Through dreary rain, late Monday afternoon, I dodged jammed Madison Avenue traffic to the Municipal Art Society [1] office in exquisite remains of the Villard Mansion. There NYC’s Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan explained her strategic plan for “Sustainable Streets.†The wine flowed, the sushi, ginger & wasabi were fresh (even without soy sauce), the tabuli tangy, the tapinade, salty.
People packed shoulder to shoulder, making dancing to the swing trio impractical. Deputy Mayor Edward Skyler was there, as was NYPC Commissioner Ray Kelly (Kelly was so freshly dressed, so creased, so unwrinkled, so calm, he glowed. I’ll bet he didn’t cycle over.) The overwhelmingly white, suited crowd had a few cycling advocates mixed in: Transportation Alternatives’ Paul Steely White in his signature vest, Straphanger Gene Russianoff in cacki chinos, Karen Overton, formerly of Recycle-A Bicycle. But, for me the big news was who was missing: I saw no elected officials at all.
As for the plan, we all got copies; beautifully printed, four-color bleeds – as well as thumb drives so we can read the plan on-screen but off-line. I got some extra thumb drives if anyone wants one. They were next to the cheese-bread sticks; I took three of each. You can also review the plan online for yourself [2] (pdfs, sorry). I’ve read through it. It talks the talk about re-allocating streets for walkers and cyclists. It It sets understandable, measurable goals for the immediate future but becomes, understandably perhaps, vaguer in the out-years. The absence of electeds, coupled with DOT's need for funding and legislative support suggests the possibility that this is just one more pretty face in the long line of beautifully printed plans that may be acted upon. For more, see Streetsblog’s first look here [3] and Paul Steely White on Brian Lehrer here [4]. Will this plan actually happen?
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