Co-op sues DOT and Lyft for inducing Citibike racks on parking spaces by their apartment buildings

 

The Department Of Transportation Alternatives steals public space from people and gives it to Lyft and Citibike for free car storage

 

NY1

What was once a free parking lot under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway is now being used for CitiBike support. Some neighbors say they feel cheated, especially after their hard work to keep the area clean.

“When you see it, you’re like, ‘Are you serious?’ So, no one said anything to any of us. There was no notice," said Shaquana Boykin, who lives in a public housing complex next to the BQE. "It just doesn’t make sense to keep removing free space.”

On August 5, residents noticed a sign announcing the end of public parking near the intersection of Park and Clinton Avenues in Clinton Hill. The Department of Transportation owns this lot and says it’s now being used by Lyft to support CitiBike operations with no set end date. That doesn’t sit well with neighbors.

“This space under Park Avenue has been a public space for decades, it’s been people’s parking," said Michael Higgins, who, along with Boykin, are part of the volunteer group Park Avenue BQE Cleanup. Members have been cleaning the parking lot and others under the expressway since the start of the pandemic. They say it’s unfair for the city to close a free lot with little to no warning, especially one that residents have been maintaining for more than two years.

“We are just trying to care for this space," said Higgins. "We’ve unfortunately seen community spaces in this neighborhood become privatized and we’ve tried to avoid that. People care, people are trying to do the best they can given the limited resources we have, but we need help.”

Boykin feels the decision to close this lot is an insult to residents who park there as well as volunteers who keep it safe and clean. She disagrees with the decision to section off an entire parking lot for storage.

"Parking under the BQE is where you feel safe," said Boykin. "You don't have to worry about tickets. No matter where you live, when you enter that community, you know where that free space is to park and you've gotta maintain that!"

In a statement, a DOT spokesperson says, “Accommodating Citi Bike in this lot is an important and necessary measure to support Citi Bike’s operations in keeping bikes well maintained and stations evenly balanced.”

Viva la congestion pricing resistance

 

NY Daliy News 

 The knives are out for New York’s congestion pricing plan, and loads of motorists want a carveout.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is moving ahead with the scheme, which aims to toll motorists who drive in Manhattan south of 60th St., not including the West Side Highway and FDR Drive.

Taxi drivers held a protest in Manhattan on Wednesday pushing for exemptions to the tolls, which could cost anywhere from $9 to $23 during the day for most cars.

A group including Uber and Lyft on Thursday sent a letter to Gov. Hochul asking that for-hire vehicles get a break. And trucking industry lobbyists have also called for discounts to the tolls, which could range from $12 to $82 per crossing for the largest carriers.

 Another public pushback against the plan came Thursday evening as droves of drivers jammed an online MTA hearing to rail against the planned tolls. The hearing — held over Zoom — drew 391 attendees, each of whom were given three minutes to speak.

“If you guys tell me that’s $23 every day I need to take my car out of my driveway, that is outrageous,” testified Colette Vogell, who lives on Manhattan’s East Side, within the congestion zone. “People like me are going to move out of Manhattan.”

Exemptions are already planned for emergency vehicles, those transporting people with disabilities, and residents of the congestion zone who earn $60,000 or less annually.

But MTA officials have warned that exemptions for some motorists could lead to higher toll prices for everyone else.

The plan is required by a state law passed in 2019 to raise $1 billion a year for the MTA, enough for the agency to finance $15 billion worth of upgrades to the agency’s dilapidated transit infrastructure.

Thursday’s hearing was the first of six the MTA is to hold on the program over the next week. The hearings come after the agency released a draft environmental assessment on the scheme, a key step to gain federal approval before the tolls can launch, which isn’t expected to happen until 2024.

Other opponents of the program are less concerned about exemptions, and want congestion pricing to be delayed or nixed altogether.

Passengers United has a poll you can take to stop the congestion tax.

 

School event gets regulatory captured

The Department Of Transportation Alternatives will never compromise

Queens Post

Council Member Bob Holden is calling for the firing of Queens DOT Commissioner Nicole Garcia arguing that she fails to listen to the concerns of residents and shows contempt for local civic organizations.

Holden’s call for Garcia’s ousting comes at a time when the DOT is working on installing 52 Citi Bike stations in Middle Village and Maspeth, both neighborhoods he represents.

The council member has been critical of the agency for not properly notifying his constituents about the Middle Village/Maspeth plan, and then failing to work with civic groups—such as Juniper Park Civic Association (JPCA) —in terms of where the stations should be installed.

The JPCA, which has embraced the Citi Bike expansion, has been calling on the DOT to place the stations on sidewalks—as opposed to on the street—as a means to preserve parking spaces. Christina Wilkinson, secretary of the association, put together a detailed plan as to where the proposed street stations could be moved to avoid the loss of parking.

The DOT rejected these calls last month, prompting criticism from Holden. (click for JPCA proposal and DOT response)

“Garcia’s Queens DOT shows nothing but contempt for local civic organizations in middle-class neighborhoods, particularly in their refusal to seriously consider requests regarding Citi Bike installations,” Holden said.

