October 7: Complete Streets, Vision Zero Cities Speaker List, Know Your Rights
Last year, we launched NYC 25x25 with the goal of reclaiming 25 percent of street space by 2025. We followed that up with our Seven Steps platform to give Mayor Adams ways to use asphalt as an asset and create streets that serve the majority of New Yorkers who do not own cars.
While Mayor Adams’ administration has advanced ambitious goals and major funding to advance these ideas, the City has already fallen behind on constructing protected bike lanes and dedicated bus lanes, and we can’t afford to delay these projects any longer.
Three Things to Know
1️⃣ Complete streets hearing in Albany. Earlier this week, TA and Families for Safe Streets testified at a public hearing to support complete streets legislation in Albany. Read coverage of the event in Spectrum Local News, WENY News, Buffalo Rising, The Daily Gazette, and Erie News Now.
2️⃣ Know your rights as pedestrians and cyclists. TA’s Brooklyn and North Brooklyn Activist Committees are hosting a “Know Your Rights as Pedestrians and Cyclists” event with partners from the law firm of Vaccaro & White at Hollow Nickel on October 27. RSVP to brooklyn@transalt.org for more information.
3️⃣ In the news. Here’s what we’re reading this week:
In Bloomberg, read about the bill Council Member Lincoln Restler has proposed that would reward people for reporting parked cars that block bike lanes, crosswalks, sidewalks, and school entrances.
Streetsblog writes about how business is up 12 percent on Skillman Avenue in Queens after installing a protected bike lane.
THE CITY reports on how Senator Schumer and Mayor Adams, alongside Los Deliveristas Unidos, announced a plan to create rest stations for delivery workers by repurposing existing infrastructure.
Two Things to Do
1️⃣ Ride to school with TA. On Wednesday, October 12, join us in Brooklyn for our first-ever Bike, Walk, or Roll to School Day. The ride will start at 7 a.m. and follow Bergen Street from Rockaway Avenue to Court Street, with drop-off stations at schools along the way. Please RSVP in advance if you and your kids would like to take part.
2️⃣ Harlem Family Bike Ride next weekend. Hop on your bike and ride through Harlem next Saturday, as TA and Council Member Kristin Richardson Jordan present the Harlem Family Bike Ride. Pedal along Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard and the Harlem River Greenway, and celebrate your ride in Jackie Robinson Park afterward.
One Action To Take Now
Check out our updated speaker list for the Vision Zero Cities Conference. We’re two weeks away from the Vision Zero Cities Conference on October 19 – 21. Take a look through our list of speakers for this year’s conference, and make sure to register for this three-day summit on safer streets and more livable cities!
Thanks for reading! Have a good weekend,
Ted and the TA team