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
Tonight: Tell Manhattan CBs That Harlem Needs a Safer Morningside Avenue
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Community Boards 9 and 10 in Harlem will again hear from DOT tonight on a plan to calm traffic on Morningside Avenue [PDF]. The proposal was developed in response to a request from the North Star Neighborhood Association, and though there is general agreement that speeding drivers are a major problem on Morningside, the community boards […]
“Vision Zero,” or Zero Vision? De Blasio Says “Jury’s Out” on Midtown Plazas
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Bill de Blasio, who adopted an aggressive street safety platform during the Democratic mayoral primary, reverted back to a livable streets skeptic at last night’s mayoral debate. The mayoral frontrunner claimed “the jury’s out” on the city’s popular Midtown pedestrian plazas, which among other benefits have led to dramatic reductions in pedestrian injuries. Republican candidate Joe […]
CB 10 Votes Against Centerpiece of Bay Ridge’s Fourth Avenue Safety Plan
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Last night, Brooklyn Community Board 10 voted on a slate of pedestrian safety improvements for Fourth Avenue in Bay Ridge. While a number of smaller changes, such as wider crosswalks and curb extensions, received the board’s support, the board rejected the centerpiece of the plan — trimming traffic lanes to slow speeding drivers [PDF]. The current high-speed […]
Ignoring Dozens of CB Votes, Lhota Says Bike Lanes Drop From the Sky
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When it comes to bicycling, Joe Lhota has a penchant for ignoring facts in favor of opinions. As Hurricane Sandy approached landfall, the then-MTA chief tweeted a photo of a man riding in a shared lane on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, implying that bike lanes are to blame for bike-bus crashes. This May, he […]
At Molinaro’s Request, Streets Around S.I. Boro Hall Now More Ped-Friendly
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Behind Staten Island Borough Hall in St. George is Hyatt Street. It spans all of two blocks, but there are few markings on the wide two-way street, making it a tricky spot for pedestrians crossing between offices, shops, a library, and the St. George Theater just uphill from the Staten Island Ferry landing. After a request […]
CB 7 Committee Asks DOT, 7-0, for Amsterdam Avenue Complete Street Study
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After a three-and-a-half-hour meeting that itself followed a nearly three-hour deliberation last month, the Manhattan Community Board 7 transportation committee voted 7-0, with three abstentions, for a resolution asking DOT to study safety improvements for Amsterdam Avenue. The resolution asks DOT to consider a protected bike lane, pedestrian islands, removing one of the avenue’s four […]
Eyes on the Street: A Better Queensboro Bridge Approach in Manhattan
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Many commuters on the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge this morning noticed new markings going in on First Avenue for a short but critical extension of the protected bike lane between 59th and 61st Streets. The changes, part of a plan supported by Community Boards 6 and 8 last spring, bring safer connections to both First […]
Howard Wolfson Looks Back on the Rise and Fall of the NYC Bikelash
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Last Thursday, the New School hosted a panel discussion on the media and politics maelstrom that came to surround bicycling in New York — and how, against some tough odds, supporters of safer streets came to beat the “bikelash.” The panel, moderated by Shin-pei Tsay for her class of urban theory masters students, featured Deputy Mayor Howard […]
Council Member Danny Dromm Talks Jackson Heights Plazas With NY1
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As part of his excellent series visiting all 51 city council districts, NY1’s Errol Louis joined Council Member Danny Dromm for a walk around Jackson Heights earlier this month. Louis began the segment by telling viewers about the neighborhood from the back seat of a car rolling down Roosevelt Avenue, but Dromm, an honoree at […]
The Abbreviated Plan for 125th Street Select Bus Service Is Back
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State Senator Bill Perkins let it slip during a hearing yesterday, and today the MTA and DOT made it official [PDF]: Select Bus Service is back on track for M60 buses running along 125th Street, scheduled to launch in April 2014. After community boards and local elected officials raised concerns about the months-long planning process, […]
The Lhota Platform: No Walking, No Biking, No Details on Street Safety
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It looks like Joe Lhota didn’t listen to Nicole Gelinas or Transportation Alternatives. Yesterday, Lhota released what his campaign billed as a “comprehensive policy book” [PDF], but New Yorkers interested in safer streets or better bicycling and walking are still awaiting much of any policy from the Republican candidate. After platitudes about how “an effective transportation system is a […]
TA: NYPD Enforcement Priorities Don’t Match Its Own Street Safety Data
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Yesterday, Transportation Alternatives released a report [PDF] highlighting the mismatch between what causes fatal and serious crashes, according to NYPD crash reports, and what police choose to prioritize when it comes to traffic enforcement. The report lists some statistics to illustrate the public safety crisis on the city’s streets: One New Yorker suffers a traffic-related injury […]