Council Majority Leader and Transportation Chair Shaun Abreu, Transportation Alternatives, Families for Safe Streets, Advocates Rally for New Streets Plan, Demand DOT Build Bike and Bus Lanes Owed
The first Streets Plan law mandated hundreds of miles of bike and bus lanes that the Adams administration left unbuilt.
Mayor Mamdani and the Department of Transportation are deliberating on the next phase, the Streets Plan 2.0, which will be in effect for the next five years.
Transportation Alternatives, Families for Safe Streets, and more than 30 organizations recently signed a joint letter demanding changes and improvements to the next iteration of the Streets Plan.
NEW YORK — On Tuesday, on the steps of City Hall, New York City Council Majority Leader Transportation Committee Chair Shaun Abreu, Transportation Alternatives, members of Families for Safe Streets, and partner organizations rallied in support of the next phase of the Streets Plan. They demanded a fully funded and empowered Department of Transportation that finishes the bike and bus lane miles the Adams administration ignored as part of a high-quality citywide network; installs physically-protected or camera-enforced bus lanes; implements 20 mph Sammy’s Law zones around every school; and restarts the construction of pedestrian plazas citywide.
“The Streets Plan 2.0 is an enormous opportunity for the Mamdani administration to make New York City’s streets the envy of the world,” said Ben Furnas, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. “We hope that the mayor, DOT, and City Council hear New Yorkers’ demands for safe streets and better infrastructure, and respond with a clear budget line for the Streets Plan in the mayor’s executive budget, an updated Streets Plan with clear metrics and a strategy to realize its ambition, and a bill out of the City Council that returns pedestrian space requirements to the Streets Plan. New Yorkers are still owed more than 100 miles of protected bike lanes, and we’ll keep pushing until New Yorkers from all walks of life feel comfortable hopping on a bike to get around.”
The Streets Plan is a New York City law that took effect in 2021 and required the City to build public space improvements including hundreds of miles of protected bike lanes and bus lanes, new pedestrian plazas, improved signal timing, and more. The Adams administration fell behind on almost every metric, and the City still owes New Yorkers over a hundred miles of bike lanes.
"The Streets Plan is a vital roadmap for safer, people-first streets, and today’s hearing was all about accountability for its legal mandates. Eric Adams’s DOT fell woefully short of those requirements, and as a result, lives have been put at risk and transit riders have sat in countless hours of traffic. Our city cannot afford to continue to lose ground on progress with what’s at stake. Our streets must be designed for safety, and I will ensure the Council exercises its oversight authority to hold DOT accountable and secure the resources it needs to fulfill the Streets Plan. I look forward to supporting Mayor Mamdani’s administration to deliver on people-first streets,” said City Council Majority Leader and Transportation Committee Chair Shaun Abreu.
“Most New Yorkers don’t drive cars - we take the subway and bus, we bike, and, most of all, we walk. It’s vital that the next version of the Streets Plan sets ambitious benchmarks for more pedestrian space," said Council Member Lincoln Restler. "I'm grateful for Transportation Alternatives’ strong support for expanding pedestrian space, improving our public realm with outdoor dining, and getting us back on track to build hundreds of miles of protected bike lanes and bus lanes.”
“Street safety is about whether our neighbors make it home at the end of the day,” said Council Member Shahana Hanif. “Across our city, too many families have experienced devastating, preventable traffic violence. My bill, Intro 1335, would require the City to install curb extensions at dangerous intersections—a common sense measure that the Council must pass, alongside the other common sense street safety bills heard today. We have the ability and the responsibility to create streets that prioritize people over speed, to save lives, and to create a city where everyone can move safely.”
Lisa Daglian, Executive Director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA (PCAC), said, "As the City Council looks to build on the promise and premise of the Streets Plan, the two million riders who depend on New York's buses know that we can do so much better than the woeful average of eight miles per hour that they currently travel. The Streets Plan boldly states that the city’s streets are not just for cars: they are for all of us to use safely and can be reimagined with clarity and inclusion. We look forward to working with the Council, DOT, the MTA, and our advocacy colleagues to make our city’s streets a place where we all feel welcome and safe."
