Mayor Bloomberg has already shown how much his administration can accomplish in just a few years. Since Janette Sadik-Khan's appointment to head the DOT in 2007, the city has striped hundreds of miles of bike lanes, reclaimed acres of street space for pedestrians and improved bus travel for tens of thousands of New Yorkers. "More of the same" is no longer a dirty phrase when it comes to local transportation policy. During the next four years, the mayor needs to accelerate this progress, and introduce a few key innovations to maximize the value New Yorkers get from their new streets.

There is plenty of room to build on the Bloomberg administration's record of support for safer, greener streets. Photosim of 34th Street: Luc Nadal and Marc De Decker, ITDP.

Well, the release of DOT's Street Design Manual back in July was an especially auspicious development. This groundbreaking playbook contains templates that can transform streets in neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs. The manual is an engineering document, but it also makes sense as an outreach tool. Community groups concerned about street safety could use the manual as a menu, requesting traffic calming solutions for their neighborhood from DOT. Liberal use of these new designs, applied through a smart community-based process, could pay huge dividends all over the city.

For a fraction of the cost of subway line construction, buses could move millions, if the mayor throws his weight behind BRT.

One sensible way for the NYPD to roll out this approach to traffic enforcement would be to start in areas frequented by children and seniors. Seniors make up 12 percent of New York's population, yet account for 39 percent of pedestrian fatalities. And according to the Department of Health, auto traffic is the leading cause of injury-related death in children ages 1-14. DOT's Safe Routes to School and Safe Routes for Seniors programs have spawned imitators around the country, but our city is no longer the national leader. Other cities are now far ahead of New York when it comes to implementing these street safety programs. Combined with police enforcement, short-term and inexpensive improvements such as leading pedestrian intervals, reductions in signalized crossing speeds, and a citywide slower speed limit in school zones would prioritize pedestrians, save the lives of children and seniors, and get New York City back in the forefront of planning streets for safety.

Greater safety helps more New Yorkers feel at ease riding on our streets. As the city's bike network matures, a large-scale public bike-share system is a no brainer. Bike-sharing weaves cycling into the larger transportation network. In Paris, Velib tripled cycling in a few months with 20,000 bikes spread over 1,400 stations. Montrealers took more than a million rides on Bixi in fewer than six months, and similar gains have been repeated around the globe. The same explosive growth would happen in New York overnight, if Mayor Bloomberg backed bike-share in a big way. Seventy-four percent of trips here are five miles or less, meaning they're very bikeable and easily converted to bike-share trips. If he builds it, they will come.

The same is true of new and better bike facilities. Since the city installed the Ninth Avenue cycle track, biking on the West Side has gotten safer, and so has walking. In Brooklyn, the Kent Avenue protected path is having an identical effect. Traffic-protected bike lanes on Queens Boulevard, through upper Manhattan, down the Upper West Side, and all along the East Side -- where there is a dearth of safe space for cyclists -- would encourage thousands more New Yorkers to ride.

Mayor Bloomberg is a MetroCard guy, but it's much easier to spot him on the subway than riding the bus. That should change in the next four years. Although 2.4 million people ride New York City Transit buses each weekday, the bus system is the city's most underperforming transportation resource. Improvements like pre-paid boarding and signal priority, which have been installed along Fordham Road in the Bronx, could speed service on bus routes around the city. And a true Bus Rapid Transit network, with dedicated lanes for buses and level boarding for passengers, would add another dimension to our transit system. For a fraction of the cost of subway line construction, buses could move millions, if the mayor throws his weight behind BRT.

Mayor Mike has a lot on his plate in the coming weeks, months and years. But if he wants to keep New York City moving toward a sustainable future and shore up his legacy as the Livable City mayor, then safer streets, robust bike-share and better buses are the fastest way to get there.

The deaths of Vionique Valnord and Drana Nivac may spur movement to reevaluate procedures employed to gather DWI blood evidence. What took so long? Photos via New York Times

It took five hours to get a blood sample from Kevin Spellman, the NYPD detective who reportedly stumbled out of his government-leased Chevy Malibu after hitting 67-year-old Bronx grandmother Drana Nikac last week. Even so, officials said Spellman was found to have a blood alcohol level of .21. As with the Andrew Kelly case, the lag time between the arrest and obtaining blood evidence was heavily scrutinized by the media, perhaps putting pressure on Commissioner Kelly to act.

