There's A Primary Election Tomorrow – Here's Our Voter Guide!
Tomorrow is, once again, Primary Day in New York, and polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. If you're registered to vote with a political-party affiliation, you are eligible to vote in your party's primary.
We've spent the past several months evaluating responses to our in-depth candidate questionnaire, analyzing policy platforms, and conducting personal interviews with dozens of candidates. We've endorsed seven candidates for State Senate, all of whom appear on primary ballots tomorrow. You can learn more about each of our endorsees below, as well as the street-safety and transportation issues they'll advocate for in office.
The August 23rd primary will undoubtedly continue a trend of low-turnout elections. While we're fans of robust voter participation, the silver lining to lower turnout is that your vote for a candidate who supports safe, complete and livable streets, and reliable, efficient and affordable public transit, has the potential to make a real difference in a close race.
To find your polling location, see a sample ballot, and check your voter-registration status, please visit vote.nyc.And if you have an hour or two to spare tomorrow, it's not too late to help our endorsees get out the vote. We've compiled links to all of our candidates' volunteer opportunities – just click here to find a GOTV opportunity near you.
Primary Tuesday – Vote Early Through Sunday
Early voting in advance of Tuesday's Primary election for New York State Senate continues today until 3 p.m., and then on Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Tuesday, the polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
You can find your early-voting and Primary day polling sites, and more election-related information, at vote.nyc.
We've endorsed seven terrific candidates for State Senate, and you can read more about them and their safe-streets and pro-transit platforms below. Given the timing of this election, we expect turnout to be anemic. While that is of course less than ideal, it also presents an opportunity to unite behind candidates who are committed to improving our transportation system and making streets safer.
While your vote for our endorsed candidates is crucial, you can do even more by volunteering for a couple hours to help push them across the finish line. Click here for links to sign up to help our endorsees get out the vote!
August 23rd Primary Election Early Voting Continues All Week
Early voting for the August 23rd Primary for New York State Senate continues all week, with polling sites open as follows:
Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Friday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.You can find more information about early voting, find your early-voting and election-day polling locations, check your registration status, and see other election-related information at vote.nyc.
We've proudly endorsed seven candidates in the primary for the New York State Senate; you can read more about them, and aspects of their street-safety and transportation platforms, below. Our endorsees are listed by district number in ascending order.
And you can find information about volunteering to help our endorsed candidates get out the vote, which is especially critical with a low-turnout August primary, here.
[Note: there are also primaries for Congress in a number of districts, but we are not registered with the Federal Election Commission and only endorse in city and state races.]
Early Voting for August 23rd Primary Begins Tomorrow
Early voting for the August 23rd Primary for New York State Senate begins tomorrow, Saturday, August 13th. Early-voting sites will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and hours will then vary through the conclusion of early voting next Sunday. You can see the daily poll-site hours here: https://www.vote.nyc/page/primary-elections-2022.
You can check your registration status, find your early-voting and election-day polling locations, and see other election-related information at vote.nyc.
We've proudly endorsed seven candidates in the primary for the State Senate, including two incumbents, two candidates challenging sitting State Senators, and three candidates running for open seats. You can read more about them, and aspects of their street-safety and transportation platforms, below. Our endorsees are listed in ascending order by district number.
You can find information about volunteering to help our endorsed candidates get out the vote, which is especially critical with a low-turnout August primary, here.
[Note: there are also primaries for Congress in a number of districts, but we are not registered with the Federal Election Commission and only endorse in city and state races.]
Volunteer to Help StreetsPAC Endorsees Get Out the Vote
Early voting for the August 23rd primary for New York State Senate runs through August 21st. All of the State Senate candidates we've endorsed are facing competitive primaries and need your help to get out the vote.
We've listed below links to volunteer opportunities over the final days of their campaigns for each of the candidates we've endorsed. Even an hour or two of your time knocking on doors, phone-banking, or handing out literature could make the difference between a victory or loss in a closely contested election – and the difference between electing a candidate who will support protected bike lanes or a dedicated busway and one who will defend the cars-first status quo.
Click on the links below to sign up for volunteer shifts with StreetsPAC's 2022 State Senate endorsees.
Kaegan Mays-Williams, State Senate District 21, Brooklyn: Get Out the Vote
Rajiv Gowda, State Senate District 23, Staten Island & Brooklyn: Get Out the Vote
Jabari Brisport, State Senate District 25, Brooklyn: Get Out the Vote
Andrew Gounardes, State Senate District 26, Brooklyn: Get Out the Vote
Angel Vasquez, State Senate District 31, Manhattan & Bronx: Get Out the Vote
Christian Amato, State Senate District 34, Bronx & Westchester: Get Out the Vote
Kristen Gonzalez, State Senate District 59, Brooklyn, Manhattan & Queens: Get Out the Vote
2022 NYS Senate Primary
2022 State Senate Endorsees
Kaegan Mays-Williams, 21st State Senate District, Brooklyn (Challenger) – Kaegan Mays-Williams, a gun-safety advocate, and David Alexis, a labor and climate organizer, are challenging incumbent Kevin Parker for this central Brooklyn seat. While both are attractive candidates, our choice is Ms. Mays-Williams. A former assistant Manhattan District Attorney, she's been touched closely by traffic violence: her best friend's father was struck and killed by a driver while crossing a street. She supports redesigning Brooklyn's bus network to simplify routes and speed commutes, and as a mom with a young child, she's committed to supporting expansion of a network of protected bike lanes throughout the 21st District.
