We submitted testimony to the New York City Council Committee on Consumer Affairs and Business Licensing yesterday in support of a package of legislation intended to improve conditions for working cyclists, including a Carlina Rivera bill requiring bathroom access for delivery workers, a Justin Brannan bill that would let Deliveristas set distance limits on orders made through third-party apps, and a Brad Lander bill that would lead to setting minimum per-trip payments for workers delivering on behalf of app companies. Our testimony follows below.

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New York City has come a long way in eight years.

In 2013, Bill de Blasio was the only serious mayoral contender with even a mildly progressive street-safety and transportation platform. His embrace of Vision Zero set him apart from the pack, even if he did seem a little too sympathetic to drivers and, at times, not completely sold on his own policy proposals. To be sure, the Mayor has presided over significant improvements to the city's streets. But at the same time, too many opportunities have been squandered for want of better execution.

Fast forward to 2021, and nearly every serious candidate in the race for mayor has put forth an ambitious and progressive agenda for remaking the city's streets and improving its public transit system. All seven candidates who completed our questionnaire – Eric Adams, Shaun Donovan, Kathryn Garcia, Dianne Morales, Scott Stringer, Maya Wiley and Andrew Yang – told us they're committed to reducing New York City's reliance on cars, vastly improving transit service, and building a robust citywide network of protected bike lanes. Every one of them advocates the quick implementation of congestion pricing. They all say they intend to commit more city resources to Open Streets. And all seven have pledged support for Transportation Alternatives' ambitious 25x25 proposal to reallocate a quarter of the city's street space from cars to people.

This election marks a sea change. The race to the top among mayoral candidates on these issues is truly something to behold, and it's a testament to the relentlessly effective work that activists and advocacy organizations have done over the past several years. The next mayor will have the opportunity – and the responsibility – to truly transform New York City's streets and transportation system. That will require decisive action in addition to good ideas.

Among all these candidates who promise a better future, we believe Kathryn Garcia possesses the best combination of vision and an ability to successfully implement large-scale, transformational change, and we are excited to endorse her to be New York City's next mayor.

Ms. Garcia has held a number of important positions within New York City government over the past decade and a half. She served as operations chief for the Department of Environmental Protection under Mayor Bloomberg, with responsibility for the water supply, sewers, and wastewater treatment. Mayor de Blasio appointed Ms. Garcia Sanitation Commissioner in 2014, a position she held until she stepped down to run for mayor. As Sanitation Commissioner, her leadership was crucial to the passage of the city's Waste Equity law in 2018, and the Commercial Waste Zone law in 2019, the latter of which will reduce private-carting trips by millions of miles annually.

In response to a lead-poisoning crisis in 2018, Mayor de Blasio tapped Ms. Garcia as the city's "lead czar," and she also served as interim NYCHA boss in 2019. Last year, Mayor de Blasio put her in charge of the city's emergency pandemic food-distribution efforts. She has earned a reputation as a get-things-done leader, while also commanding the respect and loyalty of staff, including that of the Sanitation Department's 7,000+ uniformed rank-and-file workers.

That ability to lead and execute is key to our endorsement of Ms. Garcia. Setting aspirational goals is important, but so is having the wherewithal and expertise to implement them. While all of the leading candidates, Ms. Garcia included, have proposed ambitious transportation agendas, we firmly believe that she is best equipped to deliver on her promises.

She understands clearly that physically preventing crashes through street design is the key to reducing deaths and injuries, and she has pledged to implement roadway redesigns across the city that put pedestrians, cyclists and transit riders first. She'll commit more resources to Open Streets, and more of the city's street space to pedestrians, and will build 250 miles of new protected bike lanes, expand Citi Bike, and get the city moving on providing secure bike-parking solutions.

When it comes to public transit, Ms. Garcia is committed to creating more busways and dedicated bus lanes, and expanding off-board payment, all-door boarding, and signal priority at intersections. She'll expand the Fair Fares program, potentially by reallocating outsized ferry subsidies. She's determined to improve accessibility, with more and better-maintained subway elevators. And she'll advocate with the MTA to create a one-tap, in-city transit network that integrates the Long Island and Metro North Railroads, and, potentially, Citi Bike and the ferry system.