"I feel it is extremely possible to speed up the process and can say the DA offices are very interested in working with the Police Department to do so," says Joseph McCormack, chief of the Vehicular Crimes Bureau of Bronx DA Robert Johnson's office. "There are also some legal changes that would help."

One proposed measure supported by McCormack would remove the state requirement that a doctor be present to supervise blood withdrawals. In 2002, 91-year-old former Olympian Jack Shea was killed in Saranac Lake by a driver who was indicted for vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and DWI. Charges were ultimately dropped after courts ruled blood evidence inadmissible based on the fact that, since there was no doctor on duty at the small clinic where Shea and the driver were taken after the crash, the sample was drawn by an EMT. Appellate judges in the Shea case, according to the bill, "called on the legislature to amend the statute to remedy what they saw as an unnecessary restriction in the law."

McCormack and Nassau prosecutor Maureen McCormick are also working on a proposal to remove the up-front warrant requirement in cases of death or serious injury where there is probable cause for DWI. Such procedure is common in other states, says McCormick: "There is no constitutional issue of self-incrimination, which applies only to statements. Blood is physical evidence and subject to a different analysis. The trial judge would review the arresting officer's assertion of probable cause during pre-trial hearings and if there was not sufficient probable cause to take the evidence it would be suppressed."

Both stress that altering current warrant protocol would enhance the ability of police and prosecutors to gather crucial evidence, but would not change evidentiary requirements.

"These are the exact same circumstances under which blood can be drawn now," McCormick says. "The only change is that instead of precious time being taken up front for a judge to review the probable cause -- while the BAC evidence is literally disappearing -- the judicial review would take place pre-trial, when time is no longer such a critical issue."

On the subject of time, one can't help but wonder of Commissioner Kelly's new committee: What took so long? It's common knowledge among police, for example, that it is to their advantage to refuse breath tests if suspected of DWI. Did two more innocent people have to die -- and at the hands of NYPD officers -- for officials to address such a blatant systemic shortcoming?

See any victims here? Neither does NYPD. Photo: Daily News

Despite the carnage and eyewitness accounts, none of which appear contradictory, NYPD told the Queens Courier the driver would face no charges:

According to police, the driver "had a clean license;" he was neither arrested nor issued any summons. “We weren’t there to witness an infraction,” the police source said.

This case again plainly exposes the hypocrisy in how city law enforcers handle cases involving drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, depending on the identity of the "victim."

Recall that Queens pedestrian Max Kim-Bee was criminally charged earlier this year after a driver who nearly ran him down said Kim-Bee somehow damaged his car. This arrest, which occurred several hours after the incident, was based solely on the driver's claims to police. Not only were no cops present, there were no corroborating witnesses.

So: Bloody bodies littering the ground yards away from a smashed automobile? Nothing NYPD can do. A pedestrian injured your car, you say? The cops are on the case.

Imagine all crimes were treated this way. "I'm sorry your son was murdered, ma'am, but since we didn't witness an infraction, there's really nothing to investigate." Or, "There were no police officers in the area when the crane fell, prosecutors said, and no charges are expected in light of the operator's clean record."

A grisly scene. Multiple innocent victims disfigured. Lives disrupted. Families terrorized. How on earth, Ray Kelly, does this not qualify as violent crime?

Police chief George Gascón, center, fields a question from Streetsblog's Bryan Goebel. Photo: Michael Rhodes.

Gascón goes on the record with positions on speed cameras, pedestrian and cyclist safety, and police chases. He says traffic enforcement resources should be allocated to the most hazardous areas, and he'll consider appointing a liaison to address the concerns of cyclists. You don't hear him commit to lowering speed limits or rotating cops through bike patrol duty, but you do get a feel for how he views traffic enforcement and the responsibilities of different road users.

As Bryan notes, Gascón's willingness to sit for an interview stands in marked contrast to his predecessor, Heather Fong, "who often steered clear of reporters, and ignored efforts to establish closer working relationships with transit advocates." By fielding questions about traffic enforcement, Gascón is sending the message that street safety is worth his time and attention.

Here in New York, we have yet to see a comparable level of seriousness about street safety from Ray Kelly or NYPD's public information office. This week, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne has not returned requests for comment, submitted by fax and email, about the fact that traffic fatalities in New York City are on the rise. While every other city agency Streetsblog has dealt with returns phone calls and provides statements on the record, the NYPD has ignored our every request for information beyond the most basic facts about traffic collisions. This is entirely consistent with the public statements on traffic crime from Gascón's counterpart, Ray Kelly.