Rajiv Gowda, 23rd State Senate District, Brooklyn & Staten Island (Open Seat) – Rajiv Gowda, a retired civil engineer whom we endorsed in 2020, is running for this now-open seat covering Staten Island's North Shore and a portion of southern Brooklyn. A former union leader and Community Education Council president, Gowda also chaired his Community Board's Transportation Committee. He's committed to advocating for a pedestrian and bicycle path on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, reactivation of Staten Island's North Shore rail line, major upgrades to the district's bike lanes, and improved transit accessibility.
Jabari Brisport, 25th State Senate District, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – Senator Brisport, who won his seat in 2020 with StreetsPAC's endorsement, is running for re-election against two challengers. He supports eliminating parking minimums across the city, connecting the 25th District's disjointed bike network, with an emphasis on protected lanes, and increasing access to secure bike parking, especially for NYCHA residents. He's committed to improving transit service, and supports traffic-calming redesigns of streets to slow down vehicles and improve safety.
Andrew Gounardes, 26th State Senate District, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – Senator Gounardes, who earned our endorsement when he won his seat in 2018 and was re-elected in 2020, has proved to be a transformative figure in the State Senate. He's led the fight in Albany to expand New York City's speed-camera program, and authored the legislation that now allows cameras to operate around the clock, which should have a huge effect on reducing speeding. His bill requiring that the written portion of New York State's drivers test include instruction in pedestrian and bicycle safety passed the legislature in June, and he's been a staunch advocate for improved transit service and subway accessibility. In addition to that, and much more, no one works harder in Albany or for the people of his district.
Angel Vasquez, 31st State Senate District, Manhattan (Challenger) – Angel Vasquez, a Teachers' Union official and former middle-school teacher and Albany staffer, is running against incumbent Robert Jackson in this upper Manhattan and west Bronx district. A fan of Bogota's TransMilenio bus rapid transit system, he'd like to see that type of high-level service implemented in New York as part of a concerted effort to reduce driving in the city. He supports building out a more robust network of protected bike lanes uptown, and extending bike-share to all corners of the 31st District.
Christian Amato, 34th State Senate District, Bronx (Open Seat) – Christian Amato, an ex-staffer for State Senator Alessandra Biaggi and former theater producer with abundant political-organizing experience, is running for the open seat in this east Bronx district. Amato is committed to expanding transportation options in the district as a means to reducing driving. As Vice Chair of CB11's Transportation Committee, he's championed the area's scooter-share pilot, and he wants to see Citi Bike expanded into the district, served by a better-connected and upgraded bike-lane network. He'll push to have the Interbrough Express extended to the Bronx, supports improvements to bus service, including dedicated bus lanes, and would like to see ferry service expanded and integrated with New York City Transit.
Kristen Gonzalez, 59th State Senate District, Brooklyn, Manhattan & Queens (Open Seat) – Kristen Gonzalez, a tech worker with a strong organizing background, is running a broadly progressive campaign for this newly created seat spanning parts of Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan. Deeply dedicated to public transit, she'll fight for improvements in service, especially for buses, and wants to see the entire bus fleet electrified. She supports making a number of streets within the 59th District car-free, in order to improve safety and prioritize walking and biking. She's also committed to improving conditions for the city's Deliveristas, and to making the bike-share system affordable and available to all New Yorkers. Former New York City Council member Elizabeth Crowley has also put forth a creative transportation platform, but we believe voters in this new district will benefit most by electing Ms. Gonzalez.
StreetsPAC Endorses Seven Candidates in New York State Senate Primary
We are proud today to announce our endorsement of seven candidates in the August 23rd primary for the New York State Senate!
Our endorsees include two incumbents, two candidates challenging sitting State Senators, and three candidates running for open seats, in districts that touch on all five boroughs.
In-person early voting begins on Saturday, August 13th, while the deadline to request an absentee ballot is today. You can check your registration status, find your early-voting and election-day polling locations, and see other election-related information at vote.nyc. We've included links to district maps for each of the candidates we're endorsing.
We anticipate making a final round of endorsements in advance of November's general election, as a number of state legislators whom we've endorsed in the past are not facing primary challenges. Check back for updates.
We hope you'll join us in supporting these outstanding candidates for the New York State Senate. Read on to learn more about our endorsees and aspects of their street-safety and transportation platforms. Candidates are listed below in ascending order by district number.
StreetsPAC's Testimony to City Council on Greenway Master Plan, Public Restrooms
We testified at yesterday's New York City Council Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure oversight hearing on managing public space, in support of bills that would require a Greenway Master Plan, foster creation of more public restrooms, and make it easier for schools and other institutions to use adjacent open spaces. Our full testimony follows below.
