Profile: Mel Wymore

Mel Wymore, Council District 6, Manhattan
Neighborhoods: Upper West Side, North Clinton
See StreetsPAC's Citywide Endorsed and Borough-wide Endorsed Candidates
Website: MelWymore.com

  votemelwymore
  @MelWymore

Focus On (StreetsPAC article): "What our streets will look like four years from now depends on whether the next mayor continues the progressive transportation policies of the current one. Four years from now I hope that all our major avenues will have received the “complete streets” treatment and that dedicated bus lanes will be the norm. Bike share will extend throughout the five boroughs, and the percentage of New Yorkers commuting by bike will have risen from the current 1 percent to 10 percent. We should also be well on the way to rationalizing our currently chaotic truck delivery “system,” with smaller trucks making deliveries and being able to use plentiful short-term loading zones that allow them to pull in and out without disrupting essential traffic. In 20 years, the effects of climate change will be a much starker reality and we will have gotten serious about reversing it. Congestion pricing coupled with a rational bridge-tolling system will be in place. The bus and subway system will benefit tremendously from the resulting revenue, and New Yorkers will profit from the dramatic reduction in car traffic. Our streets will be so safe that the rare fatality is headline news. Conceivably, cycling’s mode share could hit 30 percent." Read more

What caught our attention from Mel's questionnaire/interview:
"As a community activist on the Upper West Side, I have focused on ensuring that our urban design (streets, transportation systems, parks, schools, etc) are safe, accessible, equitably shared, and designed for sustainability."

StreetsPAC's Endorsement Announcement:
During his first term as Chair of Manhattan Community Board 7 in 2010, Mel Wymore championed the plan to transform a one-mile stretch of Columbus Avenue into a complete street.  Thanks to that effort, the entire length of Columbus is now getting the safe-streets treatment.  Wymore pledges to lead the way on a similar transformation of Amsterdam Avenue, and avenues citywide.  Wymore, who advocated for a borough-wide car-free Central Park resolution in 2011, plans to work to remove cars permanently from the park.