City Council District 40 Candidates on Streets and Transportation Issues

Tomorrow’s Democratic primaries will be the decisive vote in most City Council districts, determining who will represent New York City neighborhoods for the next four years. In some races, the outcome is likely to come down to a few hundred votes or fewer.

Two weeks ago, Streetsblog sent four open-ended questions to the candidates in eight contested City Council races. We’re publishing the responses we received, as well as supplementary material from StreetsPAC questionnaires, in a series of posts this afternoon.

In the 40th District, covering parts of Flatbush, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, and Ditmas Park, incumbent Mathieu Eugene faces challengers Jennifer Berkley, Brian Cunningham, and Pia Raymond. The candidates did not respond to Streetsblog’s queries, but Cunningham and Raymond did reply to the StreetsPAC questionnaire, portions of which are excerpted here:

Do you pledge to oppose any efforts to increase speed limits on New York City streets, such as the bills in the State Assembly and Senate that propose raising the 25 mph speed limit on Brooklyn’s Ocean Parkway?

Brian Cunningham: Yes.

Pia Raymond: Ocean Parkway is a main thoroughfare with traffic lights and many residences and schools along the corridor. The center of Ocean Parkway is an extensive walkway and open space with seating that encourages community. The speed limit must be kept low to ensure that drivers are conscious of the many pedestrians and schools along the parkway.

Do you pledge to oppose efforts to limit New York City’s Right-of-Way Law, including opposing exemptions for bus drivers or other professional vehicle operators, such as New York City Council Intro 663?

Cunningham: I believe we need to reform the law so that bus drivers who commit an accident while on the job are treated differently than regular drivers.

Raymond: Yes.

Do you support the expanded use of automated traffic enforcement, such as speed and red-light cameras, including efforts to deploy speed cameras around all 2,000+ New York City schools?

Cunningham: Yes.

Raymond: Yes.

Do you support the removal or repurposing of on-street parking spaces if such removal can improve safety for pedestrians (such as with the implementation of curb extensions) and/or cyclists (as with protected bike lanes)?

Cunningham: Yes.

Raymond: Yes.

Do you support the Move NY fair tolling plan?

Cunningham: Yes.

Raymond: No response.

Do you support substantially reducing or even eliminating minimum parking requirements from the zoning code outside of Manhattan?

Cunningham: No.

Raymond: Yes.

Do you believe that Community Boards should have veto power over projects proposed by the NYC Department of Transportation?

Cunningham: Yes.

Raymond: Yes.

Do you support term limits for Community Board members?

Cunningham: Yes.

Raymond: Yes.

Do you support permanently closing New York City’s parks to cars?

Cunningham: Yes.

Raymond: Yes.