One week ago the Chair of the City Council’s Transportation committtee introduced legislation to establish two offices: one of pedestrians and one for bicyclists. Kathleen Treat, representing CHEKPEDS, spoke in favor of it.
This position exists in London and Amsterdam and would be very useful in New York City to elevate the profile of Pedestrians and coordinate the work of multiple agencies. CHEKPEDS testified today at the City Council in favor of Intro 1813 to create an office of pedestrians:
“The walking infrastructure – sidewalks – is controlled by SEVEN different agencies and a vast number of property owners. Because of this, the Office for Pedestrians should be a stand-alone office, rather than inside another agency or another office. The Office for Pedestrians must be independent from the Office for Cyclists. It must not be subsumed in another office driven by divergent priorities.”…”Finally, the law should clearly define what are the powers invested in this office and what is its budget”.