StreetsPAC is strongly supportive of this committee’s assessing of the large and crucial task of managing the city’s public space. Welcoming, dynamic, easily accessed, and equitable public space is critical to the health of New York City and its citizens, and we believe the creation of a high-level entity within city government to coordinate and manage the city’s public spaces is urgently necessary.
The pandemic has underscored just how important access to open space is to New Yorkers, and just how immensely popular – and good for business – welcoming, strollable, and sittable areas are across diverse communities. We urge this committee and the full Council to prioritize improvement in the city’s management of public space.
As to the three bills before the committee today, we support all of them.
StreetsPAC's 2022 Primary Election Voter Guide
Today is Primary Day in New York, and polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. If you're registered to vote with a political-party affiliation, you are eligible to vote in your party's primary.
We've spent the past few months evaluating responses to our in-depth candidate questionnaire, analyzing policy platforms, and conducting personal interviews with dozens of candidates. We've endorsed 19 candidates for State Assembly, 16 of whom appear on primary ballots today. You can learn more about each of them below, as well as the street-safety and transportation issues they'll advocate for in office.
This primary will undoubtedly continue a trend of low-turnout elections. While we're fans of robust voter participation, the silver lining is that your vote for a candidate who supports safe, complete and livable streets, and reliable, efficient and affordable public transit, has the potential to make a real difference in a close race.
To find your polling location, see a sample ballot, and check your voter-registration status, please visit vote.nyc. We urge you to get out and vote for our endorsed candidates. Read on for our full voter guide; you can click the links at the top to jump to our endorsements in a particular borough.And if you have an hour or two to spare today, it's not too late to help our endorsees get out the vote. We've compiled links to all of our candidates' volunteer opportunities – just click here to find a GOTV opportunity near you.
Vote for Our Assembly Endorsees – and Help Them Get Out the Vote!
Vote Early for StreetsPAC Assembly Endorsees
Early voting continues this week in advance of the June 28th Primary, and if you haven't voted already, you have until 3 p.m. today, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, to vote early. And poll sites will of course be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. for the Primary on Tuesday. You can locate your early-voting and regular polling site, check your registration status, and find other election info at vote.nyc.
We've endorsed 19 candidates for Assembly, 16 of whom are on the Primary ballot (three incumbents are not facing challenges, noted below). New York State will hold a separate primary for State Senate races on August 23rd – stay tuned for our Senate endorsements in July.
You can read about all 19 of our endorsed Assembly candidates below, listed chronologically by district number, with links to their websites and maps for each district. You can also click the borough links to jump ahead. Please vote and help us grow the pro-safe streets, pro-transit majority in the Assembly!
Volunteer to Help StreetsPAC Candidates Get Out the Vote
A number of our endorsees are running in tight primary races, and with low turnout, every vote is hugely important. There are numerous opportunities to help them get out the vote between now and Tuesday, from phone-banking to door-knocking to Primary Day visibility near polling sites. Even just an hour or two of your time could help make the difference in a close election.
We've compiled links to all of our endorsees' volunteer opportunities here. Please pitch in for a few hours and help them win!
Help StreetsPAC's Assembly Endorsees Get Out the Vote
Early voting continues through Sunday, June 26, before the June 28 primary election, and many of the Assembly candidates we've endorsed in the primary need your help to get out the vote.
We've listed below links to volunteer opportunities over the coming days with all the candidates we've endorsed. Even an hour or two of your time knocking on doors, phone-banking, or handing out literature could make the difference between a victory or loss in a closely contested election – and the difference between electing a candidate who will support protected bike lanes or a dedicated busway and one who will defend the cars-first status quo.
Click on links below to learn more about upcoming volunteer shifts with StreetsPAC's 2022 Assembly endorsees.
Queens
Anthony Andrews, Assembly District 32: All Volunteer Opportunities
Jessica González-Rojas, Assembly District 34: All Volunteer Opportunities
Juan Ardila, Assembly District 37: All Volunteer Opportunities
Brooklyn
Brian Cunningham, Assembly District 43: All Volunteer Opportunities
Emily Gallagher, Assembly District 50: All Volunteer Opportunities
Samy Nemir Olivares, Assembly District 54: All Volunteer Opportunities
Hercules Reid, Assembly District 58: All Volunteer Opportunities
Manhattan
Grace Lee, Assembly District 65: All Volunteer Opportunities
Ryder Kessler, Assembly District 66: All Volunteer Opportunities
Eddie Gibbs, Assembly District 68: All Volunteer Opportunities
Delsenia Glover, Assembly District 70: All Volunteer Opportunities
Adam Roberts, Assembly District 73: All Volunteer Opportunities
Tony Simone, Assembly District 75: All Volunteer Opportunities
Patrick Bobilin, Assembly District 76: All Volunteer Opportunities
Bronx
Jeffrey Dinowitz, Assembly District 81: All Volunteer Opportunities
Jonathan Soto, Assembly District 82: All Volunteer Opportunities
2022 NYS Assembly Primary
2022 State Assembly Endorsees: Queens | Brooklyn | Manhattan | Bronx
Khaleel Anderson, 31st Assembly District, Queens (Incumbent) – Assemblymember Anderson won his seat in 2020 with StreetsPAC's endorsement, becoming the youngest African American to ever serve in the Assembly. He's been a vocal supporter of improved public-transit service since his days as a youth activist, especially better and more reliable buses. He's co-sponsored a number of bills aimed at improving safety and access for cyclists and pedestrians, and frequently bikes to meetings within his district. Assemblymember Anderson is also lead sponsor of a bill that would tax air travel to create an environmental justice fund. He's advocated for creating more open space within his district, including an effort to de-map several blocks beneath the elevated A train line to create a network of public plazas. Anderson does not face a primary challenge, a testament to his work in his first term.
