Looking at the cars in your neighborhood, you probably assume that most are coming to or from somewhere nearby. But actually, a majority is cut-through traffic. These drivers aren’t your neighbors, and they’re not visiting a resident or a local business — they’re just using your small, residential streets kind of like a thruway. In Brooklyn's Community Board 6, it's at 76%! That's three out of every four drivers just using those streets to get somewhere else. 

We have helped 21 community boards pass daylighting resolutions, demonstrating to DOT that New Yorkers want safer intersections and they're willing to trade some street parking to get them. These grassroots efforts are extremely powerful, but our best chance at widespread change is a new bill, now in the City Council, that would mandate New York City daylight all intersections and put items - like planters, seating, or bike racks - in the spots.

Our 2025 Agenda for a Livable City is live! These are the policies we'll be working to get enacted before the year is through. Among a bunch of bills and bright ideas are five priorities we see as the biggest opportunities for making real change in 2025.

New York City’s streets are world-renowned for their culture, vitality and dynamism. But these qualities don’t materialize out of thin air – they’re a product of dedicated leadership and bold imaginations right in our own backyard. It’s this work, day-in and day-out, that builds a more equitable, people-centered future for our city. This year, we’re recognizing seven neighborhood leaders and groups doing the extraordinary, too-often unseen work of creating and caring for spaces in their local communities.

Happy first week of congestion pricing to all who celebrate! Who should celebrate? Literally everyone, because whether you're waiting on a late bus, playing Frogger to cross the street, or stuck in record-setting car traffic, congestion pricing will be good for you. But the City can't just sit back and celebrate. We must put the newly freed street space to work, reclaiming and reusing it to double down on congestion pricing's impact. 

The dust has settled on the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity City Council vote and we can clearly see the new picture of parking requirements across the city. So what did we get?

Halloween has to be one of our most public space-y holidays, right? It's all about strolling your neighborhood, seeing and being seen, soaking up the festival atmosphere as you visit with fellow revelers. This tradition hinges on having a walkable community where people aren't too far apart, you know the folks who live next door, and the sidewalks and streets are safe for kids to wander at night. In other words - it hinges on livability.

Halloween has to be one of our most public space-y holidays, right? It's all about strolling your neighborhood, seeing and being seen, soaking up the festival atmosphere as you visit with fellow revelers. This tradition hinges on having a walkable community where people aren't too far apart, you know the folks who live next door, and the sidewalks and streets are safe for kids to wander at night. In other words - it hinges on livability.

Something wicked is lurking in zoning codes. Across the country, cities have reported unsettling cases of drastically low housing production, suffocating car culture, and horrifically high rents. Developers watch helplessly as their costs skyrocket; many affordable housing plans have been completely abandoned in fear of this ancient force. It's casting a pall over city neighborhoods that is permeating our lives.

Public spaces are vital to our lives as New Yorkers. So why are they so few and far between? Under managed? Burdened by bureaucracy and red tape? It's largely because our City doesn't have a cohesive framework for thinking about people-centered space and creating it in a way that provides well-maintained, local spaces in every corner of the city.

Soon, Council Members will vote on City of Yes for Housing Opportunity; but not before they decide if they’ll change, or remove, any of its proposals. We're rallying on Thursday, September 26th to remind them that lifting parking mandates is an essential piece of the puzzle. Without lifting parking mandates, New York City cannot build the desperately needed new housing intended by City of Yes.

As school starts, streets around schools become more dangerous, especially in low-income communities of color. With so much space dedicated to cars, many schools lack outdoor areas for students to play and learn. Our city needs to prioritize safer streets for our kids by making it easier for schools to apply for Open Streets and creating slow zones near schools. It’s time to focus on giving students safer, more welcoming environments to grow.

Mayor Adams pledged 150 miles of new bus lanes, but with only 30 miles on track by the end of his third year, the gap between promises and reality is stark. These bus lanes aren't just a campaign promise; they're legally mandated by the Streets Plan, a law designed to make our streets safer and more accessible. Add to that Governor Hochul's indefinite pause on congestion pricing, and New Yorkers are left with escalating gridlock and pollution. Our leaders must do more than make promises—they need to act.

In 2022, we envisioned expanding the beloved Summer Streets beyond Manhattan, and with the support of Brooklyn and Queens Borough Presidents, we made it happen! By 2023, DOT extended Summer Streets to all five boroughs, even reaching Harlem. Thanks to community feedback and the dedication of local leaders, this year, you can enjoy car-free streets in any borough until 3 pm. Now, we’re asking you—what’s next for Summer Streets?

Lots of New Yorkers don't quite understand what City of Yes for Housing Opportunity will do - or what it won't do. Throughout the recent public hearing process, we heard misconceptions about how the zoning reforms will effect neighborhoods. In this edition of the newsletter, we share three ways to (nicely!) correct a New Yorker who has City of Yes all wrong.