June 30: Car-free Central Park, 24/7 speed cameras, Roe v. Wade
Dear Friend,
Can you imagine walking or biking through a Central Park filled with cars? It’s hard to believe that just four years ago, Central Park’s famous loop was just another street for cars.
Since TA was founded in 1973, people told us car-free Central Park simply wasn’t possible. We didn’t listen. We have always believed that parks are for people, plain and simple. And in June 2018, our hard work and thousands of hours of advocacy paid off. Central Park became car free.
And with NYC 25x25, we can reclaim even more space from cars and return 38 million square feet of open space — 13 Central Park’s-worth — to communities in every neighborhood of the city. Our vision is that every New Yorker will live within a quarter-mile of car-free open space.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
1️⃣ The intersection of transportation and abortion access. Limiting abortion access will force people to travel further to access abortion and the transportation challenges built into the American landscape — the dominance of automobile travel, the lack of public transit — will only compound the problem and affect disabled people and the Black, Latino, Indigenous, and immigrant communities the most. Read our blog post from Friday, June 24, after the SCOTUS decision was announced.
2️⃣ Gov. Hochul signed 24/7 speed safety cameras into law. Thanks to your advocacy, 24/7 speed safety cameras are now law. We joined with the governor last Friday to celebrate this monumental milestone for safe streets. However, we know there is much more work to be done. Read Families for Safe Streets co-founder Amy Cohen’s powerful new Daily News op-ed on the burden of begging for policy changes for our streets.
3️⃣ In the news. Here’s what we’re reading this week:
More than 2,500 people have signed our petition calling for a comprehensive redesign of McGuinness Blvd that slows down drivers and increases space for pedestrians and bike riders. Read about the campaign in Brooklyn Paper.
Hoboken has gone four years without a traffic death. Christopher Robbins at Curbed interviewed our Executive Director Danny Harris and asked: What could NYC learn from this Vision Zero success story?
Police enforcement will not get us to Vision Zero. An op-ed in Next City by Olatunji Oboi Reed proposes solutions that are not only more fair, but more effective, to combat traffic violence.
As Pride Month ends, check out The Conversation on how designing urban spaces with the needs of LGBTQ+ people might make the public realm more inclusive.
TWO THINGS TO DO
1️⃣ Organize and engage New Yorkers for safe streets. Join TA this summer as a Field Team Ambassador and work with staff and local activists to plan, prepare for, and attend outreach events around New York City. Learn more about the position and apply today.
2️⃣ Tell the MTA that you want better bike and pedestrian access. As the MTA prepares its first strategic plan for bike and pedestrian access, they want to hear from you. Tell them you want shared bicycle and pedestrian paths on the Verrazzano, Whitestone, and Throgs Neck bridges.
ONE ACTION TO TAKE NOW
Support a car-free Broadway. We extend our deepest sympathies to the victims of last week’s horrific car crash on Broadway. Visiting New York City, going to lunch, or biking across town should not lead to gruesome, permanent injury. Last Thursday, we joined with hundreds of New Yorkers demanding car-free streets that prevent these tragedies from happening. Sign our petition for a car-free Broadway.
Thanks for reading! Have a great Fourth of July weekend,
Jacob and the TA team
P.S. New York City needs congestion pricing now. We cannot afford to wait any longer. We joined with the Regional Plan Association and other advocacy groups to send a letter to President Biden with a clear message: Our subways, our environment, and our health depend on the swift implementation of congestion pricing.