Shown documentation last month that motorists commit traffic violations virtually unchecked on city streets, Kelly gave the verbal equivalent of a shrug, citing the number of tickets NYPD hands out. No word on whether those tickets actually deterred dangerous driving, or whether Kelly has given a moment's pause to the idea that we can measure the rate of traffic crime as we do violent crime, and track progress on safety accordingly.

Not that the commissioner isn't a voluble fellow. If you do score 30 minutes of face time with Kelly, just stick to questions about neckwear, like the Times did a few days ago, and you'll get an earful.

A reader sends this shot, taken at the corner of Seventh Avenue and 24th Street this afternoon. We're waiting to hear back from NYPD about whether anyone was hurt. Hopefully this will be one of the lucky cases where an out-of-control cab didn't harm anyone. And really, in the middle of Manhattan, just a short walk from Penn Station, it all boils down to pure chance. I wonder how fast a car has to travel to flip over like this. Does Ray Kelly know?

Just another city motorist breaking the law with impunity. Photo: NYT

"I don't know what they are talking about," said Kelly. "In 2007 and 2008 we issued 1.2 million moving violation summonses."

As Ben Fried reported at the time, Kelly's recitation of a gross figure means nothing without context. Executive Order author Jessie Gray Singer sent over some figures gauging the significance of that number.

• 1.2 million summonses issued by NYPD last year = 3,288 summonses a day.
• Roughly 4 million New Yorkers own cars.
  
• According to NYMTC, there are over 1.5 million daily auto trips into and out of the Manhattan CBD alone.
• A 2000 study by then-city comptroller Alan Hevesi found that city drivers run 1.23 million red lights every work day.

Given a little perspective, you can see how 1.2 million summonses stacks up when compared to the number of vehicle trips and documented (if dated) incidents of just one type of violation. Meanwhile, it appears that NYPD's concentration on cell phone use rather than speeding (195,579 vs. 75,599 summonses, respectively, in 2007) has failed to deter city cab drivers from driving while distracted.

All in all, when it comes to clamping down on traffic crime, 1.2 million summonses a year = 1 drop in the bucket.

Photo: Newsday.

New York can't add more red light cameras or install the city's first speed enforcement cameras without Albany's go-ahead. The NYPD Commissioner only gets so many chances to lobby the state legislature in a major daily, so you've got to wonder why Kelly failed to mention these life-saving technologies. Does he need a news peg? How about this: Albany expanded the city's red light camera allowance by 50 percent this session, but many dangerous intersections remain uncovered, and we still don't have a single speed enforcement camera anywhere in the city.

It's not that Kelly balks at taking on motorists' privacy. In his letter, he openly criticized a recent court decision that prevents the NYPD from attaching GPS trackers to cars without a warrant. To make the case that warrantless GPS tracking is needed, Kelly highlighted the NYPD's shrinking manpower: There are 5,000 fewer New York City cops today than there were in 2001. Well, this is the same argument one would make to get more enforcement cameras.

The way things stand, drivers can travel at life-threatening speeds on New York's neighborhood streets without any fear of enforcement. Safety cams are what you would call a "force multiplier" -- deploy them well and you don't need much manpower to make huge strides in compliance. From page 33 of Transportation Alternatives' Executive Order [PDF]:

In 2007, in Montgomery County, Maryland, six months after installation of speed cameras, the proportion of drivers exceeding speed limits by more than 10 mph declined by about 70 percent. In 2001, within 6 months of the installation of speed cameras in Washington, DC, the proportion of vehicles exceeding the speed limit by more than 10 mph declined 82 percent. “Automated enforcement is a force multiplier, recognize your force is limited and multiply its abilities with automated enforcement,” says Richard Retting, “It’s crude and almost barbaric to think about chasing people on crowded urban streets for driving fast when we can automatically deter and ticket them. Dangerous driving is reduced 80 percent just by doing that.”

These reductions in speeding can spell the difference between life and death. And on New York City streets, lawful observance of speed limits would mean major improvements in quality of life. Imagine avenues and cross-streets where cars don't constantly zoom from one red light to the next at speeds that guarantee death upon impact with the human body. What would crossing the street feel like? Or biking next to traffic? Or sitting on a stoop? How would our public spaces change?