The councilmember argues that the Queens DOT is not sincere when it says it wants community feedback.

Holden said that many neighborhoods in Queens desperately need parking spaces and have little use for renting bicycles, including seniors, families with children and the disabled.

“Lyft’s Citi Bike agenda lacks any regard for those New Yorkers and has no interest in inclusivity. The DOT should stand up for these New Yorkers and stop doing Lyft’s bidding. One of the great things about living in New York City, particularly in Queens, is that every neighborhood has its own character. The Queens DOT denies this unique diversity by forcing a one-size fits all approach to bike stations across the city.”

He said it’s time for the Queens DOT to turn a page and advocate for its residents. He said the agency also has a history of denying requests for stop signs, speed bumps and other traffic safety measures in his district that would keep his constituents safe.

“The Queens DOT can only move our borough toward a safer future with a new commissioner who will listen to community feedback and respond swiftly to the needs of Queens taxpayers.”

“Garcia’s Queens DOT makes a dog and pony show out of asking for community input and then throws it in the gutter. Lyft’s Citi Bike program continues to gobble up parking spaces badly needed by hardworking New Yorkers, like a giant corporate PAC MAN who refuses to hear the reasonable requests of middle-class neighborhoods in favor of the fanatical anti-car movement and a corporation with a vested interest in getting New Yorkers to give up owning cars.”

City Council cronies form civic concern for "transportation equity" and are coming to your town

For Immediate Release: Friday, March 11, 2022

Contact: Vanessa Caesar | vcaesar@council.nyc.gov | (646) 941-3331

 

 

Majority Whip Selvena N. Brooks-Powers Continues

Citywide Transportation Tours in Partnership with

Council Members Alexis Avilés and Lincoln Restler

 

(Queens, NY) - New York City Council Majority Whip Selvena N. Brooks-Powers, Chair of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, will tour New York City Council Districts 33 and 38. Majority Whip Brooks-Powers will embark on the fifth stop on a citywide transportation listening tour as a part of her First 100 Day Tour, meeting with elected officials and citywide stakeholders to better understand both infrastructure and transportation needs in communities across the city.

 

Majority Whip Brooks-Powers will first join Council Member Alexa Aviles will tour the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway intersection, plaguing trucking routes, and pedestrian crosswalks, ending at a last-mile facility in Red Hook, Brooklyn. During the tour in Council Member Lincoln Restler’s district, the Majority Whip will tour the district viewing dangerous pedestrian sites, local subway stations and will conduct tour partially via Citi Bike. 

 

Following tours in all 50 City Council districts, Majority Whip Brooks-Powers will conclude with listening sessions with each Borough Delegation. Listening sessions will be open to the public and take place virtually to discuss borough-wide issues regarding accessible transportation options, bus routes, train and commuter line rail issues, for-hire-vehicle rights and availability, as well as a myriad of issues affecting residents of the five boroughs.

 

WHO:           NYC Majority Whip Selvena N. Brooks-Powers and

NYC City Council Members Alexis Avilés and Lincoln Restler

 

WHEN & LOCATIONS:     Friday, March 11, 2022

·         Stop #1 @ 8:15am: 4417 4th Avenue (Ground Floor), Brooklyn, NY 11220

·         Stop #2 @ 10:00am: Intersection of York Street and Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201

 

Press is invited to attend

###

 

 

Vanessa Caesar | Director, Scheduling/Events

Office of NYC Council Majority Whip Selvena N. Brooks-Powers

31st District, Queens

City Hall: (212) 788-7216

Far Rockaway: (718) 471-7014

Laurelton: (718) 527-4356

Website: https://council.nyc.gov/district-31/

Follow Us At:

Facebook/Instagram: @CMSelvenaBrooksPowers

Facebook: @CMBrooksPowers

Do I have to remind everyone that one of these council cronies, the notorious Linky Restler is wholly influenced and agency captured by the Transportation Alternatives non-profit lobby organization that are trying to usurp the streets from commuting by car? This guy is such a pawn for them that he's reduced himself to making ludicrous videos feigning to be scared of crossing a street.

 

 

Linky Restler is a parody of a city council official.

If only there was a Boy Scout around to help this dork cross the street https://t.co/kajldOFqLJ

— JQ LLC: The Impunity City (@ImpunityCity) March 9, 2022

Well except if you happen to work for app-hail car corporation that happens to be one of Transportation Alternatives biggest contributors. Because Council Member Brooks Powers is holding a massive job fair event "powered by Lyft" in Rockaway Beach to recruit new gig livery drivers, which will also be attended by other elected officials including the meddling shitlib self-promoting comptroller Brad Lander. '''

 

 

 

Oh, don't forget your fucking vax pass.

