the world are reclaiming their streets to the delight of residents and businesspeople alike.

RSVP: Seating is limited. To reserve your place, please email your name and affiliation to liu@council.nyc.ny.us (with the subject header: "NYC Council: Contested Streets").