CHEKPEDS

DEP’s mission: Protect the air we breathe or polluters’ bottom line?

by Team ChekpedsApril 4, 2022June 14, 2022

The Departement of Environmental Protection (DEP) is in the midst of hearings and rule making on idling enforcement. Some changes could gut the idling laws, while others will make it much more difficult for citizens to report commercial idling scofflaws.… Read more

Sidewalk

Pedestrian Mobility Plan

by Team ChekpedsApril 4, 2022May 17, 2022

As part of the legally mandated Master Plan, the Pedestrian Group of the Department of Transportation is actually “planning” walk lanes. They developed a street classification based on pedestrian traffic demand. The classification prescribes the width of walk lane required… Read more

Sidewalk

Clearing snow for people is a higher priority

by Team ChekpedsJanuary 9, 2022April 3, 2022

Three inches of snow fell last week and the familiar pattern emerges again: 24 hours later, car lanes are immaculate. Bike lanes and walk lanes are still messy and dangerous. The Sanitation Department recently boasted of their smaller equipment to… Read more

Sidewalk

No recovery without clean sidewalks

by Team ChekpedsJanuary 9, 2022April 3, 2022

NO this is not during the 70’s when New York was engulfed in trash and graffiti. This picture was taken in January 2022 on West 34th Street, three blocks from the empire State building. It is as bad as the… Read more

Sidewalk

Can electrification clear the curb?

by Team ChekpedsJanuary 9, 2022April 3, 2022

Streetsblog NY, the influential publication for streets and transportation, published two OpEds submitted by CHEKPEDS. The first OPINION: Do Not Put EV Charging Stations on Public Property explains why the city should rely exclusively on private parking operations to provide… Read more

Congestion

2021 in review: Safety

by Team ChekpedsDecember 25, 2021April 3, 2022

W39th Street and 9th Avenue, peak PM There is way too much traffic violence in our district: five people killed and 500 injured in 2021. On the bright side, this is 44% less deaths and 30% less injuries compared to… Read more

Sidewalk

2021 in review: Sidewalk

by Team ChekpedsDecember 25, 2021January 12, 2022

The pedestrians’ stature rose in 2021: DOT just published the Street Master Plan, as the 2019 law mandates. It includes a plan for pedestrians and sidewalks . It introduces the “walk lane” and elevates walking to a transportation mode. This… Read more

CHEKPEDS

2021 in review: Structural changes

by Team ChekpedsDecember 25, 2021January 12, 2022

Sometimes , invisible changes are more momentous than those in plain sight. The changes 2021 brought us will have positive impacts on street safety and improvements: Paint on roadway is not a sidewalk. City lawyers confirmed that all painted installations… Read more

Sidewalk

New York City Streets Master Plan does not disappoint!

by Team ChekpedsDecember 11, 2021January 10, 2022

The NYC DOT just published the Streets master plan, as required by a groundbreaking law Council Speaker Corey Johnson passed in 2019. We could not be happier. The plan includes for the first time a pedestrian master plan , where… Read more

Sidewalk

Empire State Penn Complex

by Team ChekpedsDecember 11, 2021January 10, 2022

After many months of consultations and some concessions by the Empire State Developemnt corporation (ESD), Manhattan Community Board 4 (CB4) testified at the Environment Impact Statement meeting on December 8, 2021 . CB4 opposed the project unless significant changes are… Read more