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Eric McClure
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Eric McClure published Safer Streets and Better Transit Aren't Just Good Policy – They're Good Politics! in News 2025-11-05 16:56:46 -0500
Safer Streets and Better Transit Aren't Just Good Policy – They're Good Politics!
Yesterday's citywide election put the exclamation point on something we've said for a long time: safer streets and better public transit aren't just good policy – they're good politics!
While there are myriad reasons why Zohran Mamdani – Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani – won a historic victory last night, including a platform that clearly resonated with voters, unparalleled organizing and ground game, and impeccable message discipline, his embrace of public transit, micro-mobility, and progressive transportation policy played a key role. Fast, free buses were at the top of his pitch to New Yorkers, and his ubiquitous campaign videos frequently showed him riding the subway or a bus or a Citi Bike. It all felt so authentic because that's how he really gets around, and because he truly is passionate about transit and cycling.
Up and down the ballot, StreetsPAC's endorsees won not in spite of their embrace of these issues, but at least in part because of it. And their victories, especially Mayor-elect Mandani's, herald what could be a transformative new era in city transportation policy. While it's important to not let expectations run away from reality, the vibes, to be sure, are immaculate.
Mayor-elect Mamdani's candidacy was supported by numerous street-safety advocates early on. He sat down in the spring for a robust "ask me anything" session organized by Alex "Miser" Duncan with the 37,000-plus-member MicromobilityNYC community on Reddit, which has grown into a political force in its own right. As his campaign progressed following his resounding win in the Democratic primary, Mr. Mamdani demonstrated that our fight was his fight, promising to complete a long list of street-safety and transit projects that foundered or were outright abandoned by the Adams administration. And he famously corrected a heckler that "it's pronounced 'cyclist!'."
While the hard part of winning an intense election is over, the other hard part of governing is just getting started. Mayor-elect Mamdani announced a top-notch leadership team for his transition today, and StreetsPAC will offer whatever support we can as his nascent administration develops plans for implementing its transportation policies.
We also want to offer or congratulations and gratitude to all of our endorsees, including Shirley Aldebol, who won an upset victory in the Bronx's 13th Council District, and Ben Chou, who couldn't quite do the same in Queens's 19th District, but gave it a spirited shot. Overall, 17 of our 18 endorsees won their races. We're also deeply appreciative of all the dozens of candidates who put in the time and effort to participate in our endorsement process.
All of us at StreetsPAC are excited for what comes next in New York City. You can help us continue our work here and as we look to statewide elections in 2026, by supporting us with a contribution. Thank you!
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StreetsPAC's Election Day Voter Guide
Today is Election Day in New York City!
Voting sites will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. You can find your polling site, review a sample ballot, confirm your registration status, and see other election-related information at vote.nyc.
For the past several months, StreetsPAC's board has been evaluating responses to our detailed candidate questionnaires, analyzing policy platforms, and conducting in-depth personal interviews with dozens of candidates. We're excited to present you with our voter guide, featuring our complete roster of endorsements for Mayor, Comptroller, three Borough Presidencies, and 13 City Council races across every borough except Staten Island. You can learn more about each of our endorsees below, along with summaries of the safe-streets and transportation issues they've pledged to support if elected.
Voter turnout in New York City has declined in every election since 2001, reaching a low of 23% in the last mayoral election, but while that level of participation is less than ideal, it does mean that your vote for a StreetsPAC-endorsed candidate who supports safe, complete and livable streets, and reliable, efficient and affordable public transit, could truly make a difference.The outcome of today's election will likely have an outsized effect on the future of transportation policy in New York City. With that in mind, we implore you to vote for every StreetsPAC-endorsed candidate who appears on your ballot. Use the links below to jump to a citywide race or the contests in a particular borough.
2025 Endorsees: Mayor | Comptroller | Manhattan | Bronx | Queens | Brooklyn
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Eric McClure published StreetsPAC's 2025 New York City General Election Voter Guide in News 2025-10-25 09:22:11 -0400
StreetsPAC's 2025 New York City General Election Voter Guide
Early voting leading to New York City's November 4th general election kicks off this Saturday, October 25th, and continues daily through Sunday, November 2nd. Early-voting sites will be open for at least eight hours every day, though the times will vary. You can find the full early voting schedule here. Polling sites will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Election Day.
For the past several months, StreetsPAC's board has been busy evaluating responses to our detailed candidate questionnaires, analyzing policy platforms, and conducting in-depth personal interviews with dozens of candidates. We're excited to present you with our voter guide, featuring our complete roster of endorsements for Mayor, Comptroller, three Borough Presidencies, and 13 City Council races across every borough except Staten Island. You can learn more about each of our endorsees below, as well as the safe-streets and transportation issues they've pledged to champion if elected.
Voter turnout in New York City has declined in every election since 2001, reaching a low of 23% in the last mayoral election, but while that level of participation is less than ideal, it does mean that your vote for a StreetsPAC-endorsed candidate who supports safe, complete and livable streets, and reliable, efficient and affordable public transit, could truly make a difference in a close race.To check your voter-registration status, find your polling location and hours, and review a sample ballot, please visit vote.nyc. Take note that your early-voting site and election-day polling location may be different. If you're not registered to vote, you can still do so, but the deadline is October 25th.
We urge you to vote for every StreetsPAC-endorsed candidate who appears on your ballot. Use the links below to jump to a citywide race or the contests in a particular borough.
2025 Endorsees: Mayor | Comptroller | Manhattan | Bronx | Queens | Brooklyn
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Eric McClure published Zohran Mamdani Headlines StreetsPAC's General Election Endorsements in News 2025-10-22 10:16:55 -0400
Zohran Mamdani Headlines StreetsPAC's General Election Endorsements!
Mark Levine for Comptroller, Hoylman-Sigal, Gibson & Reynoso for BP, and 13 Council Candidates Round Out the Slate
We're thrilled today to announce our endorsements for Mayor, Comptroller, Borough President, and City Council for New York City's November 4th general election, topped by our endorsement of Zohran Mamdani, whom we believe will bring a transformative new era of pro-safe streets, pro-public transit leadership to City Hall.
Our board has reviewed questionnaire responses from, and conducted interviews with, dozens of candidates since the spring, and we're proud to support a diverse slate of candidates who are committed to improving the safety of our streets and sidewalks and to making public transit an increasingly fast, accessible and comfortable (and possibly free!) way to get around the city.
In addition to endorsements in the citywide Mayor's and Comptroller's races, we are endorsing for Borough President in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn, and in 13 City Council races across every borough except Staten Island.
Early voting ahead of the general election begins this Saturday, October 25th, and continues every day until Sunday, November 2nd. To check your voter-registration status, find your polling location and hours, and see a sample ballot, please visit vote.nyc. If you're not registered to vote, you can do so until Saturday.
We're excited to support this great group of candidates. Please read on below to learn about them, and specific aspects of their platforms. Use the links below to jump to a citywide race or borough.
2025 Endorsees: Mayor | Comptroller | Manhattan | Bronx | Queens | Brooklyn
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2025 NYC Primary
2025 Endorsees: Citywide | Manhattan | Bronx | Queens | Brooklyn
Brad Lander, Mayor (Challenger) – Brad Lander, New York City's Comptroller, is our top choice for Mayor.The city's voters are fortunate to have several mayoral candidates with progressive platforms and noteworthy résumés on street-safety and public transit policies from whom to choose, but Brad Lander rises to the top thanks to the combination of his expansive vision for New York City's transportation landscape and his past record of advocacy and accomplishment.
When we interviewed Kathryn Garcia before endorsing her in the Democratic mayoral primary in 2021, we were deeply impressed by her preparation and ability to speak knowledgeably and confidently on a host of transportation policy issues. Mr. Lander has taken that to an entirely new level in 2025.
His "Green Light for New York City" transportation platform is by far the most comprehensive blueprint for safer streets and better public transit that we've ever seen from a candidate for any office. It outlines a wide-ranging roadmap for getting Vision Zero back on track, improving and enhancing subway and bus service, reimagining the city's curb space, and bringing a newfound degree of safety and order to the city's streets.
His commitment to working closely with the MTA to get more New Yorkers back on subways and buses includes implementing a true Bus Rapid Transit system, prioritizing accessibility, ensuring the fastest possible rollout of the Interborough Express, and expansion and enhancement of the Fair Fares and City Ticket programs.
Mr. Lander is fully committed to implementing and adhering to the benchmarks of the city's Streets Plan, which has floundered under the current administration. He'll fully fund and staff the Department of Transportation and empower it to implement projects without political interference, and he'll kickstart critical efforts like the stalled secure bike-parking program. He'll restore year-round outdoor dining, and will implement transformative projects like the redesign of Manhattan's Fifth Avenue and the pedestrianization of large portions of the Financial District.
He'll bring order to city streets by regulating the delivery app companies that have prioritized profits and speed over the safety of delivery workers and pedestrians, and will pilot a Reckless Driver Accountability Act-style program to alter rider behavior using an approach based on a restorative justice model.
And he'll remake the city's curbside spaces by expanding the city's Smart Curbs pilot, innovating the use of real-time parking sensors and dynamic pricing, and modernizing the alternate-side parking system to increase compliance while actually making parking easier for those drivers who follow the rules.
Mr. Lander has important management experience having run the Comptroller's office and its staff of several hundred and substantial budget. He has a reputation for hiring and empowering talented staff, and for honesty and integrity. He's smart, a hard worker, an innovator, and a consensus-builder. We're completely confident that he will make a seamless transition to City Hall, and choose a world-class commissioner to run the Department of Transportation.
As a City Council Member for 12 years, he supported and defended the Prospect Park West bike path, a critical bulwark in the citywide fight for safer streets, and he moved quickly and with determination to compel the redesign of Park Slope's 9th Street corridor after a deadly crash just steps from his office. He put his full support behind NYC DOT's plan for protected bike lanes on Brooklyn's 4th Avenue. And he authored the legislation that created the Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Act to try to remove chronically dangerous drivers from city streets without needlessly putting them into the criminal justice system.
