![]() If you live in a place where buying a car and spending $10,000 a year on car-related payments is your only way to get around, then your leaders have failed you and your children. NYC currently has around 3 million free parking spots lining its streets, which is more than the number of cars registered in the city.Īnd considering that most NYC residents don’t own a car, but rather use other forms of transportation such as buses, subways, bikes, and walking, dedicating so much space to cars simply doesn’t make sense. The executive director of Transportation Alternatives Danny Harris, of the group behind the 25×25 proposal, explained to the Guardian that “space minus cars equals quality of life.” Repurposing street space would help to both clean the city and better serve its residents. ![]() Meanwhile, pedestrians and cyclists are forced to navigate the crowded fringes of roads, often weaving around parked vehicles and heaps of trash awaiting pickup.Īnd that’s all before even considering the staggering number of pedestrian and cycling deaths caused by cars in the city. With traffic-clogged streets moving at an average of 5 mph (8 km/h) in Midtown Manhattan, private automobile transportation in NYC is responsible for a significant portion of the city’s carbon emissions, air pollution, and urban grime. The logic goes that the vast majority of NYC’s streets being dominated by cars doesn’t benefit most city residents, and it doesn’t really benefit cars either. The proposal calls for 25% of NYC’s street space to be converted into walkable pedestrian plazas, bike lanes, green space, and bus lanes by 2025. It’s all part of a new plan known as NYC 25×25, which is backed by NYC mayor Eric Adams. From bike lanes to public seating and urban parks, roads that previously saw gridlocked traffic were nearly instantly transformed into public spaces that benefitted a wider group of residents.Īfter being forced to realize the benefits of such repurposing of streets, the city is now asking, “Why shouldn’t it just stay that way?” Back when COVID-19 ravaged New York City and turned the city’s transportation needs upside down, significant portions of the road space were repurposed for non-car use.
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