One Hypocrite From Rochester Has Tremendous Pull Over NYC

Our state legislature is one screwed up piece of work. While a few things good things are enacted (like the solar energy bill mentioned earlier this morning) many more items are bottled up and the process stinks to high hell. Take David Gantt for example, a Democrat from Rochester. Mr. Gantt recently approved of red light cameras in his town, allowing the city to collect fines without the time wasted by a cop to pull the traffic violator over. Yet when New York City wants to reduce congestion and get cars out of bus lanes by using cameras on the buses as a method of enforcement, he isn't having it. Even though most members in his committee wanted the legislation, to him that is just too bad. What do you think our legislature is, a democracy or something?

From The NY Times:

ALBANY — Once again, Michael R. Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City, has been frustrated by the mysterious ways of the capital.

The latest indignity came on Tuesday, when Assembly Democrats refused to advance a city proposal to prevent cars from using special lanes that will be reserved for a new class of city buses. If that was not frustrating enough, six Democratic co-sponsors of the bill were among those who voted not to move it out of the Assembly’s Transportation Committee because the panel’s chairman, Assemblyman David F. Gantt, also a Democrat, opposed the measure.[...]

The rejection of the city’s bus bill was also disappointing for environmental advocates. This month, the city will introduce new rapid transit buses, which will operate on 50 miles of lanes throughout the city by 2011. The city had hoped to use cameras mounted on the buses to catch cars that encroach in the special lanes.

“It has the potential to revolutionize the way people move around town,” said Gene Russianoff, an advocate for mass transit and a lawyer for the New York Public Interest Research Group. He added that it would be “impossible to enforce lanes now with the police — you’d need a battalion.”

Mr. Gantt, who is from Rochester, has long opposed the use of cameras for law enforcement, but recently he reversed course by introducing a bill that would allow for red light cameras in Buffalo. The bill was drafted to favor a type of traffic-monitoring technology made by a company run by his former counsel.

He brushed off a question about whether he had sought to influence the votes of other committee members on the bus bill.

“What do you think, I go around breaking people’s arms?” he said.

Literally breaking arms? No, but I certainly think that if you want to play with Mr. Gantt, there has to be some sort of pay to get that bill going. Though perhaps we should check the limbs of Michelle Schimel, Harvey Weisenberg, Sam Hoyt, Janele Hyer-Spencer, Matthew Titone and George Latimer, all Democrats who were co-sponsors of the bill before voting against their own legislation. Though the problem isn't their arms really, it is their lack of a spine when not standing up to the leadership.

A Miracle Is Coming For the 34th St. Gridlock

The long running joke about crossing town on a bus is that you can generally walk faster from river to river than by swiping your Metrocard on the bus. Traffic is so gridlocked that 34th Street looks like a nightmare at rush hour, especially with the Queens-Midtown tunnel being on one side. Well traffic nightmares might turn into traffic miracles, because the Dept of Transportation is reinventing the street.

From Streetsblog:

Outlining New York's plans, Sadik-Khan previewed big changes for some of the city's major corridors.

The block between 5th and 6th Aves. would be reserved for buses and people, with cars traveling away from the CBD on either side

34th Street, Manhattan: DOT will repave and restripe for five lanes between Third and Ninth Avenues by the end of this year, with painted bus lanes on the north and south sides and three auto lanes in the center. Service hours will also be extended. Phase 2 calls for a 34th Street Transitway, closing the street to cars between Fifth and Sixth and installing pedestrian plazas. On either side of that block, there would be two lanes for cars heading in one direction -- toward the rivers -- while on the other half of the street, buses would have two extra-wide lanes separated from traffic. In other words, buses would constitute the only through traffic on 34th Street. According to Sadik-Khan, 34th Street BRT will eventually tie in to new East River ferry service (details to be announced next week). Here's the 34th St. slideshow.

Well it is almost river to river, but the changes will be in the area that counts the most. Dedicated bus lanes will actually make the buses move, instead of idling for the majority of their trek in either direction at the current time. On top of that, the plaza is a welcome sight for that part of Midtown, especially since outdoor lunchtime seating at Harold Square is limited there. Also in the works are two dedicated bus lanes for 5th Avenue in the heart of Midtown and an extension for the Madison Avenue dedicated lanes. NYPD will also be dedicating a unit to make sure things move smoothly.

Kudos to Sadik-Khan and the DoT for doing something that makes sense for the crazy Manhattan traffic!