Kelly wants to ease the way for GPS trackers on cars because, as he says, they help the police catch suspects in "bank robbery, kidnapping, murder and terrorism investigations." So, enforcing those crimes is what motivates his willingness to contest motorists' expectation of privacy. The pervasive lawlessness of urban drivers, which contributes to about 300 deaths in New York City every year, seemingly doesn't concern him. 

Last week, Streetsblog noted that Kelly doesn't appear to grasp the public safety hazard posed by dangerous urban driving any better today than he did during his first stint in charge of NYPD. We're waiting for him to prove us wrong.

Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly announcing changes in NYC crime rates for 2008. The city does not track rates of traffic crime. Photo: Gothamist.

Following a rash of accidents involving pedestrians and scofflaw motorists, Kelly told the City Council Transportation Committee about a host of police actions to crack down on drivers with two or more license suspensions. He said police made 230 arrests in the past week under his new directive.

Then came the snafu. Asked about the speed limit on city streets, Kelly looked puzzled. He turned to an aide. "It's 35, isn't it?" he asked loudly. Well, no, the aide whispered. It's actually 30.

It's telling that Kelly overestimated the actual speed limit, because it suggests that the commissioner did not appreciate the public safety hazards posed by driving on crowded urban streets. The faster cars go, of course, the greater the danger, and what may feel like a safe speed to the driver may prove deadly for the pedestrian or cyclist in the vehicle's path. From page 16 of Transportation Alternatives' report, Executive Order [PDF]:

• 5 percent of people die when struck by a motorist going 20 mph
• 45 percent of people die when struck by a motorist going 30 mph
• 85 percent of people die when struck by a motorist going 40 mph
• When cars exceed 20 mph, the comfort level of cyclists and pedestrians drops significantly
• Eye contact between drivers, and between drivers and pedestrians, drops rapidly at speeds greater than 20 mph
• Driving 20 mph requires a stopping distance of 150 feet, driving 30 mph requires a stopping distance of 200 feet, driving 35 mph requires a stopping distance of 250 feet.

If Ray Kelly understands the risks of urban speeding better today than he did 16 years ago, he sure didn't let it show last week. Kelly denied all the evidence that something is broken with traffic enforcement in New York City. As TA's report documented, only one out of every 12,698 speeding violations gets caught. As injury statistics bear out, New York pedestrians are 63 percent more likely to be injured by traffic than their counterparts in London (where some residential zones have 20 mph speed limits). And as anyone familiar with New York City sidewalks can attest, reckless driving strangles quality of life by making people feel unsafe walking, biking, or venturing outside.

Let's assume that to bring some order to the lawless atmosphere on city streets, NYPD needs more manpower or greater leeway to install enforcement cameras. They're not going to get those resources if Ray Kelly can't even acknowledge that we have a problem.

State DMV data show that crashes caused by speeding are up, while enforcement of speeding violations is down. Graphic: Transportation Alternatives.

Transportation Alternatives' recent report, Executive Order [PDF], contains so much information about the state of traffic enforcement in New York, it's impossible to summarize in one post. So in the weeks ahead, Streetsblog will be taking a closer look at what's in the report and what the implications are for law enforcement.

We'll begin by noting that, so far, Mayor Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly don't appear concerned by the systemic lack of enforcement documented in Executive Order. NY1 reported their reactions:

"We have a safety record in the city that is the envy of other big cities," said Bloomberg.

"I don't know what they're talking about. In 2007 and 2008 we issued 1.2 million moving violation summonses. As the mayor said, we're at the lowest number of vehicle fatalities," said Kelly.

Has anyone ever heard Ray Kelly brag about the number of arrests for murder, rape, and assault? No. NYPD grades its performance on violent crime by tracking how much the actual crime rates have changed. Anyone with an internet connection can look up the stats for their precinct.

When it comes to deadly driving, Kelly has no data to cite. Rattling off the number of summonses proves nothing. It's like saying, "We arrested a million perps last year, the streets are safer."

It's true that traffic deaths have declined in recent years, but if Bloomberg and Kelly want to save more lives and make New York as safe as possible, they should take a good long look at Executive Order. Their replies indicate that they don't yet grasp, or care to acknowledge, the fundamental problems it identifies.

To start with, no one really knows why traffic deaths are down or whether traffic enforcement has played a role. What we do know is that the most deadly crashes -- those caused by speeding -- are on the rise.