As Comptroller, Mr. Lander last year led the city's fight against Governor Hochul's congestion pricing "pause," assembling a legal team and filing a lawsuit. This year, he's defended the program against the Trump administration's threats to undo it. He's also produced several thoughtful transportation-related audits and reports, including assessments of how the city's bus service and bike share system can be improved, and a detailed plan for improving safety and accountability around the use of micromobility devices.
His passion for and knowledge around street-safety and transportation issues stands in stark contrast to Andrew Cuomo, the perceived front-runner, who has not issued a transportation platform, brought New York's straphangers the "Summer of Hell" in 2017, and did not participate in our endorsement process.
New York City has unfortunately squandered several years of opportunity thanks to lack of political will and a trail of broken promises while we've watched peer cities like Paris embrace a truly transformative transportation vision. Brad Lander is best equipped to lead us forward in closing that gap, and we're excited to put him at the top of our ballot for New York City Mayor. You should be, too.
A Note About Ranked Choice Voting
While Brad Lander is our #1-ranked candidate for Mayor, we are putting five candidates on our mayoral ballot, and urge you to do the same. Gothamist has published a great explainer about ranked-choice voting, which underscores the importance of filling out a complete ballot – and NOT ranking a candidate you oppose. Now on to the rest of our mayoral endorsements.
Zohran Mamdani, Mayor (Challenger), Ranked Choice #2 – Zohran Mamdani, who has represented Queens's 36th District in the New York State Assembly since 2021, has earned the #2 spot in our mayoral ranking.Mr. Mamdani is a strong supporter of public transit, and has made "fast, free buses" one of the central tenets of his campaign, an idea that no less of an authority than economist Charles Komanoff thinks could pay for itself in increased efficiency and operational savings. In the Assembly, he won a fare-free bus pilot program that resulted in more than a 30% increase in ridership along the pilot routes, and increased discrete new ridership by double digits. He's been a staunch supporter of congestion pricing, and his "Get Congestion Pricing Right" campaign called for more investment in bus service, six-minute headways for subways, and expanded camera enforcement for bus lanes.
He's been a committed supporter of safer street designs, galvanized by the death of a constituent in Astoria's Crescent Street bike lane, for which he had advocated, not long after he took office. He joined colleagues in city and state government to develop the Western Queens Street Safety Plan in 2023, which was a precursor to calls for universal daylighting, amplified the demand to pedestrianize the Queensborough Bridge's South Outer Roadway, and proposed the 31st Avenue bike boulevard. He can often be spotted riding a bike around his district.
Mr. Mamdani has run a joyful and exciting campaign that has energized an enthusiastic army of volunteers, and his TikTok videos, many filmed as he rides on buses and subways, have drawn millions of views. While he has not presented the kind of detailed transportation plan that Mr. Lander has, his questionnaire response was thoughtful and thorough, and he has consistently shown up on the issues important to us. We have no doubt he would appoint a top-notch DOT commissioner and work closely with advocates if he's elected, and would be a catalyst for positive changes to the streetscape and transit system. Given all that, and the fact that he has steadily risen in the polls and may have the best chance to defeat Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary, we urge you to rank Zohran Mamdani #2 on your mayoral ballot.
Zellnor Myrie, Scott Stringer and Adrienne Adams (Co-Endorsement), Ranked Choice #3 (Tie) – Zellnor Myrie, Scott Stringer, and Adrienne Adams all participated in our endorsement process, and they are all serious and experienced elected officials whom we believe would bring stability and competence to City Hall on many issues, including transportation. They are all committed to getting the city back on track with Vision Zero, implementing the mandates of the Streets Plan, defending congestion pricing against meddling from Washington, and hiring and supporting an innovative DOT commissioner.Mr. Myrie, who's served in the State Senate since winning election in 2018, would make implementing better BRT-style bus service a priority, and says he would pedestrianize streets around the city's schools. He will advocate for creation of a Brooklyn-Queens Expressway Authority to better address urgently needed maintenance and to plan for better future alternatives. Mr. Myrie, who doesn't drive and relies on public transit to get around, has won support from many pro-housing groups for his plan to build one million new homes across the city.
Mr. Stringer, who served two terms as the city's Comptroller after two terms as Manhattan Borough President, has earned his reputation as an innovative and hard-working elected official. He's committed to restoring year-round outdoor dining and to using Queens's Paseo Park as a model for more robust Open Streets across the city. He'll work to implement the innovative plan for remaking the BQE that he issued as Comptroller in 2019. Mr. Stringer will also make regulation of delivery apps a top priority.
Ms. Adams, the Speaker of the New York City Council, will prioritize expansion of the Fair Fares program, which she has championed in her current role, and invest in street redesigns in under-resourced neighborhoods that suffer from high rates of traffic violence. She's committed to working with the MTA to improve and expand service with a focus on transit deserts, which is an issue in her southeast Queens district. Ms. Adams played a critical role in passing the City of Yes rezoning package largely intact.
We're somewhat agnostic about in which order you should rank Zellnor Myrie, Scott Stringer and Adrienne Adams on your mayoral ballot, but we urge you to rank all of them after Brad Lander and Zohran Mamdani.
[Note: State Senator Jessica Ramos, who completed our endorsement process before endorsing Andrew Cuomo last week while remaining in the race, likely would have found her way into our rankings before that inexplicable decision.]
Mark Levine, Comptroller (Open Seat) – Mark Levine, the current Manhattan Borough President, is our pick to succeed Brad Lander as New York City Comptroller. It marks the third office for which we've endorsed him since we launched StreetsPAC in 2013.First as a two-term member of the City Council, and since 2022 as Manhattan BP, Mark Levine has been a champion for safer streets and better public transportation. As Borough President, he's led the effort to expand the Hudson River Greenway by taking a lane from West Street, for which New York State DOT has kicked off a study and engagement process; led an effort to increase access to public restrooms; advocated for ending parking minimums and cracking down on fake license plates; and pushed for adapting parking garages to serve as package-distribution hubs to free up sidewalk space. He was one of the most vocal supporters of a project that replaced three Upper West Side parking garages with several hundred units of deeply affordable housing, and has called for tearing down the FDR Drive south of the Brooklyn Bridge. He's also diversified Manhattan's Community Boards, appointing a number of younger and more pro-growth members.
In the City Council, he championed 125th Street Select Bus Service, bucking opposition from other elected officials, and supported expansion of the Amsterdam Avenue protected bike lane into Harlem, a road diet for Riverside Drive, and pedestrian-safety improvements on Morningside Avenue, all while facing down pockets of determined opposition.
As Comptroller, Mr. Levine plans to employ the office's audit powers to assess compliance with Streets Plan mandates and to examine failings in the city's Vision Zero efforts, and to use the city pension fund's Economically Targeted Investments for projects that boost transit-oriented development and street safety, like affordable housing near transit and green infrastructure that calms traffic.
Having served in the Borough President's role, Mr. Levine has experience managing a larger staff, and we have high expectations that he will continue to pay attention to street-safety and transit issues as Comptroller in the same way that Mr. Lander has. Given his record, his vision, and his willingness to take on difficult challenges, Mark Levine should be New York City's next Comptroller. You can help sign up to help his campaign here.
Justin Brannan, Comptroller (Open Seat), Ranked Choice #2 – As a two-time StreetsPAC endorsee, Justin Brannan has had some success in changing the stubborn car culture in southern Brooklyn. He's advocated for improvements to the R train, with which he's had a long-running love/hate relationship, and succeeded in his quest to have Citi Bike expand to his district – with another 50 bike-share stations planned for Bay Ridge before the end of the year. He's also been an advocate for delivery cyclists, passing legislation aimed at improving working conditions. He introduced a bill in 2023 seeking to create a pilot program for day fines, a smart idea that pegs the amounts of fines incurred for civil violations to people's ability to pay, but it unfortunately has not advanced.Mr. Brannan's role as chair of the Council's Finance Committee is a good credential for the Comptroller's office, and he too has committed to using the position to audit and investigate the city's shortcomings around street-safety and transportation policies.
But on a host of policy issues, like support for congestion pricing, which Council Member Brannan only came to recently, we believe Borough President Levine holds superior positions. Both men would undoubtedly succeed in the role, and are far superior to the rest of the field, but Mark Levine holds a clear edge in our ranking for Comptroller.
Keith Powers, Manhattan Borough President (Open Seat), Ranked Choice #1 – Keith Powers, who currently represents the East Side's 4th Council District, is our pick for Manhattan Borough President.A three-time StreetsPAC endorsee, Mr. Powers has been a reliable advocate for walking, biking, and public transit, and has delivered on a number of the campaign promises he's made over the years, including the extension of Sixth Avenue's protected bike lane to Central Park, the closing of the gap in the Second Avenue bike lane, and the creation of the 14th Street busway.
He authored the Council bill that created the city's e-bike, moped, and lithium-ion battery trade-in program, which was launched early this year, and he was a key supporter of NYC DOT's complete-street redesign of 3rd Avenue in 2023, which added an offset bus lane and extra-wide protected bike lane and upgraded every intersection from 59th to 96th Streets.
While campaigning for Borough President, Council Member Powers has been riding every one of Manhattan's bus routes, and he's published a seven-point plan for improving bus service, which includes a new busway on 34th Street (NYC DOT just announced its intention to proceed on this), wider use of signal priority and automated bus lane cameras, and a pilot for a free bus to LaGuardia Airport.
He also plans to advocate for more protected crosstown bike lanes, and says that bringing a continuous and uninterrupted East River Greenway to fruition will be a priority. He's supportive of adding a second protected bike lane to the Brooklyn Bridge on the eastbound roadway, and has pledged to work to ensure that better bike and bus components are included in the plan for Fifth Avenue announced recently by City Hall.
Mr. Powers will work to bring back year-round outdoor dining, which he believes provides a huge boost to the Borough's economy, and to put some park back in Park Avenue with redesigned and enlarged medians featuring gardens and lawns.
Finally, on Community Boards, he pledges to continue improving representation, and told us that board members "should be providing local insight about how a project can be improved or better communicated" rather than serving as "gatekeepers who can veto important initiatives." You can get involved with Keith Powers's campaign here.
Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Manhattan Borough President (Open Seat), Ranked Choice #2 – Mr. Hoylman-Sigal, whom we've endorsed several times for the State Senate seat he first won in 2012, has been a strong voice in the legislature on a number of important issues.He authored and passed two enormously meaningful pieces of street-safety legislation in 2024: Sammy's Law, which now enables New York City to further reduce local speed limits, and a bill requiring the point-of-sale registration of mopeds, which has put a big dent in the number of illegal mopeds on city streets. He's the Senate sponsor of a bill that would end New York City's opt-out from daylighting laws, and has been a strong supporter of congestion pricing; if elected Manhattan BP, he says he'd explore expanding the border of the congestion zone further uptown.
Like Mr. Powers, he supports replicating the 14th Street busway on other major crosstown routes, continuing to build out the borough's network of protected bike lanes, completing the East River Greenway, and expanding outdoor dining. The bottom line is that there's not a tremendous amount of daylight between their positions, and both of them would make for a fine Borough President. Our decision came down to a sense that Council Member Powers would bring a bit more energy and innovation to the position, and that selfishly, given Senator Hoylman-Sigal's seniority and success and effectiveness in the legislature, we'd prefer to see him continue in his current role.
Jess Coleman, Council District 1, Manhattan (Challenger) – Jess Coleman, an attorney and lower Manhattan native, is challenging incumbent Council Member Christopher Marte. As co-Chair of Community Board 1's Transportation Committee, Mr. Coleman has been a vocal supporter of congestion pricing, outdoor dining, and increasing the housing supply. If elected, he will advocate for a protected bike lane on Chambers Street to connect the Hudson River Greenway with the Brooklyn Bridge, and for pedestrianizing a large portion of the Financial District. He'll go to bat for restoring a year-round outdoor dining program, and to keep cars off a reopened Park Row, two things the incumbent does not support. Mr. Coleman is also committed to getting the slow-moving effort to redesign Canal Street moving at a much faster pace. You can volunteer to help him get out the vote here.
Sarah Batchu, Council District 2, Manhattan (Open Seat), Ranked Choice #1 – Sarah Batchu, who has experience as a non-profit executive in housing and health care, and in City Hall, is running for the open seat in this Lower East Side district currently held by Carlina Rivera, who is term-limited. A regular straphanger and cyclist, Ms. Batchu will support expanding the district's network of protected bike lanes, and fight to improve bus service and subway station accessibility. She wants to make the Avenue B Open Street permanent, and will push for improved access to the East River waterfront. She'll work to regulate delivery app companies to require that they put safety before speed and profits and carry liability insurance on behalf of workers. Ms. Batchu will also advocate to expand the city's trash containerization pilot to the Lower East Side. You can volunteer for her campaign here.
Harvey Epstein, Council District 2, Manhattan (Open Seat), Ranked Choice #2 – Harvey Epstein has been a reliable ally since his election to the State Assembly in 2018, earning our endorsement multiple times. He's the lead Assembly sponsor of a bill that would authorize lowering the speed limit on shared streets to five miles per hour, and was a regular presence at rallies for congestion pricing even though he continues to believe the residential exemption should be pegged to a higher income level. He's been a strong supporter of the Avenue B Open Street, and regularly gets around his neighborhood by bicycle. There were a couple policy areas in which we felt Sarah Batchu had a slight edge over Mr. Epstein, and we certainly wouldn't mind seeing him continue his effective work in the Assembly, where he's built up some seniority, although we know he would not be running for City Council if that were his preference.
Erik Bottcher, Council District 3, Manhattan (Incumbent) – Erik Bottcher is running for re-election to the seat he won with our endorsement in 2021. He has delivered on the biggest promises he made to us then: the implementation of a fully protected bike lane along 10th Avenue and the extension of the Sixth Avenue protected bike lane south of 9th Street. He's advocated for electrifying Citi Bike stations to eliminate the need for battery-swapping, and was an early proponent of curbside waste containerization. Among his top priorities for his next term are completion of the Broadway redesign to turn it into a true shared street, and filling the gaps in the 7th Avenue/Varick Street protected bike lane around Penn Station and south of Houston Street. He's also eager to work to bring more School Streets to his district. 
Ben Wetzler, Council District 4, Manhattan (Open Seat), Ranked Choice #1 – Ben Wetzler, a housing policy expert and former Democratic District Leader, is our pick for the open seat currently held by term-limited Council Member Keith Powers. Mr. Wetzler is committed to fighting for a return to year-round outdoor dining, and for implementation of the proposed busway across 34th Street. He was a strong supporter of congestion pricing before the program's results made it a more popular position, and for the pedestrianization of the Queensborough Bridge's South Outer Roadway, which just, finally, came to fruition. He'd like to bring back the Open Street next to St. Vartan Park on East 35th Street, and create an adjacent School Street for the River School. Mr. Wetzler will also push for completion of the East River Greenway, and to lower neighborhood speed limits in accordance with Sammy's Law. You can sign up to help his campaign here.
Vanessa Aronson, Council District 4, Manhattan (Open Seat), Ranked Choice #2 – Our runner-up pick in the race for the 4th Council District seat is Vanessa Aronson, a former U.S. diplomat and New York City public school teacher. She supported congestion pricing before its implementation, and believes strongly that many of the concerns around e-bikes could be addressed by regulating delivery app companies. If elected, she'll work toward a more robust outdoor dining program, and would make crosstown bike lanes a priority with connections through Central Park's transverses, including a protected 72nd Street bike lane that has already earned support on the west side.
Shaun Abreu, Council District 7, Manhattan (Incumbent), Ranked Choice #1 – Shaun Abreu is an example of someone who's really grown into the job of City Council Member over the past three and half years, and in doing so, he's earned our endorsement for re-election. After hearing from constituents about mountains of trash bags and full-bellied rats, he piloted the city's curbside waste containerization program, which has replaced 500 curbside parking spaces with a thousand in-street containers, leading to a 60% reduction in the rat population and making sidewalks easier to navigate. Next up, he wants to expand the program in his district, and then citywide. He's embraced his district's Open Streets, like the shared street on West 103rd, and is now advocating for a protected bike lane on West 155th Street. Council Member Abreu supports regulating delivery apps as a means toward improving street safety, and has earned high marks from pro-housing groups for his efforts to increase housing supply. You can support his campaign here.
Edafe Okporo, Council District 7, Manhattan (Challenger), Ranked Choice #2 – The decision to endorse Shaun Abreu for re-election was made slightly complicated by how much we were impressed by Edafe Okporo, who earned our #2 rank in this three-way race. A refugee from Nigeria whose emigration to New York City began with three months of homelessness, he went on to run the city's first shelter for asylum-seekers before working for the Biden administration. Mr. Okporo supports implementing busways on major crosstown routes up and down the district, and building a robust network of protected bike lanes that's currently badly lacking. He gets around regularly by Citi Bike, supports strict regulation of delivery app companies, and will fight to expand Fair Fares. If he comes up short in his effort to win this month's primary, he'll definitely be someone to watch when the Council seat is up for grabs in 2029.
Vanessa Gibson, Bronx Borough President (Incumbent) – Vanessa Gibson, who in 2022 became the first woman and the first African-American to serve as Bronx Borough President following two stints in the City Council, has earned our endorsement for a second term.As Borough President, she has advocated for improved transit service across the Bronx, supporting the Bronx Metro-North Area Plan that will bring four new railroad stations and nearly 7,000 units of housing to the east Bronx over the next few years. She also supported the MTA's Bronx Bus Network redesign, and continues to call for improving east-west bus connections across the borough. She's also vocal about the need for additional ferry service to help shorten what can be very long commutes from certain areas of the Bronx.
Borough President Gibson opposes the New York State DOT proposal to add a new elevated four-lane roadway along the Cross Bronx Expressway as part of the Five Bridges project to repair five deteriorating overpasses, and has advocated for capping as many sections of the expressway as possible to create more green space and help alleviate the harmful effects of vehicular emissions. Concerns about health underscored her conditional support for congestion pricing, but she's looking forward to the investments in accessibility and environmental mitigations enabled by the program's revenue. She told us that she hasn't seen negative effects from congestion pricing, and that the effort is clearly delivering on its stated goals.
The BP has also supported efforts to improve micromobility options in the Bronx, like new protected bike lanes on Soundview Avenue, Citi Bike expansion, and the East Bronx e-scooter pilot. She bought a new bike and relearned how to ride after taking office so she could take part in Transportation Alternatives' Tour de Bronx, an event for which she's become a real ambassador.
She told us she's committed to working with advocates and her future partner in the Manhattan Borough President's office to expand the hours of the Highbridge; she and current Manhattan BP Mark Levine secured extended seasonal hours a couple years ago. She also promised to push for new bike racks around the Bronx Supreme Court building. We hope that BP Gibson will become a more forceful voice for a Fordham Road busway, as well.
We had a positive conversation with Rafael Salamanca Jr., the term-limited Council Member representing the Bronx's 17th District who is challenging the incumbent BP in the Democratic primary, but given Ms. Gibson's generally good record and continued potential for growth, we believe she's worthy of another term.
David Diaz, Council District 13, Bronx (Challenger) – We were pleasantly surprised by David Diaz, our pick in the race for the east Bronx's 13th Council District, given how car-centric that portion of the borough can feel. Mr. Diaz acknowledged that challenge right at the start of our interview, telling us that car-dependency has been normalized in the district because of the failure to invest in better alternative infrastructure. He's committed to fighting to bring Citi Bike to the district, and to defending the area's successful-by-all-metrics e-scooter pilot, which the incumbent Council Member opposes. If elected, he will double down on the advocacy he's been doing to expand ferry service to City Island. He'll also lobby for more frequent service along local bus routes, including the Bx40 and Bx42. Mr. Diaz is excited about the new Metro North station coming to Morris Park, and the new housing it will bring, citing the lack of housing supply as a critical issue. You can sign up to volunteer for his campaign here.
