Primary Wins, Congestion Pricing, City Council Hearings
It was a busy but productive week for StreetsPAC, as our City Council endorsees swept their primary races, congestion pricing cleared its final regulatory hurdle, and we provided testimony to two hearings of the City Council's Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
StreetsPAC's Endorsees Sweep City Council Primaries
Congratulations to Christopher Marte, Carlina Rivera, Shekar Krishnan, Julie Won, and Jennifer Gutiérrez, all of whom won their City Council primary races on Tuesday after earning our endorsement.
They'll be among 13 StreetsPAC-endorsed Council candidates on the ballot for November's general election, a list that we expect to grow in the coming months as we continue to collect questionnaire responses and interview candidates. Stay tuned!
Read moreIt's Primary Day! Here's our City Council Voting Guide.
Good morning! It's Primary Day in New York City, 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 today in your party's primary.
Once again, 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 13 candidates for New York City Council, just five of whom have primaries today. You can learn more about each of the candidates on the ballot today below, as well as important aspects of their street-safety and transportation records.
To find your polling location, see a sample ballot, and check your voter-registration status, please visit vote.nyc.
Today's primary will very likely continue a trend of low-turnout elections. While we'd always prefer to see robust voter participation, low turnout means that your vote for a candidate who supports safe, complete and livable streets, and reliable, efficient and affordable public transit, will be all the more valuable, critically so in a close race. Please vote!
Candidates are listed below in ascending order by district number, with links to each candidate's website and a map of the Council district.
2023 Endorsees: Manhattan | Queens | Brooklyn
Read moreStreetsPAC's Testimony to City Council on Ghost Cars
We testified at today's New York City Council Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and Committee on Public Safety joint oversight hearing on enforcement of defaced, fraudulent and expired license plates, focusing on the significant concern posed by drivers operating "ghost cars," motor vehicles with fraudulent license plates. Our full testimony follows below.
Read moreStreetsPAC's Testimony to City Council on Electric Vehicle Infrastructure
We submitted testimony on Friday to the New York City Council's Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure pertaining to their oversight hearing on Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, raising concerns that while the transition to electric vehicles will be generally beneficial, it also presents safety challenges, given the relative weight and acceleration of battery-powered cars and trucks, does nothing to reduce congestion, and could reverse progress in diversifying uses of the curbside. We also put in a plug for putting electric micro-mobility devices on equal footing with other clean-powered vehicles. Our full testimony follows below.
Read morePrimary Election Tuesday – Help StreetsPAC Endorsees Get Out The Vote
Early voting in advance of Tuesday's primary election continues this weekend, and the five candidates we've endorsed for City Council who face challenges could use your help in getting out the vote.
The StreetsPAC-endorsed candidates who will appear on primary ballots are Jennifer Gutiérrez in Brooklyn, Carlina Rivera and Christopher Marte in Manhattan, and Julie Won and Shekar Krishnan in Queens.
If you're able to give even an hour or two of your time this weekend or Monday or Tuesday, it could truly help make a difference in what's shaping up to be a low-turnout primary. Just click on the links below to find out more about volunteer opportunities.
Volunteer for Jennifer Gutiérrez
Volunteer for Christopher Marte
In-person early-voting sites are open today and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Tuesday, polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. You can confirm whether or not your district has a primary and find your early-voting and Primary Day voting sites (which may not be the same) using the polling site locator: findmypollsite.vote.nyc.
You can also confirm your registration status and find other important election-related information at vote.nyc. We've included links to district maps for each of our endorsed candidates below.
We urge you to join us in supporting these excellent candidates for the New York City Council. Read on to learn more about all our endorsees and important aspects of their records on street safety and transportation. Candidates are listed in ascending order by district number.
2023 Endorsees: Manhattan | Queens | Brooklyn
Read moreStreetsPAC Endorses 13 Candidates for New York City Council
We are proud today to announce our endorsement of 13 candidates for New York City Council.
The 2023 election cycle is an unusual one, dividing the typical four-year City Council term into two two-year terms due to the city's decennial redistricting process. Given that all 51 current Council Members are incumbents, the field of candidates is less than half of what it was in 2021, when roughly two-thirds of the Council races were for open seats.
As a result, our 2023 endorsees include twelve incumbents and just one candidate challenging a sitting Council Member, and only five of them have primary opponents. We do anticipate making a number of additional endorsements in advance of November's general election, when it appears that all but a handful of races will be contested.