“Elections bring change, and change brings opportunity. The Mamdani administration has the chance to write a new and exciting chapter for the Streets Plan, delivering on the substantial promise it held when it was passed in 2019. New Yorkers deserve it, and our city's future depends on it,” said Eric McClure, Executive Director of StreetsPAC.
“New York’s Streets Plan is one of the most important commitments the City has made to safety, climate action, and equitable access to our public realm. But the Plan only matters if it is fully funded and implemented. Today’s package of bills underscores the urgency of building safer streets, expanding pedestrian space, improving bike access, and supporting small businesses reliant on vibrant streets and sidewalks. We urge the City to pair these legislative efforts with clear benchmarks, accountability, and sustained investment and expansion so that safer, more accessible streets become the standard in every borough,” said Maulin Mehta, NY Director, Regional Plan Association.
“The next NYC Streets Plan must guarantee completion of greenways citywide with clear timelines, dedicated funding, and cross-agency accountability,” said Hunter Armstrong, Executive Director of Brooklyn Greenway Initiative and co-chair of NYC Greenways Coalition. “New Yorkers deserve a fully connected, climate-resilient greenway network, and that means prioritizing gap closures, strengthening protection standards, improving maintenance for year round use, and fully funding the agencies responsible for delivery.”
“The Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York (CIDNY) advocates for safer streets for people with disabilities in New York City. There are nearly two million people living in New York City with disabilities. Some of these individuals have physical, mobility, and sensory disabilities which make traveling around the city very arduous. The street plan must ensure that every New Yorker despite having a disability can travel safely and with ease. The new administration must work for safer streets for all,” said Sharon McLennon Wier, Ph.D., MSED., CRC, LMHC, Executive Director of CIDNY.
“When the Streets Plan falls short, bus riders feel it in longer commutes and slower service,” said Natasha Elder, Regional Director of the Straphangers Campaign, NYPIRG. “Bus lanes aren’t optional — they’re essential infrastructure for working New Yorkers who rely on transit every day. The administration must meet the law’s targets and fully fund the DOT so these projects move forward.”
“In this Streets Plan, we have a key opportunity to meet our Vision Zero, climate, and public health goals. The Plan must rise to that task with full funding and staff support for completing the citywide greenway and active transportation networks to empower more New Yorkers to choose safe, sustainable, and healthy modes,” said Sofia Barandiaran, New York & New Jersey Manager at the East Coast Greenway Alliance.
"E-bike ridership in New York City is surging, and so is the hostility toward riders. That's what happens when infrastructure doesn't keep pace with how people are actually moving through the city. We're calling on the Mamdani administration to deliver on missed commitments and ensure the updated Streets Plan sets ambitious goals to reduce car dependence and make sustainable, affordable mobility a reality for all New Yorkers,” said Melinda Hanson from the E-Mobility Project.
"We are standing at a crossroads for Bronx and Upper Manhattan infrastructure," added Chauncy Young, Coordinator of the Harlem River Coalition. "The NYC Streets Plan, if properly implemented, provides the roadmap. Now, we need the political will and the immediate funding to break ground on these long-promised connections in neighborhoods throughout NYC. The NYC Council’s commitment to expanding pedestrian space and completing a connected bicycle network is more than a policy goal—it is a moral decision. It is an acknowledgment that every community, regardless of income, deserves: 1) Safe, dignified access to their communities, schools, parks and waterfront 2) Infrastructure that protects life rather than endangering it 3) An interconnected greenway and bicycle infrastructure that functions as a true transportation network, not just a luxury amenity for a few communities."