Pierina Sanchez, Council District 14, Bronx (Incumbent) – Pierina Sanchez, whom we endorsed when she won her seat in 2021, chairs the Council's Committee on Housing and Buildings, where she played a key role in steering the City of Yes zoning proposal to passage. Council Member Sanchez was also one of the few Bronx elected officials who supported the implementation of congestion pricing, helping to win air-quality mitigations that are crucial to improving health in the borough. She remains a supporter of a dedicated bus lane on Fordham Road, which she'll keep pursuing in a second term, and she'll continue to advocate for better hardened bike infrastructure. Council Member Sanchez has played a critical role in the redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory, a massive project that just entered ULURP, and she's committed to making sure that once complete, it will be easily accessible by transit, biking, and walking. She's also amenable to seeking a seat on the Council's Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. You can volunteer with her campaign here.
Erycka Montoya, Council District 21, Queens (Open Seat) – Erycka Montoya, a senior staff member in the City Council, is running for this open Queens seat held currently by the term-limited Francisco Moya. Ms. Montoya, who commutes by public transit to City Hall and doesn't possess a driver's license, is committed to advocating for more high-quality bike infrastructure throughout the 21st District, which includes Corona, portions of East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights, Willets Point and Citi Field, and a big chunk of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. She supports universal daylighting and increasing the supply of vendor licenses, citing the latter's importance to Corona Plaza, which she calls "a little jewel." She'd like to see the city do more towing and impounding of ghost cars, and looks to delivery app regulation as a way to improve order around e-bikes. Ms. Montoya cited her experience cycling in Montreal to underscore her belief that we can learn from and adapt ideas from other cities. You can volunteer for her campaign here.
Shekar Krishnan, Council District 25, Queens (Incumbent) – Shekar Krishnan, whom we endorsed in 2021 and 2023, has more than earned our endorsement for another term in the Council. He's championed Paseo Park, which has completely transformed 34th Avenue and created a model for Open Streets that he believes should be replicated across the city, something he will help steward as chair of the Council's Committee on Parks and Recreation. A strong supporter of protected bike lanes and greenways, Council Member Krishnan has pledged to hold an oversight hearing on the city's overdue Greenway Master Plan, and he is committed to continue seeking further changes on Northern Boulevard, including the addition of a micromobility lane to absorb moped traffic from 34th Avenue. He's also willing to work with advocates to try to improve coordination between the Parks and Transportation Departments on greenway development and maintenance. His opponent in June's primary has made opposition to Paseo Park a central part of his campaign. You can volunteer for Council Member Krishnan's re-election effort here.
Antonio Reynoso, Brooklyn Borough President (Incumbent) – Few, if any, of New York City's elected officials have been better allies on progressive transportation policies than incumbent Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, which made our decision to endorse him for a second term a slam dunk.When he took office in 2022, his very first act as the new BP was to ban cars from the plaza around Borough Hall, which set the tone for his first term. He has never wavered in his support for congestion pricing, Open Streets, or better cycling infrastructure, and has never been afraid to speak his mind about his positions, regardless of the audience.
He's been a strong proponent of the just-approved Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan, which will significantly improve safety and mobility along a multi-block stretch of the avenue, but he wants to see the entirety of Atlantic Avenue remade with complete-street treatments, a mission that will be a priority for him in his second term. He's also a vocal supporter of the Interborough Express, which he sees as a "once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform how outer borough residents get around." While it's a project that will outlast his tenure as BP, he's committed to pushing the planning and outreach process along as quickly as possible.
BP Reynoso will also work to significantly expand ferry service. He notes that the trip between Canarsie and Manhattan takes about the same time whether by ferry or car, but that a single ferry run replaces dozens of car trips, and allows passengers to work, read, or relax rather than clog the streets. He also plans to continue advocating for a comprehensive, future-facing solution for fixing the entire BQE corridor.
Another priority that's already underway is a complete redesign of Columbus Park, which lies adjacent to Brooklyn Borough Hall, intended to make it more of a destination and civic center for downtown Brooklyn.
Finally, Borough President Reynoso will continue to work to reform Brooklyn's Community Boards, which he believes should be "forums for inclusive planning and collaborative problem-solving" rather than "barriers to safer streets or progressive transportation policy."
While we enjoyed our conversation with Khari Edwards, a former hospital executive who's also worked in several governmental roles, Mr. Reynoso is as deserving of re-election as anyone currently holding office in New York City. You can volunteer for his campaign here.
Lincoln Restler, Council District 33, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – No one has been a stronger ally on street safety in the City Council than Lincoln Restler, who has emerged as one of the city's most committed elected leaders on transportation issues. In his first year in office, he led the effort to create a protected, two-way bike path on Schermerhorn Street, and in his second, worked doggedly to pass his bill eliminating an extended and unjustified waiting period for bike-lane projects. Last year, he worked closely with elected colleagues to deliver important safety upgrades to Atlantic Avenue. He's introduced legislation that would enable citizen reporting of illegal parking next to fire hydrants, in bike lanes and bus stops, and on sidewalks; another bill aimed at improving compliance with alternate-side parking rules; and a third that would peg the surcharge for a pedal-assist Citi Bike ride to the cost of a transit fare. Council Member Restler also played a crucial role in the NYC DOT's decision to create a busway on Livingston Street, and his refusal to accept City Hall's backpedaling on the McGuinness Boulevard redesign earned him a primary opponent backed by Brooklyn's Democratic Party machine. A key objective for his second term will be seeing through the transformation of Brooklyn Borough Hall's Columbus Park, which seeks to replace a parking lot for judges with a lawn and pavilion, among many other improvements.
Crystal Hudson, Council District 35, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – Crystal Hudson, who won her seat in 2021 and re-election in 2023 with our endorsement, is once again our choice to represent Brooklyn's 35th Council District. She just achieved a significant milestone with the Council's approval late last month of the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan, a project she championed and for which she led the community-engagement process. It's a major rezoning of about a mile of Atlantic Avenue that will create 4,600 new housing units, and she secured a $115 million capital commitment from the city for streetscape and public realm improvements, including a road diet, expanded sidewalks, and new protected bike lanes, medians, and curb extensions, plus commitments from the MTA to renovate the Franklin Avenue A/C and shuttle station. She has been a supporter, and defender, of the Vanderbilt and Willoughby Avenue Open Streets, and is excited for Franklin Avenue's inaugural Open Street this summer. You can volunteer to help Council Member Hudson's re-election effort here.
Alexa Avilés, Council District 38, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – Alexa Avilés has been a fierce advocate for the residents of her Sunset Park and Red Hook district, especially around issues of environmental justice. Her bill requiring the Department of Transportation to redesign the city's truck routes with a focus on improving safety, increasing visibility, and reducing vehicle miles traveled passed with overwhelming Council support in 2023. In 2024, she passed a bill mandating that cruise ships docked in New York City use shore power when available rather than running their dirty diesel engines, and compelling cruise terminal operators to develop traffic mitigation plans designed to promote the use of transit by cruise passengers. And this year, her ongoing push for an "indirect-source" rule for last-mile warehouse facilities, which have overrun her district, resulted in the city's Department of Environmental Protection agreeing to begin the environmental review necessary for creating the rule. Next up, Council Member Avilés will focus on pushing to finally eliminate the gaps in the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, and trying to get the complete-streets project planned for deadly Third Avenue back on track after City Hall paused the process after caving to complaints from business interests. You can sign up to help her campaign here.
Shahana Hanif, Council District 39, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – Shahana Hanif has become one of the City Council's strongest voices for safer streets and better public transit since winning office in 2021. Ms. Hanif, who chairs the Council's Progressive Caucus, led the fight to extend her district's 9th Street protected bike lane after a constituent was struck and killed there early in 2023, and worked with other electeds to secure safety upgrades along Atlantic Avenue. Recently, she joined fellow Council Members – and StreetsPAC endorsees – Lincoln Restler, Crystal Hudson, and Rita Joseph in urging City Hall to implement a center-running bus lane on Flatbush Avenue, and she supports giving buses priority along both 7th Avenue and Church Avenue. Council Member Hanif has also faced down NIMBY opposition to back the creation of hundreds of units of new housing in transit-rich areas of Park Slope, at 341 10th Street and along Prospect Avenue. Her primary opponent, Maya Kornberg, came well prepared for her interview and has a solid transportation platform, but given Shahana Hanif's record, she more than deserves to be re-elected. You can volunteer to help her campaign here.
Rita Joseph, Council District 40, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – Rita Joseph, another two-time StreetsPAC endorsee, has been a staunch ally on numerous issues. From day one of her tenure, she's been an outspoken supporter of a dedicated bus lane for Flatbush Avenue's heavily used B41, a route on which she's a regular rider. She's made significant progress getting the MTA to renovate her district's shabby subway stations, and has championed better access to public restrooms across the city; two new self-cleaning bathrooms will soon open in her district. Council Member Joseph worked with fellow StreetsPAC endorsees Crystal Hudson and Shahana Hanif to win a pilot allowing e-bike access in Prospect Park, and has repeatedly stood firm in support of street-safety and transportation progress against vocal pockets of opposition. Council Member Joseph does not face a primary or general election challenge.
Dante Arnwine, Council District 41, Brooklyn (Challenger) – Dante Arnwine, who serves currently as the District Manager of Brooklyn Community Board 9, is our pick to represent this central Brooklyn Council district. A passionate supporter of public transit, Arnwine is a member of the New York City Transit Riders Council; his focus has been on improving subway accessibility, especially in his area of Brooklyn. He's also an advocate for improving bus service, and supports the implementation of a dedicated bus lane on Linden Boulevard. Mr. Arnwine has identified ghost cars as a serious problem in the 41st District, an issue he'll prioritize as Council Member, and he'll work to implement 20 mph speed limits in the district enabled by Sammy's Law. You can contribute to and volunteer for his campaign here. -
Eric McClure published StreetsPAC's 2025 New York City Primary Election Voter Guide in News 2025-06-24 05:50:57 -0400
StreetsPAC's 2025 New York City Primary Election Voter Guide
Today is New York City's primary election, and voting sites will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. You can find your polling site, review a sample ballot, confirm your registration status, and see other election-related information at vote.nyc. If you're registered with a party affiliation, you are eligible to vote in your party's primary.
Our board has spent the past several months evaluating responses to our detailed candidate questionnaires, analyzing policy platforms, and conducting in-depth personal interviews with dozens of candidates. We're excited to bring you our voter guide, with our complete roster of endorsements for Mayor, Comptroller, three Borough Presidencies, and 15 City Council races across every borough except Staten Island. You can learn more about each of our endorsees below, as well as the safe-streets and transportation issues they'll champion in office.