Anthony Andrews, 32nd Assembly District, Queens (Challenger) – Dr. Andrews, an educator and community leader, is challenging long-time incumbent Vivian Cook in this eastern Queens district. He supports improving public transit, including the redesign of the Queens Bus Network and expansion of the Freedom Ticket for LIRR customers, and believes that use of bus-lane enforcement cameras and transit-signal priority should be broadened significantly. He also wants to see the area's haphazard bike lanes connected and expanded into a safe and contiguous network. Dr. Andrews supports allowing speed cameras to operate 24/7, and backs the deployment of specialized cameras to combat noise pollution from illegally modified mufflers.
Jessica González-Rojas, 34th Assembly District, Queens (Incumbent) – Assemblymember González-Rojas won her seat in 2020 with StreetsPAC's support. She was the lead sponsor in the Assembly of, and worked tirelessly to pass, the MTA Bike Access bill, which was signed into law late last year and mandates the creation of a strategic plan to facilitate access to the MTA's bridges and stations. She's proudly championed the 34th Avenue Open Street, and wants to see it turned into a linear park. Assemblymember González-Rojas has continued to advocated for the redesign of dangerous Northern Boulevard, pushing for dedicated bus lanes and protected bike lanes. She's certainly earned another term in Albany.
Juan Ardila, 37th Assembly District, Queens (Open Seat) – Ardila, whom StreetsPAC endorsed when he ran for City Council in 2021, is running to succeed Cathy Nolan, who is retiring from the Assembly. He wants to reduce the car culture in the eastern part of the district by improving transit access and making it easier and safer to bike, and supports the expansion of Citi Bike and the bike-lane network. He's excited about the prospects for the Interborough Express, and is supportive of operating speed cameras around the clock. He's also committed to pursuing reform of the Department of Motor Vehicles, including the periodic retesting or recertification of drivers, and ongoing education efforts.
Brian Cunningham, 43rd Assembly District, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – Cunningham, who won a special election to succeed Diana Richardson in March, is running for re-election to a full term. A member of the Assembly's Transportation Committee, he co-sponsored the speed-camera reauthorization bill, and supports creation of a dedicated bus lane on Flatbush Avenue, something he looks forward to working toward with a fellow StreetsPAC endorsee, Council Member Rita Joseph. He's an advocate for Citi Bike expansion, in conjunction with a safer, more robust network of bike lanes. In an attractive field of candidates (we were especially impressed by Tim Hunter, a certain rising star), Cunningham, whom we endorsed for City Council in 2017, stands out for his experience.
Robert Carroll, 44th Assembly District, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – Assemblymember Carroll, whom we've endorsed multiple times since 2016, has been a consistent champion for safer streets and better public transit. He continues to advocate for implementing congestion pricing as soon as possible, with no additional exemptions, and for improved bus service, especially a Brooklyn bus network redesign with more dedicated lanes. He's been a vocal supporter of expanding the city's allocation of speed and red-light cameras, and supports expanding the use of cameras to keep bus lanes and bus stops clear of parked cars. Assemblymember Carroll does not face a primary challenge.
Emily Gallagher, 50th Assembly District, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – Emily Gallagher pulled off perhaps the biggest upset of the 2020 election cycle, winning her seat by defeating 24-term incumbent Joe Lentol with StreetsPAC's endorsement and a platform that centered progressive transportation policies. Since taking office, she's continued to champion safer streets, serving on the Assembly's Transportation Committee and successfully lobbying New York City to invest $39 million in improvements to McGuinness Boulevard. She's been a staunch advocate for Open Streets, and her bill with Senator Andrew Gounardes requiring that New Yorkers taking the driver's pre-licensing course be instructed in pedestrian and cyclist safety passed the legislature last month. Next on Assemblymember Gallagher's agenda: advocating for major design changes to her district's Manhattan Avenue.
Samy Nemir Olivares, 54th Assembly District, Brooklyn (Challenger) – Samy Nemir Olivares, a Democratic District Leader, is challenging incumbent Assemblymember Erik Dilan in the 54th District, which includes parts of Bushwick, Cypress Hills, and East New York. He's committed to advocating for improved transit service, especially faster and more reliable buses by way of dedicated lanes, and believes buses should eventually be fare-free. A regular cyclist, he supports significant expansion of the district's bike-lane network. He'll also push for the speedy implementation of congestion pricing once in office.