According to state DMV statistics (available here), crashes in Manhattan due to "unsafe speed" rose from 471 in 2005 to 589 in 2007. Which is just one glaring example of why citing the number of summonses issued, as Commissioner Kelly did, fails to address the underlying question of whether traffic enforcement has actually made streets safer. Consider the following numbers from Executive Order -- this is citywide data from 2007:

• 195,579 summonses were issued for cell phone use
  
• Cell phones were the cause of 78 crashes and one death
• 75,599 summonses were issued for speeding
• Speeding was the cause of 3,080 crashes and 62 deaths
• Speeding caused over 39 times as many crashes as cell phone use
• Less than half the number of summonses issued for cell phones were issued for speeding

So, sure, NYPD is handing out lots of summonses, but not to deter the most dangerous behavior on the streets. For an agency that has built its reputation on metrics and accountability -- think CompStat -- the mismatch between enforcement practice and actual risk is remarkable.

This driver suffered a seizure, but not to worry -- the phone booth was protected. Photo: Gothamist

“We don’t want to tell anyone how to run their businesses until it impacts our business,” Mr. Kelly said.

According to data provided by the Police Department, there were 444 bank robbery attempts in 2008 -- up 57 percent from the year before.

While statistics produced by both sides show that about 90 percent of the 1,700 commercial bank branches in New York already have some form of barrier in place between tellers and would-be robbers, many small local banks -- and some chains like TD Bank -- do not have them.

The effectiveness of the barriers is questionable. Kelly himself said that last year 47 percent of bank robberies in the city occurred at banks with the barriers, while 53 percent of banks targeted by robbers did not have them. And Gregory B. Braca of TD Bank testified that the barriers can actually invite additional trouble, saying, "There is evidence that if we had to install barriers, it could increase the risk of hostage-taking and injury to our customers."

Now, for comparison's sake, consider the 444 attempted bank robberies in 2008 alongside the 15,000 injuries and 150 deaths suffered by pedestrians at the hands of New York City drivers in the average year. Many of those victims are injured and killed not in the street, but while standing on a corner, walking down a sidewalk, or having a meal inside a restaurant.

Couldn't Commissioner Kelly also advocate for additional barriers between people and outlaw drivers? "Bandit bollards" has a nice ring, doesn't it? Or, if Kelly has his way and bank barriers are eventually mandated, might NYPD redeploy officers from banks to the streets to protect pedestrians? After all, those 15,000 calls a year must also be a burden -- and much like a bank, we never know who'll be hit next.

The highest rank to be filled on Friday will be chief of transportation, a three-star bureau chief position. The commissioner has tapped Assistant Chief James Tuller, who is Hispanic, to be the first minority officer to hold that position, aides to Mr. Kelly said. 

Scagnelli, who retired a month ago, will probably be most remembered by livable streets advocates as the pioneer of TrafficStat, which some -- though not all -- credit for helping to reduce pedestrian and cyclist fatalities. While, as we understand it, the transpo chief wields limited direct power when it comes to traffic enforcement, hopefully Tuller will build on Scagnelli's record.

With NYPD Chief of Transportation Michael Scagnelli working his last day on the job today, his exit is marked by reflections on his stint at the post, speculation on who might replace him, and hope that his successor will build on his traffic safety initiatives.

In a press release issued this morning, Transportation Alternatives credited Scagnelli as the "pioneer" of TrafficStat, which, said Executive Director Paul Steely White, "set the precedent of strategically using enforcement to bring crash rates down."

"Chief Scagnelli helped battle the notion that traffic fatalities are random and unpreventable," White said.

TA also laid out enforcement improvement recommendations for the next transportation chief:

• Measure Incident Reduction, Not Summons Issued: TrafficStat currently measures traffic safety by the number of tickets issued, which can be completely unrelated to the underlying problem and rewards the writing of tickets rather than the reduction of traffic crime. Measuring the level of infraction and reduction in crashes is the only way to assess the effectiveness of enforcement.
• Reinstate Accident Prone Location Deployment: Target NYPD enforcement resources to intersections and streets with high levels of crashes.

Who Scagnelli's replacement might be, or where the department stands in the selection process, remains a mystery. The DCPI officer we spoke with yesterday said she "had no idea" if a successor had been named, and a second query has so far yielded no response. For whatever it's worth, as of three weeks ago talk around the NYPD Rant water cooler centered on current Chief of Transit James Hall. Hall's office had no comment. A call to Scagnelli's office was referred to DCPI.

