“Gridlock” Sam Schwartz
Streetsblog Basics
‘Gridlock Sam’: MTA Has a Cheap, Cop-Free Way to Make Platforms Safer
Installing metal barriers, with gaps for subway car doors, could be accomplished at hundreds of stations for the same cost as expensive platform screen doors.
August 27, 2024
Midtown Traffic Slower Than Ever After Hochul’s Congestion Pricing Betrayal
Traffic moved just 6.8 mph in the CBD and 4.6 mph in Midtown last month — the slowest June on record, Gridlock Sam said.
July 8, 2024
Komanoff: William (Vickrey), It Was Really Nothing
Former City Council Member Kathryn Freed once said "traffic is killing us in Lower Manhattan." Now, she sues to stop Nobel-Prize-winning economist William Vickrey's congestion pricing idea.
May 20, 2024
MTA Ditches License Plate-Based Congestion Pricing Disability Exemption
Transit official won't grant congestion pricing disability exemptions any car with a disability license plate after all — opting for a case-by-case registration process instead.
February 26, 2024
Wider BQE Could Be ‘Intrusion’ on Brooklyn Bridge Park, Ex-Transportation Leaders Warn
The city says it is only considering whether to widen the crumbling triple-cantilever section of the BQE between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street into three, 12-foot lanes in each direction, with additional shoulders — a configuration that would require the roadway to be widened from roughly 34 feet to 56.
April 5, 2023
‘Gridlock’ Sam: Give Truckers Credits So Congestion Toll Doesn’t Add to Bronx Pollution
"The only way congestion pricing would send trucks to the Cross Bronx is if the congestion charge exceeded current tolls," said the former city Traffic Commissioner.
September 14, 2022
The MTA May Finally Be Ready To Embrace Variable Price Tolling
The MTA is considering instituting peak and off-peak toll prices for its bridges and tunnels, a move to raise more money, but also shift driving patterns that veteran traffic analysts say is long overdue.
December 10, 2020
Tuesday’s Headlines: No More Toll-Shopping Edition
Truckers, your days of driving through Brooklyn and Manhattan to avoid the toll on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge are over! With a special appearance by Gridlock Sam — plus the rest of the news, too.
November 10, 2020
City Must Act Now to Save Transit, Prevent Carmaggedon and Improve Equity in Mobility: Report
Yet mayor de Blasio thinks he's doing just fine.
July 31, 2020
Opinion: Gridlock Sam’s Ribbon Bridges Are Growing on Me
The proposed bike/ped spans would help active transportation citywide. In fact, we could use more of them!
July 20, 2020