Voter turnout in New York City has declined in every election since 2001, reaching an historic low of 23% in the last mayoral election, and while that is the opposite of ideal, it does mean that your vote for a StreetsPAC-endorsed candidate who supports safe, complete and livable streets, and reliable, efficient and affordable public transit, could truly make a difference today – a difference that could shape the city for the next four years, and beyond.Remember as you vote today that under the ranked choice system, you may choose up to five candidates in a particular race in your order of preference. Gothamist has a helpful explainer here.
We urge you to cast a vote for all the StreetsPAC candidates on your ballot, and to be sure to rank all five of our mayoral endorsees. Read on below for our full voter guide. You can click the links at the top to jump to our endorsements in a particular borough. Council races are listed in numerical order by district.
2025 Endorsees: Citywide | Manhattan | Bronx | Queens | Brooklyn
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2024 NYS General Election
2024 State Senate Endorsees: New York City | Upstate New York
Andrew Gounardes, 26th State Senate District, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – Andrew Gounardes earned our endorsement when he won his seat in 2018, and again in 2020 and 2022, and this year is no different. He led the effort in Albany to expand New York City's speed-camera program, and sponsored the legislation that allows cameras to operate around the clock. His bill authorizing the renewal and four-fold expansion of New York City's red-light camera program passed earlier this year. His priorities for the next legislative session are the passage of his bill that would require installation of speed-limiting technology in the vehicles of drivers with significant numbers of dangerous driving violations, and another that would require the state to establish a goal of reducing driving by 20% by 2050. In addition, Senator Gounardes has been a staunch advocate for improved transit service and subway accessibility. You can help with Andrew Gounardes's re-election campaign here.
Brad Hoylman-Sigal, 47th State Senate District, Manhattan (Incumbent) – Senator Hoylman-Sigal, who represents the west side of Manhattan, has long advocated for safer streets and better public transportation, including legislative initiatives to mandate safety technology in newly registered cars in New York State and to eliminate parking minimums in cities, and pushing to integrate Citi Bike with the MTA's OMNY fare-payment system. He was the lead Senate sponsor of a number of bills on our priority list this year, including Sammy's Law, which passed as part of the budget this spring and will allow New York City to further lower speed limits, and a bill requiring the point-of-sale registration of mopeds that recently became law. He's also carrying a bill that would allow the use of automated cameras to enforce against obstruction of bike lanes. You can contribute to Brad Hoylman-Sigal's re-election effort here.
Kristen Gonzalez, 59th State Senate District, Brooklyn, Manhattan & Queens (Incumbent) – Kristen Gonzalez handily won her Senate seat in 2022 with StreetsPAC's endorsement, which she earned by expressing a strong commitment to public transit and street safety, causes on which she's delivered during her first term in office. She has been a staunch supporter of the campaign to redesign McGuinness Boulevard, a position that earned her a primary challenger backed by opponents of the proposed road diet. Last year, she collaborated with colleagues in the Assembly and City Council, and advocates, to develop the Western Queens Street Safety Plan. Senator Gonzalez continues to be a proponent of the MTA's free-bus pilot, while remaining committed to advocating for expansion of bus and subway service across the city. And along with her fellow State Senate endorsees, she has stood strong in opposition to Governor Hochul's efforts to sideline congestion pricing. She does not have an opponent in November.
Minita Sanghvi, 44th State Senate District, Saratoga & Schenectady Counties (Challenger) – Minita Sanghvi, Finance Commissioner of the City of Saratoga Springs and a professor at Skidmore College, is challenging incumbent Jim Tedisco for this upstate Senate seat. Since joining the Saratoga Springs City Council, she's focused on sustainability and the built environment; during her tenure, the city has built more sidewalks and bike lanes than any previous administration, and she's working now to lower the local speed limit. Sanghvi's vision for an "innovation corridor" connecting Albany, Troy, Schenectady and Saratoga Springs would include more robust bus service linking businesses and college campuses, and her proposed community preservation fund would help create and maintain greenway trails. You can get involved with Minita Sanghvi's campaign here.
Samra Brouk, 55th State Senate District, Monroe County & Greater Rochester (Incumbent) – Samra Brouk is running for her third term in this upstate Senate district that includes the eastern half of the City of Rochester. She has advocated repeatedly for increased investment in RTS, the public transit system that serves Monroe County, calling "a well-funded and fully operational public transportation system... an absolute necessity for economic and educational opportunity" and a fundamental issue of equity. Senator Brouk has championed Rochester's Inner Loop North project, which will continue the filling-in of a 1950's-era urban highway, while remaining adamant that the process meaningfully involve the local community at every step. She's worked closely with, and devoted funding to, the local advocacy group Reconnect Rochester, would like to see the city's nascent bike-share system expand, and has co-sponsored a number of street-safety bills, including "Idaho Stop" and complete-streets legislation. You can contribute to Samra Brouk's re-election effort here.2024 State Assembly Endorsees: Long Island | Queens | Brooklyn | Manhattan | Bronx | Upstate New York
Rebecca Kassay, 4th Assembly District, Suffolk County (Challenger) –Democrat Rebecca Kassay, who was until recently an elected Trustee and Deputy Mayor of Port Jefferson Village, is challenging Republican incumbent Ed Flood in Long Island's 4th Assembly District, which covers Port Jefferson, Stony Brook, and Brookhaven. Kassay is an advocate for better public transit and walkability who commissioned Port Jefferson Village's first complete-streets study. She'll fight for electrification of the Long Island Rail Road's Port Jefferson branch, which will speed up commutes for people working in the city, and wants the LIRR to add a frequent shuttle train between Port Jefferson and Stony Brook. She's committed to pushing for improved cycling infrastructure across the 4th District, and has worked with Walk Safe Long Island to advocate for building more sidewalks. With a background in environmental stewardship, she understands the importance of offering people, even in car-centric Suffolk County, reliable and accessible alternatives to driving everywhere. You can get involved with Rebecca Kassay's campaign here.
Jessica González-Rojas, 34th Assembly District, Queens (Incumbent) – Assemblymember González-Rojas won her seat in 2020 with StreetsPAC's support. During her initial term, she introduced and led the passage in the Assembly of the MTA Bike Access bill, which became law in 2021 and mandates the creation of a strategic plan to facilitate access to the MTA's bridges and stations. She has continued to advocate for the redesign of dangerous Northern Boulevard with dedicated, separated spaces for buses and bikes, and was a vociferous proponent of the passage of Sammy's Law, working her Assembly colleagues hard to include it in this year's budget. Assemblymember González-Rojas has also been one of the major champions of the 34th Avenue Open Street, a position that landed her a challenger in the Democratic primary. Like a number of our endorsees, she has stood resolutely in support of the timely implementation of congestion pricing. She's running unopposed in November.
Claire Valdez, 37th Assembly District, Queens (Challenger) – Claire Valdez, a union organizer and Democratic Socialist, won the Democratic primary for this western Queens Assembly seat in June, defeating incumbent Assemblymember Juan Ardila and Johanna Carmona, who was backed by the Queens Democratic Party. Valdez ran on a broadly progressive agenda that includes a detailed transportation and street-safety platform, and will join several DSA-backed legislators in Albany who have emerged as champions of public transit and calmer, more accessible streets. She rides the bus almost every day, and supports the long-term vision of the QueensLink campaign to restore passenger service on the Long Island Railroad's Lower Montauk branch. Valdez has been a ubiquitous presence at safe-streets rallies and protests from the first days of her campaign, and she's committed to pushing for comprehensive infrastructure improvements, including protected bike lanes and daylighting. She does not have an opponent on November's ballot.
Catalina Cruz, 39th Assembly District, Queens (Incumbent) – Assemblymember Cruz has been a reliable vote and committed partner on issues affecting street safety and public transit since first winning office, with StreetsPAC's endorsement, in 2018. She's been one of the leading proponents of the 34th Avenue Open Street, which forms her district's northwestern border, and in 2020, she led a broad coalition of elected officials seeking safer Open Street designs. She's been focused on the MTA's efforts to redesign the Queens Bus Network, advocating for deeper public engagement while supporting the necessary goals of improving service, and remains interested in efforts to improve the Department of Motor Vehicles, including potentially requiring periodic retesting of drivers. Assemblymember Cruz does not have a challenger in November's general election.
Robert Carroll, 44th Assembly District, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – Assemblymember Robert Carroll has been among Albany's most reliable voices for safer streets and better public transit since he first won office in 2016. A StreetsPAC endorsee several times over, he has been one of the legislature's most prominent supporters of congestion pricing, and was quick to denounce Governor Hochul's 11th-hour reversal. He's been a strong proponent of automated camera enforcement, including the use of cameras to keep bus lanes and bus stops clear of parked cars, and has called for the Brooklyn Bus Network redesign to include many more dedicated bus lanes. He introduced a bill last session that would require delivery-app companies to carry liability insurance for workers delivering on their behalf, and reintroduced his bill that would fund transit improvements by levying a small tax on package deliveries. You can contribute to Robert Carroll's re-election effort here.
Emily Gallagher, 50th Assembly District, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – Emily Gallagher, who first won her seat in the Assembly in 2020, has more than delivered on the promises that secured our endorsement as an insurgent candidate taking on a 48-year incumbent. A member of the Assembly's Transportation Committee, she has championed street-safety projects that include the redesign of dangerous McGuinness Boulevard, which earned her the ire of road-diet opponents who recruited and funded a primary challenger whom she soundly defeated. She's been a strong advocate for Open Streets, and organized a rapid-response rally among her Assembly colleagues in the wake of the Governor's congestion pricing announcement. Assemblymember Gallagher has also teamed with Andrew Gounardes to introduce a bill requiring the installation of speed-limiting technology in the vehicles of drivers with significant numbers of dangerous driving violations, which they hope to pass in 2025. She pushed for robust transportation accommodations during this summer's G train shutdown, and is supportive of significant reform of the Department of Motor Vehicles. Assemblymember Gallagher does not have an opponent in November.