Despite some very public missteps, Scagnelli will be remembered for reducing the number of deaths on New York City streets. Here's hoping that Commissioner Ray Kelly appoints someone who will take traffic enforcement, and its impact on the safety of all New Yorkers, as seriously as he did -- and then some.

Rasha Shamoon was struck riding her bike on Delancey and died of her injuries. NYPD failed to fully investigate the crash.

As you know, Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC: A Greener, Greater New York calls for a range of projects to improve mass transit, reduce congestion and promote bicycling. The plans for transit may be stymied or delayed by the recession, but bicycling is booming in New York. DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan is painting bike lanes all over town, and many commuters are switching from cars to bicycles to save money, get in shape and reduce their carbon footprint.

In 2008, bicycling in New York City grew by 35%! The cycling boom means New York’s Finest must recognize the rights of bicyclists and accord them the same respect that drivers of cars, trucks and buses receive. A human being encased in two tons of steel has the same moral weight as a human being riding 25 pounds of steel, or one on foot. A recent fatal crash indicates the extent to which this is not now the case.

Early on August 6, 2008, Rasha Shamoon was riding east on Delancey Street when she was struck and killed by an SUV traveling northbound on Bowery. Police interviewed the 21-year-old driver and his two young passengers who blamed the unconscious and dying woman. No other witnesses were interviewed, even though several people reported the crash to 911. No skid marks were measured. Remarkably, although the SUV driver had six prior motor vehicle convictions, he was allowed to leave the scene after giving a statement. Shamoon, 31, a lecturer at Hunter and City colleges, was the daughter of a physician who fled tyranny in Iraq in the late 1970s. She was by all accounts a wonderful person and responsible bicyclist. Her bike had front and back running lights and was swathed in reflector tape.

There are many other examples. As bicycling becomes more prevalent in New York, police officers must thoroughly and consistently investigate all crashes. Inconsistent and incomplete reporting undermines efforts to improve the safety of city streets. At the moment, crashes caused by negligent drivers often are recorded in sketchy “aided reports.” More detailed MV-104 reports are only filed when there is physical contact between cyclist and motor vehicle. This often leaves injured cyclists with little recourse to compensation.

Breathalyzer tests should be required for all involved in a crash. Street locations and conditions should be noted so that data can be gathered to improve safety and prevent further crashes. Red light and speed cameras should be installed at dangerous intersections. The NYPD should commit to a Vision Zero policy for traffic fatalities, and thoroughly investigate all fatal crashes to determine a formal finding of cause and responsibility. Those in the wrong should be fully prosecuted. I recognize that cyclists also have a responsibility to ride safely. Transportation Alternatives is undertaking a new campaign in 2009 to encourage lawful riding on city streets, starting in Brooklyn. “Biking Rules in Brooklyn” will outline the rules of the road for bicyclists.

I realize it is not the NYPD’s problem, but I find it sadly ironic that the District Attorney goes on the warpath when a handful of people die in dramatic crane accidents in Manhattan while more than 100 pedestrians and bicyclists die on New York City streets every year.

Over the past 20 years, the NYPD has made amazing progress in making the city safer for its growing population. There is no reason why a focus on the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians should not be an objective of the next 20 years. With the population expected to increase by another million by 2030, bicycling will be a critical element of that “Greener, Greater New York.”

Thanks,
Steve Hindy

A pedestrian was struck by a sport utility vehicle on a street in Corona, Queens, on Wednesday morning, then immediately struck again by a cargo van that dragged the victim 17 miles through a web of city highways and to Coney Island in Brooklyn, the police said. The pedestrian, apparently a male, was killed.

The victim had not yet been identified, though some paperwork was found in the clothing on his body, which was wedged under the van's chassis, the police said. The authorities said there did not appear to be any criminality involved.

No "criminality" -- in other words, we can probably rule out drugs and alcohol. Few details have surfaced about the circumstances of the initial collision, other than the SUV driver opting not to leave the scene. Here's NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly on the van driver's response:

"He apparently felt something," Mr. Kelly said. "The car was not driving in a normal fashion."

Details are still emerging, but it's safe to say that at the moment of impact, the van driver was careless enough not to notice that he'd run over another human being. Shouldn't he have seen something before he "felt something"? I'm having trouble comprehending how a driver can be so disconnected from the world outside his car as to allow this to happen. Lives are at stake here. Does the NYPD not believe that drivers must stay aware of their surroundings?

