East SideHas Bloomberg Lost his Eco-Transpo Mojo?
Bloomberg Announces PlaNYC
Early in his second term as Mayor, Mike Bloomberg seemed to suddenly “get-it” on sustainable transportation and livable streets issues. Even under former Commissioner Iris Weinshall in 2006, a Renaissance seemed to be taking place. Then came his appointment of Janette Sadik-Khan as Transportation Commissioner in the spring of 2007 whose been nothing less than an inspiration. On Earth Day of that same year, Mayor Bloomberg laid out his bold vision for a sustainable New York City, with congestion pricing as the central piece of the sustainability puzzle for NYC streets.
Even on the campaign trail last year his rival former Comptroller Bill Thompson struggled to differentiate himself against Bloomberg, and was forced into the awkward position of actually advocating against Bus Rapid Transit, bike lanes, and many of the public plazas that the revived DOT has rolled out.
But the latest plans that the DOT have proposed this month for Select Bus Service (NYC’s not quite version of BRT) are much less than inspiring. An incremental step forward yes, but nothing transportation advocates get very excited about. In fact, aside from a few disconnected protected bike lane segments that lack critical connectivity to become a real anchor of the bike network, there’s not much to get passionate about. When the reactionaries start complaining of the changes occurring on the street, it’s not clear who will be that inspired to turn-out at Community Board meetings to explain the benefits aside from city bureaucrats that residents already distrust.
We hope that the DOT is listening to the many criticisms of the plan for it’s lack of boldness. Boldness would be bus lanes that have real protection against encroachment from private passenger automobiles & taxis. Boldness would be a full length protected bike lane that includes critical links in east Midtown, currently one of the most dangerous spots for cyclists. And Boldness needs to come from the Mayor himself (as we suspect that he gave the OK for this watered down version).
For those in Community Board 8, there’s still a public meeting on February 25th at the NY Blood Center Auditorium, 310 East 67th Street (between First & Second Avenues). Please express yourself and we’ll keep you updated on future oppurtunities to give your input on this.
