This is the latest installment in our spotlight series on StreetsPAC endorsed candidates. 

Councilmember Rosie Mendez has been a steady voice for livable streets in the City Council, voting for congestion pricing, backing the implementation of Select Bus Service on 1st and 2nd avenues, and supporting bike share across her district.  She’s called for better NYPD investigations of collisions that injure pedestrians, and provided funding to ensure the Baruch College pedestrian plaza had proper lighting.  Mendez supports the redesign of Fifth Avenue to include bus, bicycle, and pedestrian amenities, and plans to explore new bicycle and pedestrian prioritization on University Place.

This is the latest installment in our spotlight series on StreetsPAC endorsed candidates. 

In her 12 years in the City Council, Gale Brewer has consistently championed livable streets with characteristic patience, most notably by forging a consensus on the Upper West Side to eliminate cars in Central Park and to install and extend pedestrian safety improvements and protected bike paths on Columbus Avenue.  As Manhattan Borough President, Gale pledges to work to expand bike share to all of Manhattan. “Bike share is only months old, and it’s already a critical part of the mass transit system for thousands of New Yorkers,” said Brewer. “Just as we provide public support for ferries and student Metrocards, we should support the expansion of bike share throughout Manhattan and the city.” 

Brewer is also committed to finding a comprehensive, multi-pronged approach to relieving the burden of truck traffic on Manhattan residents – the fatalities, injuries, noise, pollution and sheer oppressive presence of traffic.  “As Borough President, I’ll bring all the responsible agencies and stakeholders together – police, transportation, consumer affairs and others – to reduce pass-through traffic to a minimum with fair tolling, encourage late-night deliveries, and improve regulation and enforcement so that truckers stick to truck routes, have the required safety equipment, and are held responsible for the harm they cause.”

This is the latest installment in our spotlight series on StreetsPAC endorsed candidates. 

"I forgot how wonderful it is to use a bike to get around," enthused Ede Fox after a StreetsPAC-guided ride around her district.  "Everyone has a right to be safe on every public street, regardless of how they get around."  Fox will push to tame speeding on major thoroughfares like Atlantic, Park and Bedford Avenues, and will advocate for MTA service restoration and expansion of express-bus service.  She will support Vanderbilt Avenue-style treatments on other avenues to increase safety, build community and spur economic activity.  Fox knows she has big livable-streets shoes to fill in those of current 35th district Councilmember Tish James, but pledges that she's up to the challenge.  

This is the latest installment in our spotlight series on StreetsPAC endorsed candidates. 

Mark Levine strongly supports improving travel times for all 125th Street bus lines through implementation of Select Bus Service.  He’ll champion the expansion of Citi Bike to all of northern Manhattan and work with community stakeholders to extend northwards the complete-streets package of pedestrian safety improvements, landscaping, protected bike paths and other amenities that have already taken root on Columbus Avenue.

StreetsPAC: What is the biggest transportation issue facing your district?

Mark Levine: 125th St. is a vital commercial corridor uptown, but vehicle congestion there is so bad that currently buses there travel on average slower than walking speed.  One great way to improve this situation: establish Select Bus Service with a dedicated bus lane stretching along the full length of 125th St. from river to river. The Deptartment of Transportation recently proposed creating just such a service on the M60, but the plan was recently shelved because of lack of support among local elected officials.  I strongly believe this SBS plan should be immediately implemented, for the sake of local residents, local businesses, and the environment.

StreetsPAC today announced its fourth round of candidate endorsements for New York City’s September primary election, backing longtime livable-streets supporter Gale Brewer for Manhattan Borough President, sitting Councilmembers Dan Garodnick and Rosie Mendez for additional terms, and Ede Fox and Chris Banks in highly competitive Council races in Brooklyn.

This is the fourth installment in our spotlight series on StreetsPAC endorsed candidates.

“I’m a walker,” says Ritchie Torres. “The car should not be the center of urban life.”  As a child in the Bronx, Torres grew up with asthma as a result of the pollution spewed by traffic on the Cross Bronx Expressway.  He will work to improve health in his district through the transformation of major thoroughfares, like the Grand Concourse and East Tremont Avenue, into complete streets with room for transit users, cyclists, and pedestrians.  He will also aim to improve the walking experience around Arthur Avenue, a mecca for visitors.

StreetsPAC today announced its third round of candidate endorsements for New York City’s September primary election, placing its support behind the City Council campaigns of four candidates contesting open seats, Kirsten John Foy, Mark Levine, Ritchie Torres and Mel Wymore; endorsing Councilmember Brad Lander for re-election; and making its first foray into a citywide race by backing Letitia James’s run for Public Advocate.

“In endorsing Brad Lander for re-election and Tish James for Public Advocate, we’re recognizing two of the City Council’s most outspoken supporters of complete and livable streets,” said Eric McClure, StreetsPAC’s treasurer.  “Brad has championed smart traffic-calming projects like the redesigns of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park West and Fourth Avenue, pushed for more thorough NYPD crash investigations, and has called for expanded pedestrian and cyclist access to the Brooklyn Bridge.  He’s set a high standard for smart transportation advocacy in the Council.”

One Council peer who has lived up to that standard is Letitia James, whom StreetsPAC is endorsing in the hotly contested race for Public Advocate.  “Tish has fought hard to improve the streets of her district,” said Mike Epstein, a StreetsPAC board member.  “She was an early proponent of the Grand Army Plaza redesign, supported creation of the Fowler Square Plaza, and stood up in a big way for bike share.  As Public Advocate, she’ll take the fight for safe, complete streets citywide.”

The four first-time Council candidates gaining StreetsPAC’s endorsement today are just as impressive in their own rights as James and Lander.  Mel Wymore and Mark Levine, running in Manhattan’s 6^th and 7^th Council districts, respectively, have been instrumental in bringing safer streets to the Upper West Side in leadership roles on their local Community Boards.  Kirsten John Foy has a distinguished career in public service under his belt, and Ritchie Torres boasts a resumé that belies the fact that, at just 24, he’s the youngest candidate running for city office.

“We’re excited about each and every one of these candidates,” said StreetsPAC co-founder Peter Frishauf.  “They’re all deeply committed to making their districts safer places for people on foot, on bikes, on transit and in cars.   We’re looking forward to a City Council in 2014 that will make livable streets a top priority.”

Here’s more background on today’s StreetsPAC endorsees: 

The StreetsPAC 2013 Mayoral Questionnaire is an opportunity for those running for the Office of Mayor of New York to outline their vision for creating safe, complete, and livable streets to ensure the well-being of all New Yorkers and keep our city competitive in the 21st century. Candidates' answers will help inform StreetsPAC endorsement and donation policy in the 2013 election.

The overview is a must-read for anyone who wants to be well-informed about progressive, people-first, complete-streets urban policy.  Candidates will also have the chance to make specific policy proposals, respond to topical questions, and prioritize approaches to various transportation-related issues.  

The questionnaire is available for download at http://www.streetspac.org/questionnaire.  

Responses are due by August 5 at noon for consideration.

StreetsPAC supporters rode strong despite a high of 95 degrees with candidates Antonio Reynoso (District 34, Bushwick/Williamsburg) and Carlos Menchaca (District 38, Sunset Park/Red Hook). The StreetsPAC-organized ride started in East Williamsburg, passed through Bushwick, and traveled through several Brooklyn neighborhoods on the way toward Red Hook and Sunset Park. Selected stops along the way allowed for discussion of the existing streets and infrastructure, and changes that will improve safety and connectivity as well as incentivize people to get moving through their neighborhoods on foot and bike.