Hercules Reid, 58th Assembly District, Brooklyn (Challenger) – Reid, a former aide to Eric Adams, joined Families for Safe Streets after he was struck by a driver while riding his bike in 2015. That experience shaped his advocacy for better pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, something he'll prioritize for the 58th District. He'll also push to bring Citi Bike to the area. Reid is committed to working to improve the area's transit options, like speeding up the B46 on Utica Avenue by reducing double-parking, increasing the reliability of the B8, a key east-west bus route, and identifying locations for busways. Monique Chandler-Waterman, who won the May special election for the 58th District Assembly seat, completed our questionnaire but did not schedule an interview.
Grace Lee, 65th Assembly District, Manhattan (Open Seat) – Lee, a neighborhood organizer and small-business owner, impressed us when she ran for this same seat in 2020 against Yuh-Line Niou, who is running for Congress. Lee will make upgrading public transit a priority, especially improving bus service and subway accessibility on the Lower East Side, and she's also interested in reforming the MTA board and making sure the agency is focused on enhancing service. A regular Citi Biker, she supports a safer and more robust bike network, speeding up fixes to Canal Street, and cracking down on the placard abuse that plagues the district's streets and sidewalks. Lee's main primary opponent, Illapa Sairitupac, also impressed us greatly with his enthusiasm around street-safety and transportation issues, but we believe Grace Lee has the experience and commitment to best deliver for the district.
Ryder Kessler, 66th Assembly District, Manhattan (Challenger) – Kessler, a progressive organizer and former social-impact entrepreneur who's challenging long-time 66th District Assemblymember Deborah Glick in the Democratic primary, has made transforming and improving the safety of the city's streets a central plank in his platform. He's an advocate for replacing free curbside car storage with more space for pedestrians, containerized trash receptacles, protected bike lanes, dedicated busways, and improved outdoor-dining setups. He believes the bike network should be expanded and universally hardened against incursion by drivers, and will advocate to end delays in the implementation of congestion pricing. Despite Kessler's robust agenda, this was not an easy decision for us. Assemblymember Glick has worked with Families for Safe Streets to champion speed cameras and other street-safety initiatives. Yet she was slow to come around on congestion tolling, and more recently, rallied with opponents of the Open Restaurants program. We believe the district is ready for new leadership, and we're confident that Ryder Kessler will be a leader in Albany on transportation issues.
Eddie Gibbs, 68th Assembly District, Manhattan (Incumbent) – Gibbs, the first formerly incarcerated person to serve in the State Legislature, was elected to succeed Robert Rodriguez in a special election in January. Assemblymember Gibbs supports implementing congestion pricing with no additional carveouts, and would like to see the MTA improve bus service with more Select Bus Service routes and crosstown busways. He backed the renewal and expansion of the city's speed-camera program and passage of the Crash Victims Rights & Safety Act, and would like to see more street space dedicated to cycling and pedestrian uses.
Delsenia Glover, 70th Assembly District, Manhattan (Challenger) – Glover, a long-time housing-rights activist and former Deputy Public Advocate for Housing Equity, is challenging incumbent Assemblymember Inez Dickens in this district that covers much of Harlem. Glover believes the city would be a much better place with fewer cars, and supports improving bus service with new busways, and expanding the bike network, including improving the greenway along the Harlem River. She supports the expansion of the city's speed-camera program, and will support efforts to pass noise-camera legislation. We believe voters in the 70th District would do well to elect this "big believer in changing the whole cityscape."
Adam Roberts, 73rd Assembly District, Manhattan (Open Seat) – There's a very competitive race shaping up to succeed past StreetsPAC endorsee Dan Quart in this Upper East Side district, but we believe Adam Roberts stands above the pack. Roberts, who directs policy for the American Institute of Architects' New York chapter and was an aide to former Council Member Ben Kallos, is committed to improving transit service and making it safer and easier for people to walk and bike. He supports converting all crosstown bus routes serving the district to Select Bus Service, completing the Second Avenue Subway, and expanding the congestion-pricing zone north of 60th Street, and is a proponent of wider sidewalks, protected bike lanes (including on 72nd Street), and containerizing trash in the street. Two of his competitors, Alex Bores and Kellie Leeson, also impressed us with their positions, but we believe Adam Roberts, with his commitment to transforming the district's built environment, is best positioned in this race.
Harvey Epstein, 74th Assembly District, Manhattan (Incumbent) – Assemblymember Epstein, whom we endorsed in 2018 and 2020, and who's seeking his third term in the Assembly, has been a reliable vote for safer streets and better public transit. He's championed automated camera enforcement, and has expressed an interest in authoring legislation that would increase the consequences for habitually dangerous drivers. He's an advocate for improving bus service, and as someone who often gets around by bike, he supports building more protected bike lanes across the city. He's also been a vocal supporter of Open Streets. Epstein does not face a primary challenge.
Tony Simone, 75th Assembly District, Manhattan (Open Seat) – Come January, the people of the 75th District will have a new Assemblymember for the first time in more than half a century, as Richard Gottfried is retiring. We believe Tony Simone is best qualified to succeed Gottfried. Simone, who's had extensive experience inside and outside government, believes fewer cars, better transit, and more people on bikes are key to a more livable city. He supports moving ahead quickly with congestion pricing, and taking steps to speed up buses. He also supports rethinking the way the city manages its curb space, and told us he thinks the Hudson River Greenway should be widened by taking a vehicular lane from West Street.
