Tuesday’s Headlines: Other Than That, How Was the Play, Ms. Khan?

Janette Sadik-Khan, in happier times. File photo: Stephen Miller
Janette Sadik-Khan, in happier times. File photo: Stephen Miller

The best story of the day was former DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan’s delicate shiv of an op-ed in Gothamist.

In just a few hundred words, Sadik-Khan makes two things clear: She did a visionary job of starting the transition of New York City from a car-filled “hellscape” — and the current administration is failing to finish the mission. Let’s get to the highlights:

  • “New York City was a global leader in transforming streets from traffic-dominated hellscapes into safer, people-friendly, transit-prioritized places,” she wrote. “We know from experience that we are capable of accomplishing so much more.”
  • “It will take New York aggressive steps merely to avoid reverting back to the same congested, dangerous free-for-all that existed pre-pandemic.”
  • “New York’s transportation recovery strategy—its vision—must be equal to the immense scale of our challenges, and now is the historic moment to act, not with half measures, but with decisive action to adapt New York City’s streets.”
  • “Streets can be adapted to be auxiliary space for school classrooms and exercise and assembly space.”
  • “So much of what we think is impossible is merely hidden by the enormous footprint that parking imposes on our communities.”

And so on. We’ll be asking the mayor about the stinging critique of his shortcomings at his press avail today. Should be fun.

Oh, and in a related mayoral slam, Gridlock Sam Schwartz wrote in the Daily News that the mayor should take parking and traffic enforcement away from the NYPD, which spends more and does a worse job than the days when parking was within the Traffic Department (now DOT).

In other news from a very slow news day:

  • Hundreds of people are killed, and thousands maimed, every year by car drivers, but Rep. Adriano “Sushi” Espaillat wants Revel scooters to be banned. (NY Post)
  • Tamika Butler guest-edited Bicycling magazine this month.
  • Larry Penner says there’s no way the MTA will keep the Second Avenue subway phase II in its 2020-24 capital plan. (MassTransit)
  • And in case you missed it, Streetsblog had a few stories of note:
    • The mayor’s open streets initiative has created recreation space inequitably, a review of the data show.
    • The mayor failed to rein in recklessly driving cops, despite promising us last year that he would.
    • Oh, and the city ordered community activists in Hells Kitchen to stop doing their job for them.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Streetfilms: A Conversation With Janette Sadik-Khan

|
In this exclusive Streetfilms interview, The Open Planning Project’s Executive Director Mark Gorton talks with Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan about how her agency is redefining public space in New York City. As the two take a walking tour of recently revamped streetscapes designed to encourage car-free movement and foster social activity — including […]

Sadik-Khan is Next at DOT

|
Employees at the engineering consulting firm Parsons Brinckerhoff were recently informed that senior vice president Janette Sadik-Khan will be leaving because she has been selected by Mayor Michael Bloomberg as New York City’s next Department of Transportation commissioner. She is reportedly due to start work on May 14. Today’s Crain’s Insider reports: Insiders say Janette […]

It’s Official: Sadik-Khan in at DOT

|
After weeks of speculation, City Hall has announced that Janette Sadik-Khan, a senior vice president at Parsons Brinckerhoff, will be the new commissioner of the NYC DOT. This from a press release issued this afternoon by the mayor’s office: "Janette Sadik-Khan has a superb mix of public and private sector transportation management experience and she […]

Bloomberg and Sadik-Khan Announce New 20 MPH Slow Zones

|
Mayor Bloomberg and NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan today announced an expansion of the city’s Slow Zone program, which lowers speed limits in selected areas from 30 to 20 mph and implements low-cost traffic-calming measures like speed humps. Bloomberg and Sadik-Khan were joined in Corona by NYPD Chief of Transportation Bureau James Tuller, City Council […]

Sadik-Khan Press Conference Coverage

|
New York 1 covers the Mayor’s announcement of New York City’s new transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan. "No matter what you call it, environmentalism, sustainability or a greener New York, we all want a healthier city for our families and kids and it is that shared desire, it’s a necessity really, that brings us together," said […]

Sadik-Khan Has Two Things Her Predecessors Lacked…

|
Transportation Alternatives’ press release on the naming of Janette Sadik-Khan as New York City’s new transportation commissioner doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to her predecessors: Transportation Alternatives commends the Mayor on his appointment of Janette Sadik-Khan as the next Commissioner of the NYC DOT. His thoughtful and progressive appointment will usher in an […]