Yesterday, Mayor Bill de Blasio changed the culture of New York City governance. New Yorkers have been calling for measures to protect pedestrians since the death of Henry Bliss in 1899 (if not earlier). But this has always seemed a futile battle. Pedestrian deaths became a regrettable but broadly accepted price of progress.
Over the past decade, thanks to the tireless work of Transportation Alternatives, Streetsblog, StreetsPAC, Right of Way, and countless other citywide and community groups, this conversation has started to change. Mayor Bloomberg’s Department of Transportation set about transforming the city’s streets with safety and livability in mind. But never until today has street safety been made a central concern of government. The policy commitments and interagency coordination promised by the mayor and his commissioners are unprecedented. We think many cities around the U.S. will watch what happens here, and begin to follow New York’s lead.
By following through on this promise to make Vision Zero a priority, Mayor de Blasio has already accomplished something signficant. And his recognition of how this crisis reaches deep into communities that are isolated by language and cultural barriers is extremely important. We admire the Mayor’s efforts yesterday to embrace families and communities who mustered the courage to speak out on this issue despite these barriers.
As a result of this bold action and its rapid roll out, children and other New Yorkers will start to be safer today on city streets. Sadly, Queens has already seen the death of a young mother and several severe injuries this year, and we know that more tragedies lie ahead, but thanks to Mayor de Blasio we are on the road, for the first time in our city’s history, to a systematic implementation of safe and livable streets for all.
See also:
- Jarrett Murphy, “De Blasio’s Vision: Zero Traffic Deaths,” The Nation (January 16, 2014)
- Stephen Miller, “De Blasio Rolls Out a Multi-Agency Approach to Reducing Traffic Violence,” Streetsblog (January 15, 2014)
- Clarence Eckerson, Jr., NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio Makes Historic “Vision Zero” Announcement, Streetfilms (January 15, 2014)