{"id":189514,"date":"2026-04-08T12:53:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/189514\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T12:53:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:53:16","slug":"upper-west-siders-beg-dot-for-a-low-traffic-neighborhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/189514\/","title":{"rendered":"Upper West Siders Beg DOT For A ‘Low-Traffic Neighborhood’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another community wants the Mamdani administration to keep killer drivers \u2014 and their pollution, noise and quality-of-life crimes \u2014 off quiet residential streets.<\/p>\n

Manhattan Community Board 7 on the Upper West Side narrowly passed a resolution on Monday night asking the Department of Transportation to pilot a small \u201clow-traffic neighborhood\u201d configuration<\/a> \u2014\u00a0a traffic-calming strategy gaining steam<\/a> in neighborhoods where residents are fed up with outside drivers using their streets as cut-through highways.<\/p>\n

The resolution, which had unanimously passed the transportation committee in March, passed the full board in a 19-14 vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cLow traffic neighborhoods represent a paradigm shift in how we think about our streets and what we prioritize,\u201d Carl Mahaney, the director of StreetopiaUWS, told Streetsblog.<\/p>\n

\t\t\tRecommended<\/p>\n

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The resolution, presented by Mahaney to his neighbors, specifically asks DOT to create an LTN, as they are often known, in a way that prioritizes areas around libraries, medical centers, schools and senior centers.<\/p>\n

An LTN improves the quality of life and safety for everyone on the street and prevents drivers from using local roads as shortcuts to different areas, such as Central Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew a guy who prided himself on being able to get off the West Side Highway and make all the lights going to Central Park on West 88th Street by going fast,\u201d said Ken Coughlin, a co-chair of the board\u2019s transportation committee. \u201cThis [resolution] doesn\u2019t block any access to any particular block; you could still get there, but maybe you couldn\u2019t floor it from Riverside Park to Central Park.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only about 27 percent of households in the district own a car, according to DOT<\/a>, and a whopping 74 percent of drivers in the district are just driving through the neighborhood and aren\u2019t residents or stopping to see loved ones or shop at a local business, according city data included in Mahaney\u2019s presentation.<\/p>\n

LTNs have rapidly expanded in London and have led to reductions in traffic and crashes, according to researchers. Most important: more people walk and socialize on the street, which not only boosts the economy but also reduces crime.<\/p>\n

The configuration helps everyone in the zone. Air quality improves with fewer emissions and LTNs boost active travel, leading to increased life expectancy and fewer sick days. Even car drivers benefit.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if somebody in that neighborhood needs to drive out of it and they can\u2019t drive in a certain direction, maybe they have to take a slightly more circuitous route, they\u2019re still likely saving time in the long run, because there\u2019s less traffic overall,\u201d Mahaney said.<\/p>\n

LTNs can also lead to more parking for residents as outsiders are directed to different streets. And in London, emergency response times either slightly improved or stayed the same.<\/p>\n

Local businesses also benefit when more people are moving at a human pace rather than flying by on four wheels. An LTN could help restore the Upper West Side to how it was before cars, with folks strolling around, chatting with neighbors and checking out shops, rather than driving through without interacting with the outside world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is really just to create safer streets in a designated area without any really negative effects,\u201d Mahaney said.<\/p>\n

The Manhattan CB7 vote is not a one-off; it comes after four other community boards across the city passed similar resolutions: Brooklyn Community Boards 6 and 7, Queens Community Board 6 and Manhattan Community Board 9, which is just north of Manhattan CB7.<\/p>\n

The resolution is now in DOT\u2019s hands. The agency told Streetsblog it would review the resolution.<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s debate was not without its contentiousness. In advance of the board meeting, the pro-car group, E-Vehicle Safety Alliance, sent out a conspiracy-filled email beseeching members to protest the \u201caggressive\u201d plan to calm residential roads by reducing cut-through traffic.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember, 27 percent of car owners means over 400,000 cars needed for family, and work,\u201d the email stated. \u201cEach car can hold three-to-five people. This is over a million residents who are in need of parking. \u2026 Six-hundred-thousand cars enter Manhattan every day, many owned by our essential workers who cannot afford to live here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several members of the public and board members criticized the plan at the meeting, claiming it would needlessly impede commercial traffic and that it doesn\u2019t make sense in such a dense neighborhood with both commercial and residential areas. Data show that freight comprises only a small percentage of the neighborhood\u2019s traffic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI strongly oppose this project \u2026 which would make it more difficult for people who reside here,\u201d said Richard Asche, the board\u2019s vice-chair. \u201cIt would be an inconvenience, it would be an expense, and it serves no useful purpose whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mahaney couldn\u2019t disagree more, saying that LTNs provide \u201creally only upside.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn exchange for a potential slight inconvenience [to drivers], you get just a lot safer streets and just a reimagining of streets, what streets can be,\u201d he said. \u201cNot places to sort of like drive through \u2026 but places for people to live their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Another community wants the Mamdani administration to keep killer drivers \u2014 and their pollution, noise and quality-of-life crimes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":{"0":"post-189514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-the-bronx","8":"tag-bronx","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-nyc","12":"tag-the-bronx","13":"tag-the-bronx-headlines","14":"tag-the-bronx-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}