The 2015-2016 legislative session in Albany came to a close several days ago, and shamefully, the State Legislature failed to act on a number of measures that would have made streets safer for New York City residents and visitors.

Action Alert: Tell Albany to Act on Move NY, Speed Cameras & Stipulated Fines

The 2015-2016 legislative session in Albany is coming to an end tomorrow, and — surprise! — several critically important bills aimed at improving transportation and street safety are languishing in the Assembly and Senate.

The Move NY Fair Plan, which would equalize tolls on New York City's bridges and simultaneously reduce traffic congestion in and around Manhattan while creating a vital funding stream for the MTA, does not appear to be moving forward.

Nor does a truly life-saving bill that would increase the number of speed safety cameras that the New York City Department of Transportation could deploy while also expanding their hours of operation (a bill that would have permitted speed cameras at every school in New York City, and allow them to operate 24 hours a day, is already effectively dead).

And there's no news on the fate of a bill that would end New York City's stipulated fine program, which reduces or eliminates illegal-parking fines for truck fleets. Collecting the fines — which would amount to tens of millions of dollars in revenue — and in turn creating significantly more on-street loading zones, is a much better alternative.

Please contact State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (518-455-3791 or [email protected]) and State Senate Leader John Flanagan (518-455-2071 or [email protected]) today and politely ask them to move these three crucial pieces of legislation forward in this session. Our streets and transportation system can't wait another year!

Citi Bikes at City Hall – Celebrating Bike to Work Day

This past Monday, we joined the Progressive Caucus of the New York City Council for their 3rd annual Bike to Work Day, both a celebration of cycling in New York City as well as a reminder that we still have plenty of work to do together to expand and improve safe biking infrastructure in all five boroughs.

Council Members Helen Rosenthal and Ben Kallos joined our Manhattan ride, and CMs Brad Lander and Carlos Menchaca met us at Brooklyn Borough Hall for the ride over the Brooklyn Bridge.  Steve Levin hopped a Citi Bike in Greenpoint and rendezvoused with us at City Hall, and Antonio Reynoso, the unfortunate victim of a recent bike theft, came by subway (yes, even members of the City Council are not immune to the scourge of stolen bicycles).

All six of the Council Members who participated in Bike to Work Day were endorsed by StreetsPAC in 2013, and among them, they have several bills pending in the Council that would improve cycling safety and access.  We were proud to join them Monday, and look forward to continuing to work together to make New York City's streets safer for everyone, regardless of transportation mode.

Bike to Work May 16 with the City Council's Progressive Caucus & StreetsPAC

Here's a quick reminder that this coming Monday, May 16, we'll be joining the Progressive Caucus of the New York City Council for their 3rd annual Bike to Work Day!

Join us on the north side of Borough Hall in Brooklyn at 8:30 a.m., or in Union Square Park in Manhattan at 9:00 a.m., for group rides to City Hall, where we'll be teaming up with the Progressive Caucus and other advocacy groups for a rally on the steps at 10:00 a.m.

Don't miss your one chance of the year to lift your bike on the steps of City Hall!

Bike to Work May 16 with the City Council's Progressive Caucus & StreetsPAC

On May 16, we'll be joining the Progressive Caucus of the New York City Council for their 3rd annual Bike to Work Day!

We'll be helping to lead some feeder rides from different points around the city (stay tuned to StreetsPAC.org, @StreetsPAC and Facebook for more details), and teaming up with the Progressive Caucus and other advocacy groups for a rally at City Hall at 10:00 a.m.

If you've ever wanted to do a bike lift on the steps of City Hall, this is your chance! Join us!

Pledge to Go Car-Free for Earth Day

Tomorrow, Friday, April 22, New York City is going car-free for Earth Day!

The effort, championed by New York City Council Transportation Committee Chair Ydanis Rodriguez, encourages New York City's drivers to leave their cars at home tomorrow and choose alternate means of transportation to commute, run errands, or otherwise get about, be it by mass transit, on foot, or by bicycle.

We gave the following testimony to the New York City Council's Committee on Transportation at their April 4, 2016 hearing covering several pieces of legislation. 

Int. No. 912 – Requiring curb extensions at certain dangerous intersections (Support)

We offer our strong support for Intro 912, which would establish a curb-extensions program and require curb extensions at dangerous intersections.  The bottom line is that daylighting can save lives, by increasing visibility at corners for all street users, and curb extensions can be accomplished at low cost using temporary materials on an interim basis before being fully built out.

We do, however, believe the number of annual curb-extension projects called for in this legislation – a minimum of five per borough – is woefully inadequate, and would urge that the bill be amended to substantially raise the bar.  Ideally, curb extensions should be standard design at every intersection.

Regardless, though, we strongly support initiating a program for daylighting intersections, which we believe is critical to helping the city achieve Vision Zero.  Saving lives is well worth the cost of a few corner parking spaces.

At a hearing of the New York City Council's Committee on Transportation on Wednesday, March 30, StreetsPAC urged the Council to pass a bill introduced by Council Members Corey Johnson and Daniel Garodnick that would give the Department of Transportation the power to regulate activity in the city's pedestrian plazas.

Read our full testimony after the jump.