Marcela Mitaynes, 51st Assembly District, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – Marcela Mitaynes is running for her third term in the Assembly representing the Brooklyn communities of Sunset Park and Red Hook. Elected with several other DSA-backed candidates in 2020, Mitaynes has joined those colleagues in becoming increasingly focused on transportation and street-safety issues. She opposes Governor Hochul's congestion pricing pause, and signed on to the "Get Congestion Pricing Right Act," which would have expanded the MTA's fare-free bus pilot – something she and her co-sponsors hope to revive in 2025. She's also hopeful about passing her indirect-source rule legislation, which would be crucial to stemming the spread of last-mile warehouse facilities in environmental-justice communities. Assemblymember Mitaynes has also joined colleagues in calling for universal daylighting, and safety upgrades to treacherous Hamilton Avenue, and she remains committed to advocating for design improvements to Brooklyn's Third Avenue and the BQE. You can help Marcela Mitaynes's re-election effort here.
Jo Anne Simon, 52nd Assembly District, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – Jo Anne Simon is running for her sixth term in the Assembly, and has won StreetsPAC's backing several times during her tenure in Albany. She's a member of the Assembly's Transportation Committee, and her name regularly appears as a sponsor on legislation crucial to improving both the safety of streets and the efficacy of public transit. Assemblymember Simon introduced a bill at the end of the last session that would prohibit New York City from opting out of the state's daylighting law, carries legislation that would reduce the legal blood-alcohol level for DUI infractions, and continues to lobby the MTA for restoration of the discontinued B71 bus route as well as the creation of a bus route connecting Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood with Lower Manhattan. She also stood firmly in support of congestion pricing when the Governor paused the program in June. You can support Jo Anne Simon's campaign here.
Micah Lasher, 69th Assembly District, Manhattan (Open Seat) – Micah Lasher, whom we endorsed in 2016 when he ran for the State Senate, is running for the open Upper West Side Assembly seat being vacated by the retiring Danny O'Donnell. Lasher was Policy Director for Governor Hochul before resigning to enter a hotly contested five-way Democratic Primary, in which he won a majority of the votes cast. Unlike his former boss, he's a supporter of congestion pricing, and has termed the Governor's pause "a mistake." He's called publicly for a Paris-style transformation of New York City's streets, and for modernizing subway signal technology, which he's noted is dependent on the funding stream that congestion pricing will provide. He told us that crosstown dedicated bus lanes on the Upper West Side would be "a great thing," and he's supportive of eliminating parking mandates to help spur housing growth. Lasher does not have an opponent in the general election.
Alex Bores, 73rd Assembly District, Manhattan (Incumbent) – Alex Bores was elected to represent Manhattan's 73rd Assembly District in November 2022 with StreetsPAC's endorsement. Since taking office, he's been active on the legislative front, passing a bill that will require more detailed crash reporting, and notably teaming with fellow StreetsPAC endorsee Brad Hoylman-Sigal on a new law that requires the point-of-sale registration of all limited-use motorcycles, which should help to significantly curtail the proliferation of illegal mopeds. He's also planning on introducing several new bills next session that would increase the accountability of delivery-app platforms. Assemblymember Bores would like to see the Department of Motor Vehicles take a more active role in regulating safety, and he supports re-testing drivers who've had significant numbers of violations. You can get involved with Alex Bores's re-election campaign here.
Harvey Epstein, 74th Assembly District, Manhattan (Incumbent) – Assemblymember Epstein, whom we first endorsed when he won election in 2018, has continued to be a reliable ally in Albany on matters of street safety and public transit. Despite continuing to harbor some reservations about the income level for the residential exemption, he was still quick to condemn the Governor's last-minute reversal on congestion pricing. He's been a firm supporter of expanding the city's automated camera enforcement programs, and is lead sponsor of a bill that would authorize the lowering of the speed limit on Open Streets to five miles per hour. As a regular cyclist – he was sent over his handlebars a few months ago by a driver who cut into a bike lane in Brooklyn in which he was riding – Assemblymember Epstein supports expanding the city's network of protected bike lanes. He does not face a challenger in the November election.
Jeffrey Dinowitz, 81st Assembly District, Bronx (Incumbent) – Assemblymember Dinowitz has long been one of Albany's staunchest advocates for the public-transit system, authoring the MTA "lock-box" bill that became law in 2019. He continues to support additional investment in, and further improvements to, Bronx bus service, including more frequency and better enforcement against motorists parking in bus lanes and bus stops, and would like to see more fare-free routes. He is the lead sponsor of an Assembly bill that would add four rider representatives with voting rights to the MTA board. On the street-safety front, his bill to renew and expand the city's red-light camera program passed last session, and he is lead sponsor of a bill that would allow the Department of Motor Vehicles to suspend the registration of any vehicle caught with an obscured or defaced license plate. You can support Jeffrey Dinowitz's re-election here.
Dana Levenberg, 95th Assembly District, Putnam & Westchester Counties (Incumbent) – Dana Levenberg is running for re-election in this district covering portions of Putnam and Westchester Counties, and which includes the Town of Ossining, where she served as Town Supervisor before winning her Assembly seat in 2022. She's been a vocal supporter of congestion pricing, and issued a statement calling for its implementation following the Governor's ill-advised pause, underscoring the importance of Metro-North rail service to her constituents. As Ossining Supervisor, Levenberg championed the planning of the MOGO Trail, a proposed greenway path that would connect the Empire State Trail to Ossining's train station and bus routes in between. Assemblymember Levenberg has also partnered with Andrew Gounardes to introduce a complete-streets bill that would prioritize the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit riders in state and local transportation projects. You can contribute to Dana Levenberg's re-election effort here.
Chloe Pierce, 107th Assembly District, Rensselaer, Washington & Columbia Counties (Challenger) – Chloe Pierce, a lifelong resident of the state's Capital Region, won the Democratic primary for the 107th Assembly District with StreetsPAC's endorsement. A lobbyist who has represented the New York State Nurses Association and companies in the clean-energy sector, she's been involved in public service since she was a child. Though much of Rensselaer County is rural, there's growing advocacy in towns like Bethlehem for better bike infrastructure, which Pierce supports. While there are local concerns around traffic safety, especially speeding, she believes the primary transportation issue in the district is the need for better public transit, especially to connect residents with health care facilities. She's also expressed interest in working to improve the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. Pierce faces incumbent Assemblymember Scott Bendett in November. You can find information about getting involved with Chloe Pierce's campaign here.
Anna Kelles, 125th Assembly District, Tompkins & Cortland Counties (Incumbent) – Dr. Anna Kelles was first elected to represent the 125th District in the Assembly in 2020. An epidemiologist by training, Kelles has quickly become one of the Assembly's leaders on environmental policy, which she views as closely intertwined with transportation. Her bike was her main mode of transportation for a decade before a recent move (she's twice been struck by drivers), and she believes in investing in public transit, like Ithaca's fairly extensive bus system. She's a strong supporter of Sammy's Law, and thinks that allowing other municipalities to set their own speed limits is vitally important. She also supported the expansion of New York City's red-light camera program, and would like to see it piloted in other cities and towns. In response to a query in our questionnaire, Dr. Kelles recently introduced an Assembly companion to State Senator Rachel May's bill requiring regular updates to the state's bicycle and pedestrian plan. Assemblymember Kelles is running unopposed in the general election. -
Eric McClure published StreetsPAC's 2025 New York City Primary Election Voter Guide in News 2025-06-13 14:59:30 -0400
StreetsPAC's 2025 New York City Primary Election Voter Guide
Early voting ahead of the June 24 New York City primary election gets underway this Saturday, June 14, and continues until Sunday, June 22. If you're registered with a political-party affiliation, you are eligible to vote in your party's primary. If you're not currently registered, you may still enroll until tomorrow.
Our board has spent the past several months evaluating responses to our detailed candidate questionnaires, analyzing policy platforms, and conducting in-depth personal interviews with dozens of candidates. We're excited to bring you our voter guide, with our complete roster of endorsements for Mayor, Comptroller, three Borough Presidencies, and 15 City Council races across every borough except Staten Island. You can learn more about each of our endorsees below, as well as the safe-streets and transportation issues they'll champion in office.
Voter turnout in New York City has declined in every election since 2001, reaching a low of 23% in the last mayoral election, and while that is the opposite of ideal, it does mean that your vote for a StreetsPAC-endorsed candidate who supports safe, complete and livable streets, and reliable, efficient and affordable public transit, could truly make a difference in a close race.To check your voter-registration status, find your polling location and hours, see a sample ballot, and learn more about Ranked Choice Voting, please visit vote.nyc. Remember that under the ranked choice system, you may choose up to five candidates in a particular race in your order of preference. Gothamist has a helpful explainer here.
We urge you to get out and vote for all the StreetsPAC candidates on your ballot, and to be sure to rank all five of our mayoral endorsees. Read on below for our full voter guide. You can click the links at the top to jump to our endorsements in a particular borough. Council races are listed in numerical order by district.
2025 Endorsees: Citywide | Manhattan | Bronx | Queens | Brooklyn
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Brad Lander for Mayor
Brad Lander, New York City's Comptroller, is our top choice for Mayor.The city's voters are fortunate to have several mayoral candidates with progressive platforms and noteworthy résumés on street-safety and public transit policies from whom to choose – more about some of them below – but Brad Lander rises to the top thanks to the combination of his expansive vision for New York City's transportation landscape and his past record of advocacy and accomplishment.
When we interviewed Kathryn Garcia before endorsing her in the Democratic mayoral primary in 2021, we were deeply impressed by her preparation and ability to speak knowledgeably and confidently on a host of transportation policy issues. Mr. Lander has taken that to an entirely new level in 2025.
His "Green Light for New York City" transportation platform is by far the most comprehensive blueprint for safer streets and better public transit that we've ever seen from a candidate for any office. It outlines a wide-ranging roadmap for getting Vision Zero back on track, improving and enhancing subway and bus service, reimagining the city's curb space, and bringing a newfound degree of safety and order to the city's streets.
His commitment to working closely with the MTA to get more New Yorkers back on subways and buses includes implementing a true Bus Rapid Transit system, prioritizing accessibility, ensuring the fastest possible rollout of the Interborough Express, and expansion and enhancement of the Fair Fares and City Ticket programs.
