City Council
Streetsblog Basics
With Albany AWOL, Council Bill Proposes Fines Against Hit-and-Run Drivers
With perpetrators having little to fear from police and prosecutors, a new City Council bill aims to deter drivers from fleeing crash scenes by attaching civil penalties to hit-and-run.
September 3, 2014
Council Members Van Bramer, Levin Come Out on Top in TA Report Card
Which members of the City Council have made transportation a priority this term? A new report card from Transportation Alternatives [PDF] ranks each borough's delegation on whether its members sponsored 15 key transportation bills and resolutions signed by the mayor in the first six months of 2014. It found that, while a majority of council members are working for street safety, a smaller number have carried the banner for livable streets by sponsoring multiple pieces of legislation so far this year.
August 27, 2014
City Council: Drivers With Free On-Street Parking Have Suffered Enough
It may be the Vision Zero era, but some thingsneverchange. If you're looking for cost-free, consequence-free storage of your private automobile in public space, the City Council still has your back.
June 30, 2014
De Blasio Signs Traffic Safety Bills, Says 25 MPH Will Go Into Effect This Fall
Earlier today, Mayor Bill de Blasio returned to the schoolyard where he launched his administration's Vision Zero campaign in January, just feet from where 9-year-old Noshat Nahian was killed last December while walking to PS 152 with his sister. A little more than six months after announcing his intent to eliminate traffic fatalities within 10 years, the mayor signed bills that suspend the licenses of dangerous taxi drivers, require the installation of 20 mph Slow Zones, and make it a misdemeanor to strike a pedestrian or cyclist with the right of way, among other changes.
June 23, 2014
City Council Passes Home Rule Message for 25 MPH. Is Klein Listening?
Update: The Daily News reports that Klein will be introducing legislation by the end of the week to lower speed limits to 25 mph only on streets with two lanes or less. Streets with more than two lanes would remain at 30 mph, and the local community board would be required to make a request for a lower speed limit before the city could make the change. This would effectively tie the city's hands on arterial streets, where DOT can already set the limit at 25 mph under current law.
June 11, 2014
Council Bill Would Fine Drivers for Leaving the Scene of a Crash
Council Members Jimmy Van Bramer and Ydanis Rodriguez have introduced a bill that would impose civil penalties for hit-and-run crashes.
June 4, 2014
For Cooper’s Law to Work, NYPD Must Change Its Approach to Traffic Crashes
One of the most substantive traffic safety bills passed by the City Council Thursday was Intro 171 -- “Cooper’s Law” -- which allows the Taxi and Limousine Commission to suspend or revoke hack licenses of cab drivers who cause critical injury or death as a result of breaking traffic laws. The effectiveness of the law, however, depends on NYPD, which often does not ticket drivers involved in serious crashes.
May 30, 2014
City Council Passes Several Bills to Reduce Reckless Driving
The City Council today passed a slate of bills and resolutions aimed at improving street safety.
May 29, 2014
TLC Won’t Renew Hack License of Cab Driver Who Killed Cooper Stock
The cab driver who killed 9-year-old Cooper Stock won't be prosecuted by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, but he won't have a hack license much longer.
May 23, 2014
No Mention of Cab Safety Tech as TLC Commish Outlines Vision Zero Budget
Mayor de Blasio's Vision Zero Action Plan contains a number of initiatives to improve cab driver safety, including "black box" technology to monitor cabbie behavior. TLC Commissioner Meera Joshi told the City Council in early May that the agency has issued RFIs for a telematics pilot program, but she didn't mention the program during testimony at Thursday's council budget hearing.
May 16, 2014