Patrick Bobilin, 76th Assembly District, Manhattan (Challenger) – Bobilin, a community organizer and digital-marketing expert, is challenging four-term Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright for this Upper East Side seat. Bobilin supports transit improvements, especially to bus service – he'd like to see a 14th Street-style busway on 86th Street – and ultimately envisions a fare-free transit system supported by progressive taxes. He'd like to improve ferry service by integrating it with the larger transit system, and plans to advocate for major improvements to the East River Greenway. He's also expressed an interest in pushing for reform of the State Department of Motor Vehicles.
Jeffrey Dinowitz, 81st Assembly District, Bronx (Incumbent) – Assemblymember Dinowitz has long been a champion for public transit, authoring the MTA "lock-box" bill that became law in 2019. Though he came later than some of his colleagues to support for congestion pricing, he now backs its implementation without any exemptions not already in the law, citing the need for revenue to improve service and accessibility. He wants the Bronx Bus Network redesign to lead to more frequent buses, especially on east-west routes, and he's expressed an interest in introducing a bill that would allow bus cameras to operate universally. He'd also like the city's Department of Transportation to restart the Neighborhood Slow Zone program, which he feels has improved safety in his district.
Jonathan Soto, 82nd Assembly District, Bronx (Challenger) – Soto, a former staffer for Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a background in law and urban planning, is challenging incumbent Assemblymember Michael Benedetto, who's represented this East Bronx district for 18 years. Soto is concerned with the area's too-often "dangerous" car culture, and wants to make it much easier, and safer, for residents to get around without driving. He'll advocate for better biking infrastructure in the district, and would like to see ferries – critical for speeding up long Bronx commutes – made more environmentally friendly and integrated into the transit system.
StreetsPAC Endorses 19 Candidates for New York State Assembly
We are excited today to endorse 19 candidates for the New York State Assembly!
Our endorsees include eight incumbents, seven candidates challenging sitting Assemblymembers, and four candidates seeking open seats. Three of the incumbents we're endorsing are not facing primary races, which we've noted below, so they won't appear on the ballot until November's general election. We also anticipate making additional Assembly endorsements this summer.
The majority of our endorsees, however, will appear on the Democratic Primary ballot on June 28th. In-person early voting begins this Saturday, June 18th. You can check your registration status, find out where to vote, and find other election info at vote.nyc. We've included links to district maps for each of the candidates we're endorsing.
As you probably know, New York State will hold a separate primary for State Senate races on August 23rd. We will be making endorsements in Senate races in the coming weeks.
We are delighted with the 2022 class of Assembly endorsees, and hope you'll join us in supporting their candidacies. Read on to meet them all, listed below chronologically by district number. You can also click the borough links to jump ahead.
StreetsPAC's Testimony to City Council on the Influx of Federal Infrastructure Funding
We testified today at the New York City Council's Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure oversight hearing on assessing the state of the city's infrastructure and laying the foundation for federal infrastructure funding, a broad and somewhat complicated topic (there are reportedly 34 separate funding streams for infrastructure projects). We focused on certain aspects of the city's transportation system; our full testimony follows below.
Thanks to an unprecedented flow of federal infrastructure funding, New York City has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to upgrade and expand its transportation system.
While there are many pots of federal money, quite a few of which are tied to competitive grants, StreetsPAC believes the city should be guided by a few overarching principles.
First, similarly to the Priority Investment Areas outlined in the New York City Streets Plan, funding should be prioritized in communities that have historically been underserved. Economically disadvantaged and predominantly Black and brown neighborhoods should receive priority when it comes to these transportation initiatives.
Secondly, investments in transportation infrastructure should emphasize safety and accessibility, especially the safety of vulnerable street users. The reversal in the progress of the city’s Vision Zero initiative has reached a critical juncture. We know that investments in complete streets, protected bike lanes, curb extensions, raised crosswalks and similar design treatments improve safety for everyone, and the influx of federal funds can both expand and speed up the implementation of these types of infrastructure. Similarly, we should take this opportunity to accelerate the pace of investment in making our transit system 100% accessible.
Thirdly, we believe the city should prioritize quick-build projects wherever federal funding will support that. Dedicated bus lanes, busways, protected bike lanes, and a host of traffic-calming installations can be implemented quickly, and often at relatively low cost. Bus and bike improvements can also help to plug gaps in transit deserts.
Relatedly, we believe the availability of federal funds for alternative transportation modes presents a golden opportunity to subsidize accelerated expansion of the city’s bike-share program. Bike share remains the only aspect of our transportation system that receives no subsidy, and we should seize this chance to expand bike share across the five boroughs and to New Yorkers of all means.
Finally, we want to amplify the call by Council Member Rivera and others to make a substantial investment in the city’s Greenway network. Greenways have the potential to extend open space into all corners of the city, and to serve as the backbone of a safe, separated, and resilient citywide bike network. Federal funds can jumpstart the city’s decades-old plan to build a robust, interconnected Greenway network. Let’s not let this opportunity go to waste.