Ms. Garcia will crack down on placard abuse by deploying electronic readers to remove "professional courtesy" from the equation. She'll pursue camera enforcement of failure-to-yield violations and bike-lane blocking, and has indicated support for Steve Levin's bill that would enable citizen-reporting of illegal parking. Furthermore, she intends to expand the city's loading zones, in both commercial and residential areas, and to expand the Clean Curbs program to containerize trash and keep sidewalks clear for pedestrians.

Finally, Ms. Garcia has pledged to treat the city's working cyclists like the essential workers they are, making sure they're protected from wage theft and unfair conditions, and deploying her long-coveted Multihogs to promptly clear bike lanes of snow and ice. In embracing TA's 25x25 challenge, she explicitly cited the safety of delivery workers.

For her commitment to reimagining the city's streets, remaking and upgrading our transit system, and reinvigorating Vision Zero, coupled with her highly regarded ability to deliver results and her belief that pedestrian- and bike-friendly street transformations will accelerate the city's economic recovery, we enthusiastically endorse Kathryn Garcia for mayor, and urge you to rank her #1 on your ballot in the June 22nd Democratic primary.

Note: In reaching our decision, we reviewed the positions of all the leading mayoral candidates, including their responses to our detailed 50-question questionnaire, and were able to sit down for personal interviews with Mr. Adams, Mr. Donovan, and Mr. Yang, in addition to Ms. Garcia, a prerequisite for our endorsement. We've included highlights of the other candidates' résumés and refreshingly progressive transportation platforms below.

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We've had to make a lot of tough endorsement choices over the past few weeks. None yet has been tougher than our decision in the contest for New York City's next Comptroller.

Three candidates completed our endorsement process, submitting detailed and compelling responses to our questionnaire, and sitting down for in-depth interviews with our board: Corey Johnson, the current Speaker of the New York City Council; Brad Lander, the three-term Council Member representing Brooklyn's 39th District; and Zach Iscol, a non-profit entrepreneur and former Marine.

Mr. Johnson and Mr. Lander are well known to people in the world of safe-streets and transit advocacy. StreetsPAC endorsed them both when we launched in 2013, and supported their respective re-election bids in 2017. Both have championed a number of critical initiatives and causes. Each of them heaped praise on the other when we interviewed them.

Under different circumstances, Mr. Iscol might merit greater consideration. He has an impressive résumé and record of public service, and the no-nonsense, confident demeanor you'd expect from a Marine veteran. He's put in a lot of miles on a bike in New York City. And he demonstrated a good grasp of the powers and limits of the Comptroller's office, and how they intersect with transportation issues.

But Mr. Johnson and Mr. Lander are exceptional public servants, with years of accomplishment in elective office, and we believe this contest is very much between the two of them.

After much deliberation and consideration, we have opted for a ranked endorsement, giving Corey Johnson a slight edge over Brad Lander. We believe Mr. Johnson's role as Speaker, dealing regularly and directly with the Mayor and the highest levels of city agencies, is a notable advantage in experience. And secondly, harder to quantify, is Mr. Johnson's outsized personality. He has the potential to be able to draw attention to the Comptroller's office, and its critically important but often dry focus on audits and numbers, that his predecessors have not. As Mr. Johnson told us, "the numbers really don't lie," but we think he might be able to make them fly.

Read on below for more about Corey Johnson's and Brad Lander's platforms and accomplishments.

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We're excited to announce our endorsements for the June 22nd primary election in borough-wide races in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn.

As with the candidates we've endorsed for City Council, we're greatly impressed by the degree to which candidates for higher office have emphasized the importance of safe and livable streets in their campaigns. And we've had to make some very difficult endorsement decisions, given the quality of the fields in numerous races. This is especially so as elected officials whom we've supported in the past – most notably sitting City Council Members who are term-limited – face off against each other in races for higher offices. It's not easy to endorse one reliable ally over another, but at the same time, and luckily for New York City, there are many more good candidates than there are elective offices.

About 150 candidates have sought StreetsPAC's endorsement in this election cycle, about twice the number as in any previous election. To be considered, a candidate must complete a detailed questionnaire, and meet with our board. We sought the broadest possible participation, contacting more than 400 campaigns; those candidates who did not participate fully in our process were not considered for endorsement.

