It’s a cycle of madness.
Gov. Hochul claims congestion pricing reduces visitors in Manhattan — however relatively than benefit from the purported advantages, car-hating metropolis bureaucrats are quietly taking steps to make visitors worse, The Submit has discovered.
The Division of Transportation’s newest scheme — which requires no authorities approvals and will occur as quickly because the spring — requires widening Sixth Avenue’s bike lane from 6 toes to 10 toes between West 14th Avenue in Chelsea to West 35th Avenue in Herald Sq..
To try this, the company will fully eradicate one of many 4 automobile lanes – welcoming again gridlock to the bustling thoroughfare even because the controversial tolls are imagined to eradicate visitors, critics stated.
“That is New York Metropolis, not the Tour de France,” raged NYC Council Minority Chief Joann Ariola (R-Queens).
“The anti-car madness has gotten so excessive. The Division of Tyrants isn’t just attempting to make it not possible for anybody to drive on this metropolis, it’s prepared to jeopardize the protection of New Yorkers by creating circumstances that can critically impede emergency responders. The place is Elon Musk and DOGE once you want them?”
Eliminating a automobile lane will simply make the avenue much less secure as a result of automobiles “can have a more durable time navigating,” predicted Manhattan activist Maria Danzilo.
“That is actually serving the delivery-app foyer and supply employees who use [electric bikes] as a result of common bikes aren’t served by this variation,” she stated.
The DOT unveiled the controversial plan Monday earlier than Neighborhood Board 5’s transportation committee.
DOT’s venture supervisor Preston Johnson tried to drum up help by citing statistics exhibiting bike quantity elevated alongside the focused strip by 20.6% from 2019 via 2024 and 35.2% on weekends.
Bike accidents involving automobiles and bikes alongside the strip over the identical interval resulted in 345 accidents, together with 4 deaths, he additionally instructed the board, whose committee OKed the proposal 10-2, however fearful about extra gridlock and questioned why the general public didn’t get an earlier warning.
Critics who discovered of the plan from The Submit known as it an insult to on a regular basis New Yorkers.
DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriquez’s “hypocrisy is off the chart,” stated Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens)
“What he’s actually doing is giving an enormous center finger to hardworking New Yorkers, proving precisely why we’d like President Trump to not solely kill the congestion rip-off tax for good, but in addition crack down on the DOT’s insane avenue designs that manufactured the gridlock within the first place.”
Critics say the venture particularly thumbs its nostril at President Trump, who instructed The Submit final month he plans to “kill” congestion pricing in Manhattan via the federal Division of Transportation and likewise vowed to rid Massive Apple streets of traffic-clogging bike lanes.
“It feels like revenge over Trump weighing in on congestion pricing and promising to axe bike lanes, and likewise additional proof that the DOT has been fully co-opted by radical bike nuts that don’t care in regards to the biz world,” ripped Jason Curtis Anderson, a co-founder and coverage director on the nonprofit One Metropolis Rising.
Eric McClure, government director of StreetsPAC, stated the street-safety group “strongly helps” the redesign.
“We’ve all seen the info on the discount in visitors volumes since congestion pricing was carried out, and the attention take a look at reveals that three journey lanes are a lot for free-flowing motorcar visitors,” stated McClure, who lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
The venture can be warmly endorsed by Transportation Options, the highly effective anti-car group that critics say has incestuous relationship with DOT, not directly lobbies for Uber and Lyft and wields numerous energy with lefty officers.
DOT spokesman Scott Gastel insisted the venture was conceived off group enter, and the info used to justify it was pulled from the strip’s visitors quantity earlier than the primary congestion tolls have been collected in January and extra automobiles have been on the street.
He claimed the “venture is designed to particularly tackle congestion” and stated he company doesn’t anticipate “any important modifications” to journey speeds.
Pedestrians and motorists on Sixth Avenue panned the plan.
“It’s a horrible concept,” stated Madigata Gassama, a 27-year-old Uber driver. “[City officials] don’t care about anyone.”
“It’s simply bulls–t! This metropolis is run by corruption,” barked Ana Mani, 35, a Chelsea resident who drives day by day.
“I hate it. I can’t even park my automobile in entrance of my home, and now they’re eradicating all these items. It’s harmful for cyclists, too.”
Extra reporting by Gabrielle Fahmy and Matthew Sedacca.
