A weekly roundup of good deeds, missteps, heroic feats and epic failures in the tri-state region and beyond.
WINNERS
Upper West Side pedestrians – NYPD data revealed a decline in vehicle crashes near the West 95th and 97th Streets and West End Avenue intersections since pedestrian islands were installed this past November. The redesign was prompted after several pedestrian deaths last year.
U.S. Representatives Bill Shuster (PA) and Rosa DeLauro (CT) and Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra – During a discussion organized by Shuster to tackle the region’s infrastructure woes, DeLauro and Segarra called for stable federal funding to support transportation projects.
Minneapolis, MN – The Minneapolis City Council halved the number of required parking spaces for new residential buildings near transit and outside of downtown Minneapolis, which will allow for more affordable housing and reduce traffic.
New Haven Board of Zoning Appeals – The BZA unanimously approved Yale’s proposal to transform a parking lot into a mixed-use building and provided a special parking exemption.
Cy Vance – The Manhattan District Attorney successfully indicted a hit-and-run driver who fled the scene of the crash back in April. This indictment should send a message to curb-jumping drivers (and other NYC district attorneys).
LOSERS
NJ Transit commuters – The last few days have been particularly bad for New Jersey Transit, especially since the agency approved a fare increase just one week ago.
Mercer and Monmouth County commuters – New Jersey commuters spend 30.9 minutes getting to work (25 percent longer than the nationwide average), but over 15 percent of commuters in parts of Mercer and Monmouth counties–who have limited accessible (or reliable) transit–travel over three hours a each day.
Manhattan subway riders – Temperatures at several Manhattan underground stations reached over 100 degrees this week, but riders at Times Square and Union Square platforms had it the worst with 110 degree temperatures. Union Square was also the second loudest subway station, behind South Ferry, where straphangers are exposed to screeching so loud they risk permanent hearing damage.