Transportation Alternatives, Families for Safe Streets, and 31 other organizations also recently signed a joint letter demanding changes and improvements to the next iteration of the Streets Plan. Read the letter below:
To Mayor Mamdani and the New York City Council:
In 2019, the City Council passed the Streets Master Plan into law, charting a bold vision for the transformation of New York City’s streets. The goal was to give more New Yorkers access to city streets by making biking, walking, and riding the bus a safe, accessible, and sustainable choice -- and they set about this mandated effort by assigning the Department of Transportation annual targets for miles of bike lanes and bus lanes, acres of pedestrian space, and the number of intersections made safe. As a result, New Yorkers now enjoy the safety, joy, and convenience of hundreds of miles of protected bike lanes, some truly efficient bus lanes, thousands of remarkably safer intersections, and acres of underutilized streets transformed into public plazas and parks.
However, the Department of Transportation has fallen short of its targets by a significant margin. Under the law, the City of New York owes New Yorkers at least 144 miles of protected bike lanes, 106 miles of bus lanes, and 2,414 bus stop upgrades by the end of the year. Going forward, the Streets Plan must be fully funded and expedited to recover this debt and meet the law's ambition.
As New Yorkers and advocates for transportation, public health, affordability, climate, housing, and the public realm, we urge you to expedite the Streets Plan to meet past and future deadlines, as owed to New Yorkers and required by law. We recommend, specifically, that Mayor Mamdani and the City Council:
Fully fund and staff the Department of Transportation, ensuring full staffing capacity in the next two years, so that the resources and expertise to correct the existing shortfalls and move forward are ready and available.
Implement Sammy’s Law 20 mph zones in every New York City school zone.
Expedite the Streets Plan and address the shortfalls of the Adams administration, by expanding DOT’s technical staff and equipment available to pour concrete and install curbs, permit the agency to move forward independently to harden and make permanent bike lane, bus and pedestrian space, and provide resources to expand municipal concrete and asphalt production. Allow the DOT to count the hardening of existing bike lanes and pedestrian space, with at-grade construction and concrete buildouts, toward Streets Plan mileage and square footage.
Reimplement and expand pedestrian plaza metrics and make these a permanent, non-sunsetting feature of the Streets Plan. Commit to building a pedestrian plaza in every community board district without one in the next three years to expand much-needed open space.
Dictate a focus on a connected network of protected bike lanes, so that no bike lane ever ends without connecting to another. The original Street Plan local law required a bike network connectivity index to be reported on and tracked, but that requirement still won’t come into effect for several more years. Require DOT to comply now.
Deliver transformative bus priority projects that take into account riders’ input, improve speeds by at least 20% and target pinchpoints where service is especially slow and heavily used.
Set an expectation that the administration must correct the shortfalls of prior years and meet the numeric metrics required by law each year.
Set outcome targets, such as 1 million daily bike rides by 2030, citywide bus speeds increasing by 20%, a 10% reduction in transportation emissions, a 20% increase in plaza visitors, and 75% of trips shifted to sustainable modes by 2035. Require DOT to present publicly on their progress semi-annually.
When the City Council passed the Streets Plan, it transformed New Yorkers’ understanding of the potential of streets and transportation—and set safety as an urgent, ambitious goal for City Hall. While mayoral administrations have too often failed to meet that urgency and ambition, the current administration and the next edition of the Streets Plan have the potential to match aspiration and action.
Please be bold, and remember streets are for all of us.
Sincerely,
Transportation Alternatives, Families for Safe Streets, StreetsPAC, Street Plans, Community Board 7/Brooklyn, North Brooklyn Open Streets Community Coalition, East Coast Greenway Alliance, Black Girls Do Bike NYC, New York League of Conservation Voters, Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Regional Plan Association, Kids Over Cars, Street Vendor Project, Open Plans, Riders Alliance, Harlem River Coalition, Workers Justice Project - Los Deliveristas Unidos, Earth Matter NY Inc., American Institute of Architects New York Chapter (AIANY), New Yorkers for Parks, Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA (PCAC), New York Public Interest Research Group Straphangers Campaign, Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, NYC Greenways Coalition, Loisaida Open Streets Community Coalition, Workers Justice Project - Los Deliveristas, Gotham Park, CIVITAS, CHEKPEDS, Street Lab, The E-Mobility Project (TEMP), Center for Independence of the Disabled (CIDNY), Center for Zero Waste Design
###
