DIG DEEP: Yes, It’s That Time of the Year When We Ask for a Little, Um, Help

Well, this is awkward…

Streetsblog would not be what it is without you, our readers. All year long, you send us your story tips, your rants, your insightful critiques of governmental policy, your photos of cops in bike lanes, your op-eds, and your support.

On that topic, on Tuesday, we’ll be humbly kicking off our annual December Donation Drive (motto: “Raisin’ Funds for 2021!”). But for now, indulge us as we look back on all the positive work we did in 2020, thanks to your gracious donations.

Here’s a handy reminder of our recent achievements in furthering public discourse around (and, indeed, broadening the definition of) street safety and livable communities:

• We consistently pushed the mayor on major street initiatives in order to respond to the pandemic and more generally circumscribe the domain of cars, including open streets, open restaurants and even open storefronts. We pushed Mayor de Blasio so hard that, at one point, he was forced to thank us!
• We sounded the alarm early on the coming carpocalypse and demanded that the mayor create and then heed his own Surface Transportation Advisory Council.
• We championed buses and busways, including on 14th Street, Fifth Avenue and Flushing Main Street, by reporting their successes, vivisecting their opponents, and prodding the DOT to make good on its promises to working New Yorkers.
• We trained our outsized spotlight on the conduct of the NYPD, whether that be its abuse of Black Lives Matter protesters, its rampant placard abuse, its racially biased ticket-writing, and the persistent driving violations of its officers (a follow-up from last year’s series). Streetsblog is the premier outlet arguing for the transfer of traffic enforcement from the NYPD to the DOT.
• We constantly highlight the lack of safety infrastructure for cyclists and the determination of motorists to ignore the bike lanes that exist — especially as the pandemic has stimulated a biking boom. We continually advocated for the DOT to provide safe routes for cyclists and pedestrians over the city’s many bridges and in and among its greenways. Our coverage of conditions on the Brooklyn and Queensboro bridges arguably has done more to advance activists’ campaigns than any other publication. Indeed, when the DOT said it didn’t have the money to create space for cyclists on the Queensboro Bridge … WE LINED UP THE FINANCING FOR THE AGENCY!
• We exposed the faulty logic of boondoggle projects such as the LaGuardia AirTrain, which adds nothing to transit while burdening taxpayers and the environment.
• We held reckless drivers accountable, by advocating for legislation and redress and chronicling the daily damage that car carnage exacts on our city, and providing comfort to its victims, their families, and the community. We also called out the NYPD for its poor investigations.
• We fought for justice for low-income, often immigrant workers, including e-bike delivery workers and street vendors.
• And we continued to bring in new voices to broaden our coverage. This year, we published op-eds from Shabazz Stuart and Tracey Capers and young female voices such as Nicole Murray and Morgan Sykes, and those of a rising generation of pro-street-safety elected officials across the city, including Pharah Souffrant Forrest, Zellnor Myrie, Zohran Mamdani, Wilfredo Florentino, Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, and Jabari Brisport. We also published op-eds from the Street Vendor Project. (And to show our commitment to airing a diverse collection of opinions, we even published an op-ed by Council Member Joe Borelli.)

It was a busy year, but we managed to keep our focus even as the city (and, frankly, its leadership) was sort of falling apart around us. And we provided coverage of issues that, while always crucial to the life of our city, were front and center during the pandemic.

So whaddya say? With your help, we’ll do even better next year. So during December, all our stories will have the “Click here to donate” logo, just to make it easy for you to, you know, support us — as well as our colleagues at Streetfilms. Thanks in advance!

To donate to Streetsblog, click here.