Mr. Lander is fully committed to implementing and adhering to the benchmarks of the city's Streets Plan, which has floundered under the current administration. He'll fully fund and staff the Department of Transportation and empower it to implement projects without political interference, and he'll kickstart critical efforts like the stalled secure bike-parking program. He'll restore year-round outdoor dining, and will implement transformative projects like the redesign of Manhattan's Fifth Avenue and the pedestrianization of large portions of the Financial District.
He'll bring order to city streets by regulating the delivery app companies that have prioritized profits and speed over the safety of delivery workers and pedestrians, and will pilot a Reckless Driver Accountability Act-style program to alter rider behavior using an approach based on a restorative justice model.
And he'll remake the city's curbside spaces by expanding the city's Smart Curbs pilot, innovating the use of real-time parking sensors and dynamic pricing, and modernizing the alternate-side parking system to increase compliance while actually making parking easier for those drivers who follow the rules.
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Eric McClure published Announcing StreetsPAC's 2025 Endorsements for Comptroller, Borough President, and City Council in News 2025-06-11 08:08:15 -0400
Announcing StreetsPAC's 2025 Endorsements for Comptroller, Borough President, and City Council
We're excited today to announce our endorsements for Comptroller, Borough President, and City Council for New York City's June 24th primary election. Please stay tuned for our mayoral endorsement, which we'll be announcing separately later today.
Our board has reviewed questionnaire responses from, and conducted interviews with, dozens of candidates over the past few months, and we're proud to support a slate of candidates who are committed to improving the safety of our streets and sidewalks and to making public transit an increasingly fast, accessible and comfortable way to get around the city.
In addition to an endorsement in the citywide Comptroller's race, we are endorsing for Borough President in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn (there are no primary contests in Queens or Staten Island), and in 15 City Council races across Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn. In some instances, we've made ranked-choices endorsements based on the quality of the candidates and the sizes of the respective fields. We'll likely make additional endorsements in Borough President and Council races ahead of November's general election.
Early voting ahead of the June 24 primary begins this Saturday, June 14, and continues every day until Sunday, June 22. To check your voter-registration status, find your polling location and hours, see a sample ballot, and learn more about Ranked Choice Voting, please visit vote.nyc. Remember that under the ranked choice system, you may rank up to five candidates in a particular race in your order of preference. Gothamist has a helpful explainer here.
We're proud to support this great group of candidates. Please read on below to meet them and learn about their platforms, and keep an eye out for our imminent mayoral endorsement.
2025 Endorsees: Comptroller | Manhattan | Bronx | Queens | Brooklyn
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Eric McClure published StreetsPAC's Testimony to City Council on E-Bike Licensing in News 2024-12-12 07:46:30 -0500
StreetsPAC's Testimony to City Council on E-Bike Licensing
Yesterday, we testified at the New York City Council Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's marathon oversight hearing on e-bikes, billed as "Planning Our Shared Streets in New York City: Integrating Micromobility Options." The hearing was focused on Intro 606, legislation sponsored by Queens Council Member Robert Holden that would require that all e-bikes and e-scooters be registered with the New York City Department of Transportation. We expressed our strong opposition to the bill, which we believe would do little to actually improve safety while creating new problems.
At the same time, we offered our support for Intro 1131, Transportation and Infrastructure Chair Selvena Brooks-Powers's bill that would create a task force to study options for making street design and infrastructure safer in consideration of increased use of electric bicycles and other powered micro-mobility devices.
Our full testimony follows below.
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Eric McClure published Please Join Us Monday for an Event with Manhattan BP Mark Levine! in News 2024-12-07 12:40:51 -0500
Please Join Us Monday for an Event with Manhattan BP Mark Levine!
Please join us in Park Slope, Brooklyn on Monday, December 9, at 5:30 p.m., for a fundraiser for Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine.
First as a City Council Member, and since 2022 as Manhattan BP, Levine has been a champion for safer streets and improved public transportation. He's called for expanding the Hudson River Greenway by taking a lane from West Street, led an effort to increase access to public restrooms, advocated for ending parking minimums and cracking down harder on fake license plates, and pushed for adapting parking garages to serve as package-distribution hubs to free up sidewalk space. He was also one of the leading supporters of a project that transformed three Upper West Side parking garages into several hundred units of deeply affordable housing.
Your ticket to the event will entitle you to complimentary beer, wine, and soft drinks, along with some free nibbles, and most importantly, your chance to hear directly from Mark about his accomplishments and plans for the future.
See below for details, and please follow this link to RSVP: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/levinestreetspac120924. We'll provide the precise location with your confirmation. Hope to see you there!
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Eric McClure published Final Election Results; Mark Levine Event December 9th in News 2024-12-02 10:57:50 -0500
Final Election Results; Mark Levine Event Dec. 9
Final StreetsPAC Election Results
With the news out of Suffolk County last week that Rebecca Kassay has defeated incumbent Ed Flood to win the race for Long Island's 4th Assembly District seat, the book is now closed on StreetsPAC's 2024 state legislative endorsements – a book that turned out to be a runaway best-seller.
While the outcome is yet to be certified by the New York State Board of Elections, Kassay's lead has grown from 211 votes on election night to more than 800 with the counting of mail and provisional ballots. Her victory means that a full 90% of the candidates we endorsed for State Senate and Assembly – 18 of 20 – won their elections, proving yet again that support for safer streets and better public transit continues to play well with voters.
Kassay will join Claire Valdez and Micah Lasher as freshman members of the Assembly who won their seats with our endorsement, while the 15 incumbents who earned our backing all won re-election. Minita Sanghvi and Chloe Pierce, who challenged State Senate and Assembly incumbents, respectively, in upstate districts, both ran spirited races but came up a little short.
This election marked the first time that we've made a concerted effort to expand our efforts beyond New York City, and we are quite pleased with the results. Given the influence that state government has over local transportation issues, including things like automated-enforcement programs and congestion pricing, it makes sense for us to establish more of a presence on Long Island and upstate. But at the same time, complete-streets treatments and improved bus service can make people's lives better all across the state, and we want to help elect and support candidates who share our commitment.
We're grateful to you for supporting these newly elected and re-elected leaders, and for helping to make our work possible. We're immensely proud of all our endorsees, and look forward to working with them in the coming legislative session to make further advances in street-safety and transit policies.
Mark Levine Fundraiser in Brooklyn, Monday, December 9, 5:30 p.m.
Please join us in Park Slope, Brooklyn on Monday, December 9, at 5:30 p.m., for a fundraiser for Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine.
First as a City Council Member, and since 2022 as Manhattan BP, Levine has been a champion for safer streets and improved public transportation. He's called for expanding the Hudson River Greenway by taking a lane from West Street, led an effort to increase access to public restrooms, advocated for ending parking minimums and cracking down harder on fake license plates, and pushed for adapting parking garages to serve as package-distribution hubs to free up sidewalk space. He was also one of the key supporters of a project that transformed three Upper West Side parking garages into several hundred units of deeply affordable housing.
Your ticket to the event will entitle you to complimentary beer, wine, and soft drinks, along with some free nibbles, and most importantly, your chance to hear directly from Mark Levine about his accomplishments and plans for the future.
See below for details, and please click on the image to RSVP, or follow this link: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/levinestreetspac120924. We'll provide the precise location with your confirmation. Hope to see you there!
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Eric McClure published StreetsPAC's 2024 General Election Voter Guide in News 2024-10-25 10:13:08 -0400
StreetsPAC's 2024 General Election Voter Guide
Early voting for the November 5 general election gets underway this Saturday, October 26, and continues through Sunday, November 3. Early-voting sites in New York City will open at 8 a.m. every day, and will remain open until 5 p.m. on weekends and 8 p.m. on weekdays. You can confirm your early-voting and election-day polling locations, review a sample ballot, check your registration status, and see other election-related information at vote.nyc.
If you vote elsewhere in New York State, you can find this same information at elections.ny.gov. On Election Day, polling sites statewide will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and you cannot be turned away as long as you're in line at your polling place by closing time.
If you are not yet registered to vote, you can find information on how to register at elections.ny.gov/register-vote; please note that time is of the essence, as your form must be received by the Board of Elections by October 26.
We're very excited about the 20 outstanding candidates we've endorsed for the New York State Senate and Assembly, 15 of them running for re-election and five seeking state office for the first time. Fourteen of our endorsees are running in New York City, and for the first time ever, we've endorsed candidates across the state, six in total, in districts from the shores of Long Island Sound to the shores of Lake Ontario. You can read all about the candidates whom we've endorsed, and notable aspects of their street-safety and transportation platforms, below. Candidates are grouped by office, Senate first and then Assembly, and listed in ascending order by district number. Click the region or borough links to jump directly to candidates in that area.
State government exerts enormous influence over local streets and transit systems, and your vote for StreetsPAC-endorsed candidates can help to ensure that the legislature promotes policies that make our streets safer and our buses and subways more efficient and reliable.
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Eric McClure published StreetsPAC Announces Seven New Endorsements for the State Legislature in News 2024-10-15 15:54:26 -0400
StreetsPAC Announces Seven New Endorsements for the State Legislature
We're thrilled today to announce seven new endorsements of candidates running for the state legislature, two for the State Senate and five for the Assembly.
New 2024 State Senate Endorsees
Minita Sanghvi, 44th State Senate District, Saratoga & Schenectady Counties (Challenger) – Minita Sanghvi, Finance Commissioner of the City of Saratoga Springs and a professor at Skidmore College, is challenging incumbent Jim Tedisco for this upstate Senate seat. Since joining the Saratoga Springs City Council, she's focused on sustainability and the built environment; during her tenure, the city has built more sidewalks and bike lanes than any previous administration, and she's working now to lower the local speed limit. Sanghvi's vision for an "innovation corridor" connecting Albany, Troy, Schenectady and Saratoga Springs would include more robust bus service linking businesses and college campuses, and her proposed community preservation fund would help create and maintain greenway trails. You can get involved with Minita Sanghvi's campaign here.
