Stephen Miller
In spring 2017, Stephen wrote for Streetsblog USA, covering the livable streets movement and transportation policy developments around the nation.
From August 2012 to October 2015, he was a reporter for Streetsblog NYC, covering livable streets and transportation issues in the city and the region. After joining Streetsblog, he covered the tail end of the Bloomberg administration and the launch of Citi Bike. Since then, he covered mayoral elections, the de Blasio administration's ongoing Vision Zero campaign, and New York City's ever-evolving street safety and livable streets movements.
Recent Posts
City Hall Could Start Cutting Traffic Today By Reviving PARK Smart
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Andrew Cuomo hasn’t come around on the Move NY plan, and Uber beat back City Hall’s proposed cap on new black car licenses for the time being. But the de Blasio administration still has options at its disposal to cut traffic. Chief among them is parking policy — especially curbside parking reform. Remember PARK Smart? […]
Andrew Cuomo Is Building a Legacy Fit for 1950
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The Times noted last week that Governor Andrew Cuomo’s infrastructure legacy will be defined by two mega-projects: the replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge and the rebuilding of LaGuardia Airport. Cuomo clearly relishes building big things, but bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better when it comes to infrastructure. These projects will shape the region for decades. New Yorkers should be prepared for some […]
Eyes on the Street: The Case of the Missing Bike Lanes, Part II
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Why does 9th St. still (as of last week) look like a runway for jumbo jets after resurfacing? @NYC_DOT @bradlander pic.twitter.com/9JmRNfwpHJ — Joanna Oltman Smith (@jooltman) July 28, 2015 Turns out many of the city’s marquee Vision Zero projects aren’t the only streets missing bike lanes. DOT has also allowed its existing bike lanes to fade away. […]
James and Lancman Push for Driver Alert Tech on City Vehicles
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We need every tool avail to achieve #VisionZero. Calling on NYC to pilot collision avoidance tech in City vehicles. pic.twitter.com/KpLTYO5ekq — Letitia James (@TishJames) July 29, 2015 A new City Council bill would require crash avoidance technology on at least 100 city-owned vehicles that alerts drivers before a collision occurs, and potentially applies brakes to prevent […]
Prendergast’s Objections to Toll Reform Don’t Make Any Sense
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On WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show this morning, MTA Chairman and CEO Tom Prendergast joined his boss Andrew Cuomo in dumping cold water on the Move NY toll reform plan as a way to fund the transit authority’s capital program. Trouble is, his critiques don’t make much sense. Lehrer played a clip of Cuomo arguing against toll reform on […]
State’s Top Court: Low-Cost Parking Is Not a Tax-Free Charity
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The owner of five Queens cut-rate parking facilities will have to pay property taxes, the state’s top court has ruled. The New York State Court of Appeals upheld the city’s decision to take back a tax exemption it had previously granted the politically-connected non-profit that operates 2,000 parking spaces in downtown Jamaica. Over the course of a decade starting in 1996, Jamaica […]
Here Are Six Times the MTA Was a State Entity Under Cuomo’s Control
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Yesterday on WCNY’s “Capitol Pressroom,” Susan Arbetter hosted Governor Andrew Cuomo for a discussion of the MTA capital program. Lately, the governor has been pushing City Hall to fund a greater share of the authority’s investment plan. Arbetter, pressing the governor, asked a simple question: “Isn’t the MTA a state entity?” “It’s not, actually,” Cuomo replied. “It [covers] a metropolitan downstate […]
Developers Adding More Parking Than They’re Supposed To, Thanks to DCP
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For years, the City Planning Commission approved special permits that let developers in Hell’s Kitchen and Chelsea get around limits on parking construction in the Manhattan core. Recently, the city implemented a new formula that reformers hoped would curtail these permits. But Community Board 4, Council Member Corey Johnson, and Borough President Gale Brewer say the city’s math […]
Mark Your Calendars: Summer Streets Returns in August
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Another summer, another edition of Summer Streets. For the eighth year, New York’s spin on Ciclovia is coming to nearly seven miles of streets on Manhattan’s east side. For three Saturdays in August — the 1st, 8th and 15th — Park Avenue, Lafayette Street, and a portion of 72nd Street between Central Park and the Brooklyn […]
Construction Begins on First Phase of Transforming Queens Blvd
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The redesign of Queens Boulevard, long one of New York’s most notorious death traps, is underway. “Queens Boulevard is tragically legendary. We all became used to the phrase ‘the Boulevard of Death,’” Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference this morning marking the start of construction. “That is a phrase we want to banish from the […]
Anthony Shorris: City Hall Open to Funding Transit Via Toll Reform
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After an Albany legislative session that came and went without any serious effort from Governor Cuomo to address the $14 billion shortfall in the MTA’s next five-year capital program, there are faint stirrings of action. Most intriguing: Yesterday, First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris sent a letter to MTA Chairman and CEO Tom Prendergast outlining the city’s […]
Uber’s Own Numbers Show It’s Making Traffic Worse
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Uber blasted out an Excel spreadsheet to reporters this morning, accompanied by a story and editorial in the Daily News, with data providing a snapshot of how many Uber vehicles are on Manhattan streets south of 59th Street, New York’s central business district. While Uber claims the data shows its vehicles aren’t responsible for congestion in the city core, […]