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Should NYC's Bike Plans Be More "Incremental?"
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Aug 19, 2012
Modified Aug 19, 2012
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Aug 19, 2012
Modified Aug 19, 2012
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Mayor Bloomberg has held a 51 to 40% approval rating [pdf] for the last three months, and bike lanes have the support of 66% of New York City residents. Public Advocate and presumed mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio apparently thinks he can do better if he sides with the New York Post's editorial board when it comes to cycling issues. “There’s a radical tendency: Here’s our plan, and we’re going to move it come hell or high water,” de Blasio told David Seifman, referring to the award-winning, life-saving policies of DOT commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.
Transportation Alternatives' executive director Paul Steely White pointed out de Blasio's change of heart (once upon a time he supported the PPW bike lane) in the latest issue of the organization's magazine [pdf], which quotes the Public Advocate as saying he favors a more "incrementalist" approach.
"When did the tide change? I can’t say for sure, and I’m not convinced it truly has," White writes. "But I do know there are some well-connected, deep-pocketed people in this city who have an outdated view of our streets—and all the mayoral candidates on speed-dial."
DOT spokesman Seth Solonomow adds, “I know I wouldn't want to tell the family of someone who died in a crash that we could have saved them but waited on changes because we take an 'incremental' approach."
Despite White writing in his Publisher's Message that he's "not much of a worrier," he recently acknowledged to the Times that the lack of support for biking and pedestrian initiatives in the new crop of mayoral candidates could wipe out advances made during the Bloomberg administration. “That’s what keeps me up at night. That what has happened over the last four years was just an aberration.”
Tagged
bike lanes
bill de blasio
cycling
dot
janette sadik-khan
transportation alternatives
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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