 

 

 

 

Taxi to the dark side

  

Mother Jones

On Wednesday, taxi drivers, local elected officials, and their allies gathered outside New York City Hall to announce the beginning of a hunger strike. They are protesting a plan announced last month by the de Blasio administration to help taxi drivers reduce their debt burdens—a plan that the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, the 21,000-member group leading the hunger strike, considers insultingly inadequate.

As a Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times investigation established in 2019, lenders, medallion brokers, and city officials spent years taking advantage of a scheme to inflate the prices of the taxi medallions that let New York City drivers operate cabs. The victims were the mostly immigrant cab drivers now left with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. There have been three suicides by owner-drivers in recent years.

I spoke with two of the roughly dozen hunger strikers a few minutes after they stopped eating. Zohran Mamdani, who came to New York from Kampala, Uganda, at age seven, wore two pins on his lapel: the red rose of socialism and another reserved for members of the New York state assembly. He has represented a northwest Queens district since January. 

At 63, Richard Chow is more than 30 years Mamdani’s senior. After moving to New York in 1987, he bought his taxi medallion for $410,000 in 2006. He still owes almost all of that money because of interest payments and the need to take out further loans to buy new cabs. His brother, Kenny, bought his medallion for more than $750,000 in 2011. Crippled by debt, he died by suicide in 2018.

On Wednesday, taxi drivers, local elected officials, and their allies gathered outside New York City Hall to announce the beginning of a hunger strike. They are protesting a plan announced last month by the de Blasio administration to help taxi drivers reduce their debt burdens—a plan that the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, the 21,000-member group leading the hunger strike, considers insultingly inadequate.

As a Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times investigation established in 2019, lenders, medallion brokers, and city officials spent years taking advantage of a scheme to inflate the prices of the taxi medallions that let New York City drivers operate cabs. The victims were the mostly immigrant cab drivers now left with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt. There have been three suicides by owner-drivers in recent years.

I spoke with two of the roughly dozen hunger strikers a few minutes after they stopped eating. Zohran Mamdani, who came to New York from Kampala, Uganda, at age seven, wore two pins on his lapel: the red rose of socialism and another reserved for members of the New York state assembly. He has represented a northwest Queens district since January.

At 63, Richard Chow is more than 30 years Mamdani’s senior. After moving to New York in 1987, he bought his taxi medallion for $410,000 in 2006. He still owes almost all of that money because of interest payments and the need to take out further loans to buy new cabs. His brother, Kenny, bought his medallion for more than $750,000 in 2011. Crippled by debt, he died by suicide in 2018. 

 

About how much is the medallion you paid $410,000 for worth today

 

 Richard Chow: Now medallions are only $75,000. We’ve been underwater for so many years. The city created this crisis

 

What are the de Blasio administration and the Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) proposing to do about it? 

 

Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani: They have a $65 million plan. It’s one that would provide, for drivers that are eligible, around $20,000. The issue with this plan is that it allows for monthly payments of up to $2,000 a month. It allows for the principal to be up to $330,000. It allows for the conditions of the very crisis it’s supposed to be resolving.

 

 People who haven’t followed this closely might think Uber and Lyft are 100 percent responsible for this problem. That’s not the full story. What happened? 

Mamdani: I used to be one of those people. I used to think that it was Uber and Lyft that drove yellow taxis into the ground, and that they were the true villains. Let’s be clear, they are villains in this story, but they are not the only ones.

In 2001, [then–Mayor Mike] Bloomberg gets into office and has a $3.8 billion shortfall. He identifies taxi medallions as a way to make revenue for the city. The city then makes $855 million off medallion sales, additionally implementing a 5 percent transfer. Then the city sets the opening bid at every auction. The city is artificially inflating the value of these medallions. The city has an internal review that says the cost of the medallion is outstripping the actual value because for decades the medallions cost around $200,000. No change in the market and now it’s four to five times the worth? It’s completely nonsensical. 

“The city created a bubble, then Uber and Lyft came in. We couldn’t survive. That’s why my brother committed suicide.”

As all of this is happening, they also let Lyft and Uber come in with no regulations. The worth of these medallions is predicated on the fact that there is a closed market. Uber and Lyft are only allowed to be villains because the city let them. It’s the culpability of the city again and again and again.

Cuomo to introduce modified congestion pricing

From AM-NY:

Congestion pricing was killed the way many policy proposals die in Albany: behind closed doors.

In 2008, Assembly Democrats revolted against the inititive championed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg because it included East River tolls, which critics said would disproptionately affect residents of Brooklyn and Queens.

"It's really, really difficult for people in Brooklyn and Queens at this point to consider something like this. And I think we just need to start from the ground up all over again," Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan of Queens said at the time.

But with the subways in crisis and searching for a dedicated funding source, congestion pricing could be resurrected. Sources say Governor Andrew Cuomo is considering supporting a plan that would charge fees on for-hire vehicles like Uber and Lyft.

But lawmakers outside of Manhattan are still wary.

"Residents in New York want mass transit options. They don't want a financial burden. And they don't want to keep reaching into their pockets," said Assemblywoman Nily Rozic of Queens.