City Council Member Rosie Mendez has introduced a bill to overturn the NYPD's parade permit rules, which require groups of over 50 to obtain a permit before assembling. Enacted a year ago, the rules were seen as a way for the city to subvert Critical Mass rides and have been the subject of civil rights action and at least one lawsuit.

Mendez, along with Alan Gerson and Gale Brewer, were to introduce the "First Amendment Assembly Act" yesterday. According to a media release, the bill [PDF] "decriminalizes parading without a permit and allows groups that need exceptions to various laws, such as traffic laws, to obtain such for their events."

Streetsblog has posted consistently on how the NYPD seems more intent on harassing cyclists than protecting them. And just last week Commissioner Ray Kelly got an earful from citizens who are fed up with unsafe conditions for cyclists and pedestrians.

The full press release from Mendez follows the jump.

COUNCIL MEMBER MENDEZ INTRODUCES BILL TO PROTECT THE FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT TO ASSEMBLE

Wednesday March 26th 2008

At today's Stated City Council meeting, Council Member Rosie Mendez (District 2, Manhattan), along with Council Members Alan Gerson and Gale Brewer, will introduce a bill to balance the NYPD's duty to ensure public safety with citizens' right to free assembly. If enacted into law, the bill will override the parade permit rules adopted by the NYPD a year ago which were created without City Council oversight and require any group of 50 or more to obtain a permit. Currently, anyone in such a group without a permit is subject to arrest.

A copy of the legislation being introduced can be downloaded from the Assemble For Rights NYC website:
http://www.assembleforrightsnyc.org/files/a4r/legal/parade_bill_final_draft.doc

"Groups wishing to assemble and stay within the limits of the law should not be required to obtain a permit; the First Amendment is our permit" stated Council Member Mendez. "Larger assemblies that want the police to
assist in managing traffic along their route and ensure security should be able to apply for a permit through a fair and transparent process. This bill sets forth clear guidelines for each instance."

The First Amendment Assembly Act, based on legislation drafted by the civil rights advocacy group Assemble For Rights NYC, decriminalizes parading without a permit and allows groups that need exceptions to various laws, such as traffic laws, to obtain such for their events.

A parade permit will not be required when:
* A group believes their proposed assembly will not prevent other lawful uses of the same city public space and the expected attendance of the assembly will be less than 100, or
* The assembly is an immediate and spontaneous response to an event.

The Act also sets forth guidelines for the NYPD to facilitate peaceful assemblies even when a group should have obtained a permit but did not. Furthermore, the Act also encourages calmer resolutions to assemblies which become too difficult for the NYPD to facilitate: these guidelines include providing clearly communicated dispersal orders and reasonable opportunities to disperse before making any arrests.

The Act is similar to rules which were created to govern assemblies in Washington D.C. in the wake of mass arrests that eventually cost D.C. millions in civil penalties. D.C.'s laws have successfully reduced tensions between police and citizens there, and significantly reduced that city's legal liability to wrongful arrest civil suits, while ensuring public safety.

Assemble For Rights NYC (http://assembleforrightsnyc.org), is a coalition of over two dozen organizations dedicated to keeping free speech alive and well in New York City.

Photo: Doug Letterman/Flickr

Here's the breakdown by borough:

• Manhattan: 73% - 23%
  
• Bronx: 57% - 39%
  
• Brooklyn: 51% - 46%
  
• Queens: 58% - 40%
  
• Staten Island: 55% - 42%

In keeping with previous polls, 89 percent say traffic congestion is a “very serious” or “somewhat serious” problem. The majority still isn't convinced, though, that pricing funds will used for public transportation improvements, according to Quinnipiac.

Only 43 percent of voters say it is "very likely" or "somewhat likely" that congestion pricing funds will be used to improve mass transit, while 54 percent say this is "not too likely" or "not likely at all."

Not sure how it squares with the approval ratings above, but the poll also says that, by a 58 to 36 percent margin, "New York City voters agree that congestion pricing would unfairly tax people who live outside Manhattan." Manhattan voters disagree, 52 to 43 percent. Says Q Polling Institute Director Maurice Carroll: “Again, it’s Manhattan against the world."