StreetsPAC's Testimony to City Council on 2022-2023 Transportation Budget
We testified today at the New York City Council's Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure hearing regarding the city's fiscal year 2023 transportation budget, and the importance of fully funding the New York City Streets Plan, a position shared by more than 60 of our partners in advocacy. Our full testimony follows below.
Fully funding the New York City Streets Plan is essential to improving transportation for all New Yorkers, increasing the safety and accessibility of city streets, speeding up commutes for millions of bus riders, creating more safe and welcoming public spaces, and beginning to address the equity gap in access to transit, cycling, and micro-mobility options.
That will require an investment of $170 million dedicated to the Streets Plan in fiscal year 2023, and we urge the City Council and Mayor Adams to make certain that those funds are allocated in the coming budget.
This investment in an expanded network of protected bike lanes, safety improvements to thousands of intersections, and redesigns of the city’s most dangerous streets, is essential for protecting New Yorkers from traffic violence. It becomes clearer every day that we can’t enforce our way to Vision Zero, especially with it so obvious that the NYPD has largely withdrawn from traffic enforcement. Achieving the benchmarks laid out in the Streets Plan will be critical to reducing deaths and injuries, as better street design is key to improving safety.
Meeting the benchmarks for building bus lanes and busways and improving bus stops is a necessity for improving service for the millions of people who rely on the bus, as well as to reverse the ongoing decline in ridership. Better bus service is a fundamental equity issue, as buses disproportionately serve black and brown and lower-income New Yorkers, and expanding bus service is the fastest and most effective means of eliminating transit deserts. It’s a moral imperative that we prioritize speeding up buses, rather than leaving straphangers stuck behind road-hogging single-occupancy personal cars and empty double-parked vehicles.
Beyond the need to fully fund the Streets Plan, we also urge the Council and the Mayor to prioritize increased investment in the Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program. While the program is just ramping up, it’s already obvious that it must be expanded. The thresholds for triggering the program must be lowered to allow interventions with a greater number of dangerous drivers, as intended in the original legislation, not just the very worst of the worst, and that will require more funding. Because the city’s speed and red-light camera programs do not assign points to drivers’ licenses, the Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program is the only effective means of holding chronically reckless drivers to account.
While, as we noted, we can’t enforce our way to Vision Zero, we can employ technology to identify and intervene with dangerous drivers, and it is incumbent on the Council and the Mayor to make sure that we do all we can as a city to enable that.
StreetsPAC's Testimony to City Council on Transportation Equity
We testified today at the New York City Council's Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure hearing regarding transportation equity. Our full testimony follows below.
This hearing, let alone our two minutes of testimony, will only begin to scratch the surface of the problem of inequity in New York City’s transportation system. It’s a crucial topic that requires much more attention and effort, but calling attention to it today is a good and welcome start.
New York City is plagued by inequality, and that grave imbalance extends from incomes and housing and education to the city’s streets. Black and brown New Yorkers, and African Americans and low-income communities especially, are disproportionately victimized by traffic violence. This is due in large part to the city’s failure to make equitable and adequate investments in life-saving infrastructure, in traffic-calming designs like road diets, curb extensions, refuge islands and protected bike lanes, a failing underscored in an excellent analysis last month in Streetsblog developed by reporter Julianne Cuba and How’s My Driving creator Brian Howald.
The New York City Streets Plan, however, is a promising step in beginning to address that inequity. Passed by the last Council and signed into law by then-Mayor de Blasio, the Streets Plan lays out important benchmarks for investment in the city’s transportation network and infrastructure, and it rightly prioritizes that investment in communities that have been poorly served in the past. It’s incumbent on this committee and the Council, and we in the advocacy world, to make certain that City Hall and DOT meet the benchmarks laid out in the Streets Plan – and to insist that it’s fully funded.
We must also continue to prioritize investment in automated enforcement strategies that remove human bias, like speed and red-light cameras, and lobby Albany to allow those devices to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. We don’t turn off ShotSpotter overnight or on weekends. We don’t turn off security cameras after hours. Far, far too many crashes that cause death or injury happen in places with speed cameras that are not operating due to curfew. The Council must join with the Mayor in lobbying Albany for home rule, for speed limits as well as camera systems.
Our colleagues in advocacy have spoken and will speak about buses in greater detail, but we as a city must make better bus service a top priority. Buses are lifelines for working-class New Yorkers who often don’t have other means to get around, but we neglect them by allowing single-occupancy private vehicles to hog road space. A lone double-parked SUV can ruin a commute for 50 people on a bus. We must build more busways and separated bus lanes, rapidly expand signal priority and all-door boarding, and put enforcement cameras on every bus in the city.
We also must make cycling attractive, affordable, and safe for many more New Yorkers. Biking has boomed during the pandemic, but there’s so much more we can do. Subsidizing accelerated expansion of Citi Bike to many more neighborhoods, rolled out in tandem with a robust network of safe, protected bike lanes, is a great place to start. The city’s bike-share system is immensely popular, but it has yet to reach many New Yorkers for whom it would be an attractive mobility option. As the only facet of our transportation system that doesn’t receive public funding, it’s high time that we boost the bike-share program with operating subsidies, and with the kind of safe bike-lane network that will attract and protect new cyclists. Let’s see a bill come out of the Council this year that puts that in motion.