Read on below to learn about our endorsees and their positions on street-safety and transportation issues, and check back soon for our endorsements in citywide races.

2021 Borough-Wide Endorsees: Manhattan BP | Queens BP | Brooklyn BP | Manhattan DA

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We're proud today to announce our second and final round of 2021 endorsements for the June 22nd city primary election, again devoted to candidates running for City Council.

As with our first group of endorsees, which we announced last week, we're just so impressed by the depth of talent of the people running to serve in the City Council – and with how committed they are to centering street safety and advocacy for improved public transit in their campaigns. We highlighted some of the transportation initiatives each candidate would pursue in our write-ups, but it's really just scratching the surface; many of them have published detailed, and impressively progressive, transportation agendas.

In this round, we made some ranked-choice endorsements, given the quality of the candidates in quite a few races, and made co-endorsements in two Council contests. Even in races in which we we've gone three deep with our recommendations, we're convinced those third-ranked candidates would be tremendous allies in the Council, should they come out on top.

With the addition of this second round of City Council endorsements, we're supporting candidates in 33 of the 51 Council races, ten more than in 2017. We're very excited about the potential for the next Council to be transformational on issues of public space and transportation. Read on below to learn about the candidates and their positions, and check back next week for endorsements in citywide races, multiple Borough President contests, and the Manhattan District Attorney's race.

2021 Endorsees (City Council, Round 2): Manhattan | Bronx | Queens | Brooklyn | Staten Island

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We're excited today to announce our first round of 2021 endorsements for the June 22nd city primary election, focused exclusively on candidates for City Council. We intend to make at least one more round of Council endorsements, as well as endorsements in multiple Borough President races, the Manhattan District Attorney's contest, and citywide races.

Our first 15 City Council endorsees are a diverse group, covering four boroughs, and including three incumbents whom we first endorsed in 2017: Carlina Rivera, Keith Powers, and Justin Brannan. All three have delivered on the promises they made four years ago to champion street-safety and transportation issues, and all should factor significantly in the race to be the Council's next Speaker.

We received well over 100 questionnaire responses from City Council candidates, and have conducted scores of interviews over the past two months. It's deeply gratifying to see how far candidates have come in just a few years in prioritizing safer streets and better public transit in their campaigns, and it's testament to the work that we've done, in partnership with fellow advocacy organizations like Transportation Alternatives and Riders Alliance, among many others, to advance the conversation on these incredibly important issues.

We're proud to support this great group of candidates. Read on below to meet them and learn about their platforms, and check back soon as we roll out more endorsements.

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Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. for vacant City Council Seats in 11th and 15th Districts

Voters in the Bronx have the opportunity to fill two vacant City Council seats today, and we urge voters in the borough's 11th and 15th Districts to elect Jessica Haller and John Sanchez, respectively.

Haller, a climate activist and entrepreneur, will bring fresh thinking to the City Council about how to help get residents of her northwest Bronx district out of their cars. She supports installing bus-only lanes on Broadway, believes the City Council should provide rebates for e-bike purchases, and would like to see the city implement traffic-calming street designs throughout the 11th Council District. Haller will advocate for creation of a micro-transit incubator that would partner the city with tech companies to develop new concepts for enhancing mobility.

Sanchez, currently the District Manager of Bronx Community Board 6, has made safer streets a centerpiece of his campaign. He's been outspoken about the need to reduce dependence on cars, and would accomplish that in part by supporting new busways on Fordham Road and 3rd Avenue, and protected bike lanes throughout the 15th District. He will advocate for universally daylighting street corners to increase safety, and plans to introduce legislation to create parking benefit districts, which would return extended parking-meter revenue to communities to fund streetscape improvements.

We were also impressed by Elisa Crespo, a progressive candidate who shares Sanchez's commitment to safer streets and better public transit in the 11th District. Ultimately, we believe Sanchez will be the most vocal champion for those issues, but Crespo is a strong second choice, all the more relevant given the advent of ranked choice voting.

You can find information about voting hours and locations here, and check your registration status at nycvotersearch.com. Learn more about how ranked choice voting works at rankthevotenyc.org.

