{"id":391742,"date":"2026-11-03T05:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T05:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/391742\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T05:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T05:34:09","slug":"tuesdays-headlines-empire-state-wilting-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/391742\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuesday’s Headlines: Empire State Wilting Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Fair comparison? Who knows! But it shouldn\u2019t take so long to build a bike lane. Graphic: Transportation Alternatives<\/p>\n

Just in time for today\u2019s election, Transportation Alternatives has put out a new report revealing that Department of Transportation projects take too long to go from public presentation to completion.<\/p>\n

The group reviewed all bike lane projects announced between 2022 and 2025, and found that an average of 527 days passed between that presentation and completion, which is a lot of time when you consider that it famously took 410 days to build all 102 floors of the Empire State Building nearly a century ago.<\/p>\n

Setting aside whether the bike lane vs. Empire State Building comparison is apt (it\u2019s not) \u2014 527 days is a very long time between telling a community board the plan and finishing said project. Yes, there\u2019s usually an intermediate step \u2014 defending the plan against the inevitable (and inevitably fruitless) lawsuit \u2014 but it still takes too long to make roadways safe.<\/p>\n

During those long interregnums, people have been injured and killed, as the group points out:<\/p>\n

On Tremont Avenue in the Bronx, safety improvements proposed in June 2024<\/a> were not completed until September 2026<\/a>. In that time, 17 New Yorkers were seriously injured on the street.<\/p>\n

On Third Avenue in Brooklyn, safety improvements proposed in 2023<\/a> have yet to be installed. Since 2022, three pedestrians have been killed, and 14 people have been seriously injured.<\/p>\n

In Sunset Park, safety improvements proposed in 2020<\/a> have still not been installed. In 2025, two elderly<\/a> women<\/a> were killed while walking in separate incidents on Seventh Avenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cRed tape is killing New Yorkers,\u201d said Ben Furnas, the group\u2019s executive director. (For another reminder of why timely safety projects are important, check out Erik Engquist\u2019s tweet below):<\/p>\n

Delays were also an issue in a report<\/a> issued last week by Comptroller Mark Levine, whose office that more than half of restaurants that received outdoor dining licenses since the program began in March 2024 waited more than 19 months for approval \u2014 far longer than the Department of Transportation\u2019s eight-month timeline.<\/p>\n

The good news? DOT started doing a much better job in 2026, after the swearing in of a new mayor. Before that, DOT submitted roughly 29 permits per month to the Comptroller\u2019s office, but starting in February 2026, that number rose to an average of 228 permits per month, rising to 475 permits in July 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile this increase represents meaningful progress, it does not erase the lengthy delays experienced by applicants or establish whether the program can consistently deliver timely approvals going forward,\u201d Levine\u2019s office wrote. \u201cAs of mid-June, when data was collected as part of this investigation, only one roadway application filed in 2026 had resulted in a license within six months. DOT was still working through large numbers of older applications, and 2,115 applications remained pending.\u201d<\/p>\n

The takeaway from both these reports: We need city government to be more nimble so that it can better serve the public. Fortunately, there are two referenda about that on today\u2019s Election Day ballot (we\u2019ve covered them<\/a>, and Gothamist<\/a> and The City Reporter<\/a> did yesterday, too): Proposal 1 will make it easier to open outdoor dining setups. And Proposal 3 will cut down the time it takes for the city to redesign roadways for safety.<\/p>\n

As a non-profit, we\u2019re not allowed to endorse candidates, but we can endorse ideas \u2014\u00a0and both of these proposals have our support (as well as the support from the more-eloquent Open Plans<\/a>). In any event, please vote and remember to turn over your ballot for the referenda. (And find your polling place here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

In other news:<\/p>\n

Game on? When will the MTA restore the basketball court near our office? (Gothamist<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Non-starter: The Citizens Budget Commission is already putting it out there that the MTA should cut some jobs to save money. (Gothamist<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Welcome to the war on s-cop-laws<\/a>, Hunters Point Ledger<\/a>!<\/p>\n

One last bit of Halloween treat: The DOT\u2019s costume contest! (Instagram<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Who choses the MTA\u2019s poems? (Lit Hub<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Mayor to ICE: Stop using our parking lots. (NY Times<\/a>, NYDN<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Subway ridership soared during the Marathon on Sunday. (NYDN<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The plutocratic populists at the New York Post<\/a> are at it again: an editorial board that believes that congestion pricing is a \u201ctax\u201d on the middle class now want you to believe that they care about bus riders. Fact: The Post\u2019s editors don\u2019t care about bus riders; they just want to undermine public faith in transit so that less public money is allocated to transit, starving it further and serving their larger anti-urban agenda of encouraging more car ownership and use.<\/p>\n

Case in point: The Post thinks<\/a> the PATH train is too expensive. Now do cars, Rupert!<\/p>\n

And, finally, in case you missed it, here\u2019s Streetsblog\u2019s Sammy Sussman and Henry Beebe-Center getting to the bottom of the car-filled bridle path in Central Park:<\/p>\n