Micah Kellner
Streetsblog Basics
Klein Backs Off Bill to Restore Flashing Lights on Select Bus Service
Flashing lights on Select Bus Service vehicles are designed to help riders distinguish between pay-before-boarding SBS and pay-onboard local service. After years of operation without issue, Staten Island lawmakers exploited a minor state law to have the MTA turn off the lights 16 months ago. Bills in Albany to find a solution are stuck in committee, and now the bill's most powerful sponsor is backing away.
April 11, 2014
Albany Lawmakers Fail to Advance Bills on Careless Driving, Select Bus Lights
Proponents of safer streets and a stronger MTA fared better than usual in Albany this year, securing speed cameras for NYC and scoring a tentative win on the transit lockbox -- which now depends on Governor Cuomo's signature to protect straphangers from budget raids by state lawmakers, including himself. However, legislators failed to pass bills that would have restored speedier bus service to NYC and helped protect New Yorkers from motorists who injure and kill.
July 1, 2013
Assembly Member Kellner Calls on Vance, Kelly to Enforce Street Safety Laws
On Tuesday, 21-year-old Jason King was killed by a truck driver while walking across Madison Avenue in the crosswalk. According to police, the driver overshot his destination, decided to back up, and ran over King in reverse, dragging him 30 feet before coming to a stop. NYPD decided not to charge the driver with anything more serious than a traffic summons.
December 9, 2010
Paterson Signs Two Traffic Justice Bills Into Law
On Friday evening, New York Governor David Paterson signed two bills intended to make streets safer by giving law enforcement greater leeway to bring charges against reckless drivers.
August 16, 2010
Twenty-One NYC Reps Back Brodsky’s Student Fare Falsehood
On Friday we noted that Assembly Member Richard Brodsky's latest anti-transit argument -- that "the actual cost of free and discounted student fares is close to zero" -- doesn't hold water. A letter from Brodsky addressed to MTA CEO Jay Walder calls for reinstating student MetroCards, laying blame for the program's potential elimination at the MTA's feet while neglecting to mention Albany's leading role in reducing funds for student transport.
February 22, 2010
Electeds: Separated Bus Lanes Would Make East Side Plan Even Better
East Side electeds continue to express support for the MTA and NYCDOT's redesign of First and Second Avenues while pushing for a more complete corridor. In exchanges with Streetsblog this week, they called attention, in particular, to the absence of plans for separated bus lanes along the corridor.
January 22, 2010
Kellner to Ravitch: Don’t Bother Proposing East River Bridge Tolls
Add Micah Kellner's name to the MTA doomsday scorecard. Yesterday, the Upper East Side Assembly member came out in favor of increasing license and registration fees for New York drivers as a transit revenue booster.
December 2, 2008
Assembly Member Kellner Comes Around on Pricing
Having portrayed himself as a lukewarm supporter of congestion pricing, Upper East Side Assemblyman Micah Kellner let loose with some surprisingly pointed remarks last week, when, to paraphrase, he told the New York Times he didn't think Governor David Paterson would try to shove the congestion pricing bill down the throats of Assembly members.
March 26, 2008
Pricing Round Up: Persuasive Arguments, Rigged Polls, New Buses
With a congestion pricing bill now on the table and the days to get it passed quickly winding down, here is a snapshot of where a handful of electeds, including heavy-hitters like David Paterson and Sheldon Silver, stand.
March 20, 2008
What Will It Take for Assemblyman Kellner to Vote for Pricing?
Two weeks ago, State Assemblyman Micah Kellner submitted a report to the Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission [pdf] detailing his concerns about the two pricing plans in the TCMC's interim report. Kellner's district encompasses both of the congestion zone's proposed northern boundaries, running from 60th Street to about 90th Street, and from 3rd Avenue to the East River, including Roosevelt Island. He has consistently said that he and his constituents support "the concept of congestion pricing," while objecting to several of the specifics in the actual plans.
January 28, 2008