December 2: Car-free Fifth Avenue, What our Field Team learned, Spatial Equity NYC
This summer and fall our TA Field Team helped communities campaign for safer streets across all five boroughs of New York City, and helped advance all of our local campaigns! Here are some highlights:
The TA Field Team gathered signatures to demand that NYC make it safer to walk and bike across the Queensboro Bridge NOW, not later!
Brookyln’s Grand Army Plaza is chaotic, unpleasant, and dangerous even for drivers, but especially if you walk or bike. This year the TA Field Team helped community activists push the NYC DOT to plan a better, safer Grand Army Plaza.
In the Bronx, Boston Road’s highway-like design and wide intersections make it dangerous for anyone outside of a car. Our field team canvassed for a safe, people-centered redesign.
In Harlem, the field team collaborated with activists and elected officials to campaign for a protected Central Harlem Bikeway on Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard.
On Staten Island, field team ambassadors helped TA borough organizer Rose Uscianowski advocate for Citi Bike access in the last NYC borough without bike share.
The TA Field Team is made possible through your support. Consider making a donationto fund our safe streets advocacy in all five boroughs — your donation will be matched thanks to a local foundation, now through the end of the year.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
1️⃣ Learn more about Spatial Equity NYC. Yesterday, we hosted a webinar demonstrating our new online data tool, Spatial Equity NYC. Watch the demo and learn how you can take this data and put it into action.
2️⃣ Find out how you can join the TA team. We are now hiring a communications director, as well as a Families for Safe Streets director and program manager. Read more about each position and apply on our careers page.
3️⃣ In the news. Here's what we're reading this week:
Bicycling magazine spoke with TA Senior Research Coordinator Em Friedenberg about how cars getting bigger creates more dangerous streets for people on bikes.
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso wants Brooklyn to get a Summer Streets program even longer than Manhattan’s; read more about it in Streetsblog.
A new study ranked the best cities for public transit systems, Bloomberg reports. The bad news: New York City didn’t make the list. The other bad news: NYC ranked #1 on a list of worst U.S. cities for traffic, which makes now seem like an even better time to implement congestion pricing.
Two Things to Do
1️⃣ Donate to TA and double your impact. For our year-end fundraising campaign, a local foundation has pledged to match every dollar raised up to $600,000. Help us continue building safe, equitable streets in 2023 by making a donation today.
2️⃣ Check out car-free Fifth Avenue this Sunday. For the next three Sundays, Fifth Avenue will be closed to car traffic between 48th and 57th Streets, so you can finally see the tree without getting packed into an overcrowded sidewalk.
ONE ACTION TO TAKE NOW
Tell Governor Hochul to sign the complete streets funding bill. This bill, already passed by the NY Assembly and House, would provide funding for bike lanes, sidewalk widening, traffic calming, and more. With 2022 almost over, tell Gov. Hochul to sign this life-saving legislation before it expires.
Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend,
Ted and the TA team