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YESTERDAY, Two pieces of landmark street safety legislation authored by City Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer passed the New York City Council. These two bills, Intro 1116 and 1257, had passed the Council’s Transportation Committee on Wednesday, November 15th and passed the full Council on Thursday, November 16th. These bills build on the City’s Vision Zero initiative, which aims to eliminate injuries and fatalities on city streets.
Intro 1257, the Safe Routes to School Plan, builds on Vision Zero School Safety Plans by requiring the NYC Department of Transportation to identify the 50 most dangerous intersections at schools and develop comprehensive plans to enhance traffic safety at those intersections. This bill also requires the NYC DOT to report to the council in detail the plans used as well as the status of implementation at these dangerous intersections.
Intro 1116 codifies and strengthens the use of the Vision Zero View Portal, and will ensure that the public has access at all times to valuable traffic data. Intro 1116 also codifies the View Portal, which had previously not been required by law and could have been eliminated at any time.
“Any day that we can make our City’s streets safer for pedestrians, especially children, is a good day,”Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer said. “Following the tragic death in 2013 of Noshat Nahian by PS 152 on Northern Boulevard in Woodside, I swore to fight to make Vision Zero a reality. Today, by passing the Safe Routes to School Action Plan, the City Council has made a commitment to keep our students safe on their way to and from school. I am proud to have sponsored these bills and was delighted to see them passed by my colleagues today.”