Polls open Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Early Voting concludes today at 4 p.m.

Voters in the Bronx's 11th and 15th City Council Districts will have the opportunity to fill vacant Council seats on Tuesday, and we urge you to vote for Jessica Haller in the 11th District and John Sanchez in the 15th District.

Haller, a climate activist and entrepreneur, will bring fresh thinking to the City Council about how to help get residents of her northwest Bronx district out of their cars. She supports installing bus-only lanes on Broadway, believes the City Council should consider rebates for e-bike purchases, and wants to see the city implement traffic-calming street designs in the Bronx. Haller will advocate for creation of a micro-transit incubator that would partner the city with tech companies to develop new concepts for enhancing mobility.

You can volunteer here to help Jessica get out the vote between now and Tuesday.

Sanchez, who serves as District Manager of Bronx Community Board 6, has made safer streets a centerpiece of his campaign. He's been vocal about the need to reduce automobile use, and would accomplish that in part by supporting new busways on Fordham Road and 3rd Avenue, and protected bike lanes throughout the 15th District. He will advocate for universally daylighting street corners to increase safety, and plans to introduce legislation to create parking benefit districts, which would return extended parking-meter revenue to communities to fund streetscape improvements.

Sign up here to help John's campaign down the home stretch.

We were also impressed by Elisa Crespo, a progressive candidate who shares Sanchez's commitment to safer streets and better public transit in the 11th District. Ultimately, we believe Sanchez will be the most vocal champion for those issues, but Crespo is a strong second choice, all the more relevant given the advent of ranked choice voting.

You can find information about voting hours and locations here, and check your registration status at nycvotersearch.com. Learn more about how ranked choice voting works at rankthevotenyc.org.

Safe, Equitable, and Accessible Streets: A Mayoral Forum on the Future of Transportation in NYC

Please join us on Zoom one week from tonight – March 25th at 6:30 p.m. – for an important forum on the future of safe streets and transportation with the leading candidates to be New York City's next mayor.

Moderated by New York Times Metro reporter Dana Rubinstein, and jointly hosted by Families for Safe Streets, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, New York League of Conservation Voters, Regional Plan Association, Riders Alliance, StreetsPAC, Transportation Alternatives, TransitCenter, and the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, this is your chance to hear straight from the top mayoral contenders about their plans to reduce traffic violence, boost bicycling, prioritize public transit, and improve equity and accessibility for all.

Advance registration is required; please RSVP here.

ICYMI: StreetsPAC Endorses Jessica Haller and John Sanchez in March 23rd Bronx Special Elections

Early voting is well underway in the March 23rd special elections to fill two open City Council seats in the Bronx, in which we've endorsed Jessica Haller in the 11th Council District and John Sanchez in the 15th Council District.

Haller, a climate activist and entrepreneur, will bring fresh thinking to the City Council about how to help get residents of her northwest Bronx district out of their cars. She supports installing bus-only lanes on Broadway, believes the City Council should consider rebates for e-bike purchases, and wants to see the city implement traffic-calming street designs in the Bronx. Haller will advocate for creation of a micro-transit incubator that would partner the city with tech companies to develop new concepts for enhancing mobility.

You can volunteer here to help Jessica get elected.

Sanchez, who currently serves as District Manager of Bronx Community Board 6, has made safer streets a centerpiece of his campaign. He's been vocal about the need to reduce automobile use, and would accomplish that in part by supporting new busways on Fordham Road and 3rd Avenue, and protected bike lanes throughout the 15th District. He will advocate for universally daylighting street corners to increase safety, and plans to introduce legislation to create parking benefit districts, which would return extended parking-meter revenue to communities to fund streetscape improvements.

Sign up here to help John's campaign down the home stretch.

We were also impressed by Elisa Crespo, a progressive candidate who shares Sanchez's commitment to safer streets and better public transit in the 11th District. Ultimately, we believe Sanchez will be the most vocal champion for those issues, but Crespo is a strong second choice, all the more relevant given the advent of ranked choice voting.

You can find information about voting hours and locations here, and check your registration status at nycvotersearch.com. Learn more about how ranked choice voting works at rankthevotenyc.org.