Samra Brouk, 55th State Senate District, Monroe County & Greater Rochester (Incumbent) – Samra Brouk is running for her third term in this upstate Senate district that includes the eastern half of the City of Rochester. She has advocated repeatedly for increased investment in RTS, the public transit system that serves Monroe County, calling "a well-funded and fully operational public transportation system... an absolute necessity for economic and educational opportunity" and a fundamental issue of equity. Senator Brouk has championed Rochester's Inner Loop North project, which will continue the filling-in of a 1950's-era urban highway, while remaining adamant that the process meaningfully involve the local community at every step. She's worked closely with, and devoted funding to, the local advocacy group Reconnect Rochester, would like to see the city's nascent bike-share system expand, and has co-sponsored a number of street-safety bills, including "Idaho Stop" and complete-streets legislation. You can contribute to Samra Brouk's re-election effort here.New 2024 State Assembly Endorsees
Rebecca Kassay, 4th Assembly District, Suffolk County (Challenger) – Democrat Rebecca Kassay, who was until recently an elected Trustee and Deputy Mayor of Port Jefferson Village, is challenging Republican incumbent Ed Flood in Long Island's 4th Assembly District, which covers Port Jefferson, Stony Brook, and Brookhaven. Kassay is an advocate for better public transit and walkability who commissioned Port Jefferson Village's first complete-streets study. She'll fight for electrification of the Long Island Rail Road's Port Jefferson branch, which will speed up commutes for people working in the city, and wants the LIRR to add a frequent shuttle train between Port Jefferson and Stony Brook. She's committed to pushing for improved cycling infrastructure across the 4th District, and has worked with Walk Safe Long Island to advocate for building more sidewalks. With a background in environmental stewardship, she understands the importance of offering people, even in car-centric Suffolk County, reliable and accessible alternatives to driving everywhere. You can get involved with Rebecca Kassay's campaign here.
Marcela Mitaynes, 51st Assembly District, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – Marcela Mitaynes is running for her third term in the Assembly representing the Brooklyn communities of Sunset Park and Red Hook. Elected with several other DSA-backed candidates in 2020, Mitaynes has joined those colleagues in becoming increasingly focused on transportation and street-safety issues. She opposes Governor Hochul's congestion pricing pause, and signed on to the "Get Congestion Pricing Right Act," which would have expanded the MTA's fare-free bus pilot – something she and her co-sponsors hope to revive in 2025. She's also hopeful about passing her indirect-source rule legislation, which would be crucial to stemming the spread of last-mile warehouse facilities in environmental-justice communities. Assemblymember Mitaynes has also joined colleagues in calling for universal daylighting, and safety upgrades to treacherous Hamilton Avenue, and she remains committed to advocating for design improvements to Brooklyn's Third Avenue and the BQE. You can help Marcela Mitaynes's re-election effort here.
Micah Lasher, 69th Assembly District, Manhattan (Open Seat) – Micah Lasher, whom we endorsed in 2016 when he ran for the State Senate, is running for the open Upper West Side Assembly seat being vacated by the retiring Danny O'Donnell. Lasher was Policy Director for Governor Hochul before resigning to enter a hotly contested five-way Democratic Primary, in which he won a majority of the votes cast. Unlike his former boss, he's a supporter of congestion pricing, and has termed the Governor's pause "a mistake." He's called publicly for a Paris-style transformation of New York City's streets, and for modernizing subway signal technology, which he's noted is dependent on the funding stream that congestion pricing will provide. He told us that crosstown dedicated bus lanes on the Upper West Side would be "a great thing," and he's supportive of eliminating parking mandates to help spur housing growth. Lasher does not have an opponent in the general election.
Alex Bores, 73rd Assembly District, Manhattan (Incumbent) – Alex Bores was elected to represent Manhattan's 73rd Assembly District in November 2022 with StreetsPAC's endorsement. Since taking office, he's been active on the legislative front, passing a bill that will require more detailed crash reporting, and notably teaming with fellow StreetsPAC endorsee Brad Hoylman-Sigal on a new law that requires the point-of-sale registration of all limited-use motorcycles, which should help to significantly curtail the proliferation of illegal mopeds. He's also planning on introducing several new bills next session that would increase the accountability of delivery-app platforms. Assemblymember Bores would like to see the Department of Motor Vehicles take a more active role in regulating safety, and he supports re-testing drivers who've had significant numbers of violations. You can get involved with Alex Bores's re-election campaign here.
Dana Levenberg, 95th Assembly District, Putnam & Westchester Counties (Incumbent) – Dana Levenberg is running for re-election in this district covering portions of Putnam and Westchester Counties, and which includes the Town of Ossining, where she served as Town Supervisor before winning her Assembly seat in 2022. She's been a vocal supporter of congestion pricing, and issued a statement calling for its implementation following the Governor's ill-advised pause, underscoring the importance of Metro-North rail service to her constituents. As Ossining Supervisor, Levenberg championed the planning of the MOGO Trail, a proposed greenway path that would connect the Empire State Trail to Ossining's train station and bus routes in between. Assemblymember Levenberg has also partnered with Andrew Gounardes to introduce a complete-streets bill that would prioritize the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit riders in state and local transportation projects. You can contribute to Dana Levenberg's re-election effort here.These seven outstanding candidates join our 13 prior endorsees for State Senate and Assembly who won their primaries or didn't face challengers in June. You can read about those earlier endorsements after the jump. Early voting for the November 5th general election begins October 26th.
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Eric McClure published StreetsPAC's Testimony to City Planning Commission on City of Yes for Housing Opportunity in News 2024-07-12 15:32:02 -0400
StreetsPAC's Testimony to City Planning Commission on City of Yes for Housing Opportunity
Earlier this week, we testified at the City Planning Commission's marathon hearing on the proposed City of Yes for Housing Opportunity zoning reform proposal, which should help alleviate New York City's housing shortage while also putting in place policies that could help reduce driving while promoting the use of public transit and encouraging walking and biking.
Our full testimony follows below, and you can also view StreetsPAC Executive Director Eric McClure's delivery of our remarks on YouTube, beginning roughly at the 11-hour, 37-minute, and 30-second mark (yes, it was a very long hearing!).
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Eric McClure published StreetsPAC's Testimony to City Council on Intersections, Sidewalks and Pedestrian Safety in News 2024-06-29 15:32:58 -0400
StreetsPAC's Testimony to City Council on Intersections, Sidewalks and Pedestrian Safety
On Tuesday this week, we testified at the New York City Council Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's oversight hearing on intersections, sidewalks and pedestrian safety. We voiced our support for a bill that would mandate that the city improve paved medians with plantings or other stormwater-retaining infrastructure, and another that would require that the city's news racks be better managed. We offered qualified support for several pieces of legislation, including bills that would decriminalize "jaywalking," improve sidewalk lighting, and require study of a number of types of physical safety treatments in or around intersections.
We also expressed opposition to two proposed bills that appear intended to hamstring certain types of street-safety projects and changes to curbside uses.
Our full testimony follows below.
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Eric McClure published StreetsPAC's Testimony to MTA Board on Congestion Pricing "Pause" in News 2024-06-29 15:32:30 -0400
StreetsPAC's Testimony to MTA Board on Congestion Pricing "Pause"
This past Wednesday, we testified at the MTA Board meeting to urge them to ignore Governor Hochul's "indefinite pause" of congestion pricing, which had been due to launch on June 30. While we knew that the Board didn't have the legal authority to move forward on its own, we still felt it worthwhile to urge them to do so. And we were heartened to hear the overwhelming commitment among MTA Board members to the implementation of the Central Business District Tolling Program.
You can help keep the pressure on by making phone calls to express your support for congestion pricing. Don't let up until the Governor reverses course!
Governor Hochul: (518) 474-8390
Senator Schumer: (212) 486-4430
Senator Gillibrand: (212) 688-6262
Assembly Speaker Heastie: (518) 455-3791
Our full testimony to the MTA Board follows below.
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Eric McClure published StreetsPAC's Testimony to City Council on Powered Micro-Mobility Devices and Delivery Work in News 2024-06-29 15:31:30 -0400
StreetsPAC's Testimony to City Council on Powered Micro-Mobility Devices and Delivery Work
Earlier this week, we submitted testimony to the New York City Council Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection relating to a hearing it held on June 21 on several pieces of legislation pertaining to powered micro-mobility devices and the city's food-delivery ecosystem. We offered our support for legislation that would help alleviate the unreasonable demands that delivery-app companies place on workers that in turn lead to unsafe riding behaviors, and voiced qualified support for well intentioned bills that would increase accountability for app companies but could, in our opinion, be improved.
Our full testimony follows below.
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Eric McClure published 2024 Get Out The Vote Volunteer Opportunities in Resources 2024-06-25 09:34:37 -0400
2024 Get Out The Vote Volunteer Opportunities
Get-Out-The-Vote Volunteer Opportunities
Kristen Gonzalez, 59th State Senate District, Brooklyn, Manhattan & Queens (Incumbent) – You can volunteer to help get out the vote for Kristen Gonzalez here.Jessica González-Rojas, 34th Assembly District, Queens (Incumbent) – You can sign up to volunteer with Jessica González-Rojas's campaign here.
Claire Valdez, 37th Assembly District, Queens (Challenger) – You can enlist to help Claire Valdez's primary day get-out-the-vote effort here.
Emily Gallagher, 50th Assembly District, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – You can volunteer to help Emily Gallagher get out the vote here.
Jo Anne Simon, 52nd Assembly District, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – You can sign up to help Jo Anne Simon's re-election campaign here.
Eon Tyrell Huntley, 56th Assembly District, Brooklyn (Challenger) – You can volunteer to help Eon Tyrell Huntley get out the vote here.
Maria Ordoñez, 70th Assembly District, Manhattan (Open Seat) – You can pitch in to help Maria Ordoñez win her primary here.
Jonathan Soto, 82nd Assembly District, Bronx (Challenger) – You can enlist to help Jonathan's GOTV effort here.
Eric McClure 2384pc
Eric McClure is StreetsPAC's Executive Director and Treasurer. He currently serves as the chairperson of Brooklyn Community Board 6, and is a co-founder of Park Slope Neighbors, a grassroots community-advocacy organization.
