Tuesday’s Headlines: NYC Speaks (Boy, Does It!) Edition

By Streetsblog
Jan 18, 2022

The mayor's survey is on the NYC Speaks website.

In case you missed it, Mayor Adams (or, more accurately, a group called “NYC Speaks”) is asking New Yorkers to fill out a survey on what they want him to do and how they want him to do it.

Never mind that Hizzoner ran a spirited campaign with many extremely detailed policy papers, he now wants you — through the new civic group NYC Speaks — to boss him around. Crain’s reported on the survey late last week. Responses are due by Jan. 28.

What is NYC Speaks? It’s unclear from the website, but the group describes itself as “an epic effort to bring together tens of thousands of New Yorkers from all walks of life to inform the priorities and policies of the new mayor, his administration, and the future of New York City. We are a network of civic and community partners deeply invested in building a better city for all of us.” None of those involved “partners” are named except one: The Goodnation Foundation, which advises philanthropists on how to give (find out more about the group from its website, its list of board members, or from this 2018 Forbes article).

Fill out the survey here (it will take you about 20 minutes to fill out if you’re taking it seriously). The topics of the survey are broad: Arts and Culture, Civic Engagement, Education and Youth Development, Equity and Racial Justice, Public Safety, Economic Vitality and Workforce Development, Climate and Infrastructure, Gender Justice, Health and Well-Being, and Housing and Neighborhoods (which even has a question about the Good Cause Eviction bill, made famous in a must-watch Times video by comedian and housing activist Jeff Seal).

Only two questions in the entire survey hit Streetsblog’s wheelhouse — “What new or improved public infrastructure investments would you most like to see in your neighborhood?” and “Which of the following would help you move around the city better?” (It pays to fill it out, Streetsblog readers, because one of the choices is “More parking spaces for cars.”)

In other news from the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday:

A yellow school bus driver killed a teenager and kept on going in Brooklyn on Monday (NYDN, NY Post), but was later arrested (NY Post).
The Times did a deep dive on who has returned to riding the subway. How deep a dive? Well, this is the lede, “The sun rises on a weekday in New York City, and at a Queens subway station the daily grind resembles its old self: Thousands of people pile onto an open-air platform above a bustling neighborhood, waiting in the cold to crowd onto rush-hour trains toward work, school and other essential appointments.” The time-lapse videos are great, though.
Mayor Adams doubled down on his earlier comments about reducing the city’s vehicle fleet by suggesting that his MTA board picks had better use the subway instead of cars. (amNY)
People are losing their shit over a YouTube video — made by the government of Québec, no less! — designed to shame pedestrians into crossing safely by depicting them being run over by car drivers. It’s the classic “blame-the-victim” approach, as if directed by Wes Craven. (Trigger warning.)
Speaking of horrifying videos, check out this speeding Tesla driver who gets spooked by another driver — and loses control and nearly kills a man.