The poll also shows Police Commissioner Ray Kelly as the top choice for mayor at this point, followed by Congressman Anthony Weiner and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.

If you have an eye for New York City traffic mayhem, then you know those "Where's a cop when I need one" moments. This is about a mayhem moment when a cop was right there -- and did nothing. It took place last November, a little before 6:00 pm on a weekday. A big truck fleeing a traffic jam had just barreled down my residential street, going the wrong way. Among the pedestrians in its path were two traffic enforcement agents. Great, I figured, I'll actually see a driver get a ticket.

It didn't happen. The traffic agents did nothing, even after I approached them and suggested that they, at least, talk to the driver.

So, on Nov. 13, I sent a letter to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to inform him of the incident. What follows is the text of my letter to Kelly, followed by the NYPD's response, which arrived four months later. (Note that although the NYPD letter was dated Dec. 2006, the  police didn't get around to mailing it until March 2007.)

November 13, 2006

Mr. Ray Kelly
Commissioner
NYC Police Department
1 Police Plaza
New York, NY 10038

Dear Commissioner Kelly:

I witnessed a frightening incident last Thursday evening (Nov. 9) that I believe warrants action by the NYPD.

At 5:52 pm, a heavy-duty truck, probably in the 20,000-lb class, made an illegal left turn from Hudson Street onto Duane Street in lower Manhattan and drove west, the wrong way, on east-bound Duane Street to Greenwich Street. I estimate its speed to have been 20-22 mph. At the T-intersection of Duane with Greenwich, the truck slowed only enough to negotiate a left turn. This block of Duane Street, where I live, is heavily pedestrianized, and in fact pedestrians had to scatter to avoid being struck in the striped crosswalk running from the southeast corner of the T-intersection to the northeast corner.

What was equally frightening, and even more upsetting, is that two uniformed NYPD traffic enforcement agents who were in the Duane Street crosswalk at that time did nothing to intervene.

The two officers had just begun crossing from the southeast to the northeast corner when the truck barreled through. I was a dozen feet away and ran over to the officers to ask them to summons the driver (at that moment the truck was standing in the traffic queue on Greenwich Street north of Reade Street, no more than 150 feet away). Both officers refused my entreaties to pull over the truck, even though one, Officer Rignola, admitted having seen it drive the wrong way on Duane Street and aggressively turn in front of him.

I understand that TEAs are limited in the violations they can issue. But I cannot believe that their duties require them to ignore both a violation of this gravity and a request for help from a citizen.

I would like to hear from the department what the two officers should have done. Please also let me know what steps will be taken to ensure that they, as well as other officers attached to the 1st Precinct, intervene to protect the public from similarly marauding vehicles in the future.

Sincerely,

Charles Komanoff

PS: I wish to commend Officer Rignola for giving me his name. I know it's required by regulations but I still appreciate his courtesy.

Photo: Jeevs via Flickr

• State Comptroller Alan Hevesi was forced from office earlier this year for doing the exact same thing.
• Kelly is an absolute stickler, and willing to spare no expense, to encourage lawful behavior when it comes to large groups of cyclists on city streets.
• Kelly's agency is responsible for 46% of parking permit abuse by government employees, by far the largest share from any single agency.
  

Between 2002, when Kelly returned as commissioner, and late 2006, when the accusations against Hevesi surfaced, plain-clothes detectives from Kelly's nine-man security detail had driven his wife Veronica in unmarked police cars on hundreds of personal trips about the city, these detectives say.

One detective said the detail drove Mrs. Kelly as many as three or four times a week.

Another detective said that "while three or four times a week may be too much, it did happen frequently, involving plenty of vehicles and plenty of personnel. No question about it."

These included, the detectives say, picking Mrs. Kelly up on the Upper East Side when her car broke down; driving her to fundraising events or to the shelter where she volunteered; and taking her to and from airports for domestic and foreign flights.

Occasionally, when Mrs. Kelly ran late, she directed the detail to use lights and sirens, a practice Commissioner Kelly had banned for himself, unless it involved a police emergency, the detectives say.

"I know my husband doesn't like to do this but I need to get there right away," a detective quoted her as saying when she was running late to a fundraiser.

"The commissioner's wife tells you to put the lights on, you put the lights on," the detective said.

Two blocks from the site of the event, he added, she ordered the lights and sirens turned off.

New Critical Mass chant: "Whose street!? Veronica Kelly's streets!!"

Photo: New York Social Diary