In-person early voting for the primary begins this Saturday, June 17, which is also the deadline to register if you are not already a registered voter. You can check your registration status, find your early-voting and election-day polling locations, and see other important election-related information at vote.nyc. We've included links to district maps for each of the candidates we're endorsing.
Early voting will continue daily through Sunday, June 25, with varying hours, in advance of Primary Day, which is Tuesday, June 27, when polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. You can confirm your early-voting and Primary Day voting sites, which may be different, and check early-voting hours using the polling site locator: findmypollsite.vote.nyc.
We urge you to join us in supporting these excellent candidates for the New York City Council. Read on to learn more about our endorsees and important aspects of their records on street safety and transportation. Candidates are listed below in ascending order by district number.
2023 Endorsees: Manhattan | Queens | Brooklyn
Read moreJoin Us Thursday Morning to Bike to City Hall!
Bike to Work with StreetsPAC and the City Council's Progressive Caucus
Please join us this Thursday, May 25th, for our annual Bike to Work event with the City Council's Progressive Caucus, along with our great partners Transportation Alternatives, Bike New York, Get Women Cycling, and Citi Bike, and an exciting new addition this year, the City Council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus!
We'll be congregating at the south end of Foley Square [Map], near the fountain, for a rally at 10:00 a.m., with feeder rides rolling out from Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. Here are the feeder ride details.
Brooklyn Ride
Brooklyn Borough Hall, facing Columbus Park [Map]
Meet: 9:00 a.m.
Ride: 9:30 a.m.
Manhattan Ride
Union Square Park, north side, facing 17th Street Citi Bike station [Map]
Meet: 9:00 a.m.
Ride: 9:30 a.m.
Queens Ride
Queens Boulevard and 46th Street, Sunnyside, plaza beneath the 46th Street–Bliss Street subway station [Map]
Meet: 8:15 a.m.
Ride: 8:45 a.m.
Citi Bike has generously offered to supply a limited number of bikes at each of these locations for those folks won't be riding their own, so please let us know when you RSVP here if you would like to reserve a Citi Bike. Please RSVP by noon on Wednesday.
Thursday's weather forecast looks glorious, so please come on out and celebrate the continued growth of cycling in New York City, and lend your voice to the important call for further expansion of the city's safe, connected bike infrastructure.
Bike to Work Day May 25th; Help Pass a NYS Idaho Stop Bill
Bike to Work with StreetsPAC and the City Council's Progressive Caucus
Please join us on May 25th for our annual Bike to Work event with the City Council's Progressive Caucus, along with our great partners Transportation Alternatives, Bike New York, Get Women Cycling, and Citi Bike – plus a great new addition this year, the City Council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus!
We'll be converging on City Hall Park at 10 a.m. for a rally, with feeder rides rolling out from Brooklyn Borough Hall and Union Square Park at 9:30 a.m. (additional feeder rides TBD).
Citi Bike has generously offered to supply a limited number of bikes for those folks won't be riding their own, so please let us know when you RSVP here if you would like to reserve a Citi Bike.
Come on out and celebrate the continued growth of cycling in New York City, and lend your voice to the important call for further expansion of the city's safe, connected bike infrastructure.
Help Pass Idaho Stop and Three-Foot Safe Passing Laws
Send an email that will save a cyclist’s life… it could be yours.
We're asking folks to email New York State legislators to urge the passage of legislation before the end of session that will save cyclists’ lives and elevate their status as road users: "Idaho Stop" and Three-Foot Safe Passing.
Complete George (the organization leading the advocacy for expanding bike access on the George Washington Bridge) has assembled all the information you'll need, including the pertinent bill info, sample email language, and contact information for State Senate and Assembly leadership, all of which you can find here.
If made law, these bills would increase safety for people riding bikes across New York State, New York City included. We strongly urge you to take a few minutes to join in this important advocacy effort. Thank you!
StreetsPAC's Testimony to City Council on Intros 417, 501-A, and more
We testified yesterday at the New York City Council's Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure oversight hearing on Bicycles, Micromobility, and Street Enforcement, in support of bills that would eliminate an unnecessary waiting period for bike lane projects, enable civilians to report illegal parking via a mobile app, and require the Department of Transportation to create a map of bike lane service status. Our full testimony follows below.
Read moreStreetsPAC's Testimony to City Council on Truck Routes
We testified yesterday at the New York City Council's Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure oversight hearing on truck routes, in support of a bill that would require redesign of the city's truck-route network with an eye to improving safety. Our full testimony follows below.
Read more