StreetsPAC's Testimony to City Council on Outdoor Dining
We testified today at the New York City Council's Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection and Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises joint hearing regarding the city's permanent outdoor dining program. Our full testimony follows below.
New York City’s Open Restaurants program is responsible for having saved hundreds, if not thousands, of the city’s restaurants, by and large small, family-owned businesses, which faced overwhelming challenges at the depth of the pandemic, along with tens of thousands of attendant restaurant jobs, and has proved overwhelmingly popular with diners, who have voted convincingly with their cash and credit cards to make the program permanent.
That isn’t to say that the program is perfect, nor that some of the criticism of the Open Restaurants program isn’t valid. There are legitimate concerns about noise on blocks that mix commercial activity with residences, many outdoor dining structures are flimsy or sited haphazardly, and more than a few pose a hazard to safe cycling. But these are fixable flaws.
Ideally, as a long-term goal, the city should expand the width of sidewalks in places in which outdoor dining has proved popular, allowing for expanded café space immediately adjacent to the storefronts of participating restaurants. In places where that’s not possible, restaurants should pay a fee for using street space, or the city should create communal spaces open to anyone, along the lines of the Streets Seats program. In the shorter term, however, there are a number of things we can and should do to improve the Open Restaurants program. These include:
Shifting from more fully built structures to movable tables, chairs, and umbrellas, like in the Meatpacking District or Bryant Park.
Situating seating immediately adjacent to the curb, with physically protected accommodations where possible for existing curbside bike lanes rerouted between restaurant setups and motor-vehicle lanes.
Imposing strict design guidelines that limit the heights of restaurant structures to allow for better visibility, and to ensure that sidewalks are fully and easily passable.
Establishing well enforced rules regulating hours of operation and noise levels, to control negative effects in places with adjacent residences.
Reducing speed limits on smaller streets with curbside dining, and implementing physical safety barriers on larger streets and avenues where speed-limit reductions are impractical. A group of more than three dozen elected officials, including Speaker Adams and Council Members Ayala, Brannan, Powers, and Rivera, wrote to then-Mayor de Blasio in September of 2020 asking for such measures, which have yet to be implemented.
Finally, we must view the Open Restaurants program in the larger context of how the city manages curb space. Open Restaurants, Open Streets, and other pandemic-era efforts to increase access to street space have demonstrated the public’s overwhelming interest in allowing curbside uses beyond the storage of private cars. The curb has tremendous value, and should be managed in a way that reflects that. To that end, we urge the creation of an office of public space management or the public realm to oversee such efforts.
It's Election Day in New York City!
Good morning! Today is Election Day in New York City!
Polls open at 6 a.m., and will remain open until 9 p.m. You can locate your polling site, confirm your registration status, and view a sample ballot at www.vote.nyc.
StreetsPAC's board has spent the past eight months evaluating responses to our detailed candidate questionnaires, analyzing policy platforms, and conducting in-depth personal interviews with more than 100 candidates. We've endorsed 28 candidates across New York City, for Mayor; Comptroller; Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn Borough President; Manhattan District Attorney; and for City Council seats in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. You can learn more about each of our endorsees below, and the safe-streets and transportation policies they'll champion in office.
We urge you to vote for all the StreetsPAC-endorsed candidates on your ballot! Read on below for our full voter guide; you can click the links below to jump to our endorsements in a particular borough. Council races are listed in numerical order by district.
StreetsPAC's General Election Voter Guide
Tomorrow is Election Day in New York City!
Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. You can locate your polling site, confirm your registration status, and view a sample ballot at www.vote.nyc.
StreetsPAC's board spent the past several months evaluating responses to our detailed candidate questionnaires, analyzing policy platforms, and conducting in-depth personal interviews with more than 100 candidates. We've endorsed 28 candidates across New York City, for Mayor; Comptroller; Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn Borough President; Manhattan District Attorney; and for City Council seats in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. You can get to know each of our endorsees below, along with the safe-streets and transportation policies they'll champion in office.
We urge you to get out and vote for all the StreetsPAC-endorsed candidates on your ballot! Read on 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.
Early Voting Continues; City Council Hearing on Vision Zero
Early Voting Continues through Sunday
Early voting for New York City's municipal election continues through Sunday, with polls open today until 8 p.m., Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m, Friday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Polls will then open again on Election Day, Tuesday, November 2nd, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
You can locate your polling site, confirm your registration status, and view a sample ballot at www.vote.nyc.
You can also see the complete roster of the 28 candidates StreetsPAC has endorsed in our voting guide, which you can find here. Here's a preview:
Testimony to City Council on Vision Zero, Illegal Parking, Reducing Reliance on Motor Vehicles, and Improving Street Safety
Yesterday, we testified at the New York City Council's joint Transportation and Public Safety oversight hearing on the topics above. We told the Council that Vision Zero doesn't need to be rethought so much as it needs to be implemented properly, with significantly greater emphasis on street design and less reliance on often-lacking police enforcement.
We also urged the speedy passage of Council Member Steve Levin's Int. 2159, which would enable civilian reporting of illegal parking, along with bills that would ban the sale or distribution of license plate covers and decriminalize jaywalking.
