Assemblywoman advocate for safe streets is a traffic violence recidivist

Emily is the smirking fauxgressive on the left. Photo by JQ LLC

 

NY Post

 

Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher (D-Brooklyn) — who has demonized drivers for years as she calls for “safer streets” — has racked up at least 46 traffic tickets totaling over $4,000 over the past two-and-a-half years, a review of public records by The Post found.

The socialist pol’s 2014 White Buick Encore was caught on camera blowing through a red light in the Bronx in November 2022, and ticketed for parking in front of fire hydrants at least six times, according to city records.

Her utter disregard for the rules of the road extends beyond the Big Apple: In March 2022, Albany traffic cops slapped the far-left lawmaker with an expired-meter ticket that she has yet to pay, records show.

 

Gallagher has been upfront about her war on cars, and called driving a “very kind of aggressive activity” in a 2022 interview.

The scofflaw lawmaker backed a bill known as “Sammy’s Law,” which allows the city to lower speed limits to as low as 10 mph on some streets.

Leadfoot comptroller breaks promise to slow down

 NY Post

He coulda, woulda, shoulda — but didn’t.

City Comptroller Brad Lander, who championed a law to crack down on reckless driving and once admitted “I should slow down,” was caught speeding in a school zone again.

Lander was hit with a $50 summons from a speed camera on Shore Parkway last May after he promised to improve his dismal driving record — which included eight prior tickets for speeding in school zones, city records reviewed by The Post reveal.

The former Brooklyn councilman also racked up five parking tickets since taking office as comptroller in 2022, according to records.

During his campaign for the seat in 2021, The Post revealed that Lander was hit with eight school-zone speeding tickets since 2016, even though he had publicly promoted speed cameras outside city schools and pushed legislation to crack down on unsafe driving.

Critics accused Lander of being a hypocrite and he admitted then, “I should slow down.”

He also added to his collection four tickets for parking in “No Parking Zones” during street cleaning since taking office — along 13th Street in Park Slope near his home on Oct. 29 and Oc. 31 in 2022, and July 17 and Oct. 2 of last year, records show.

The fine for the second parking violation in 2022 was for $75 and the three others were $65.

The comptroller also got socked with a $35 fine for failing to display a metered receipt while parking on Sept. 25 of last year, also on 13th Street.

Politicos who know the self-described progressive Lander said they weren’t surprised.

“It’s ‘Do as I Say,’ not ‘Do as I Do,'” said state Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar, who lives in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. “And he’s one of the top three elected citywide officials.

 

Another agency captured car culture junkie elected official caught with traffic violations

Gothamist

The family car used by the chair of New York City's transportation committee was caught speeding an alarming number of times this year, city data shows.

Whoever owns the car, which is often driven by City Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers of southeastern Queens, has racked up enough tickets that city law requires them to take a driver safety course or risk having the wheels impounded. It’s not clear how often Brooks-Powers drives the vehicle herself.

The car has received 34 tickets since the councilmember took office in March 2021 following a special election. Of those tickets, 29 were for speeding in school zones, including one issued the day before Brooks-Powers was announced as chair of the Council’s transportation committee in January.

The car was also ticketed outside Hudson Yards in October for fraudulent use of a parking permit. The $65 fine was later dismissed.

The vehicle is linked to $2,105 paid in fines and penalties since Brooks-Powers took office, according to city data.

A spokesperson for Brooks-Powers said the car — a 2019 gray Nissan — is not registered under her name, but is a shared family vehicle. The politician regularly uses the car, and it has been seen parked outside City Hall by several other outlets.

The car has enough speeding tickets to trigger the city’s Dangerous Vehicle Abatement law, which was signed by former Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2020. The law mandates that owners of cars with more than 15 speed camera violations or five red light cameras within any 12-month window take a safety course. If the car’s owner does not take a safety course within 30 days after receiving a notice, the law states the car will be seized by the city sheriff’s office.

Life in the fast bike lane

  

NY Post

 More than one-third of people riding motorized two-wheeleers on the Big Apple’s protected bike lanes and greenways speed dangerously, an analysis by The Post found.

Although the city last week revved up its crackdown on dangerous driving by operating speed cameras round the clock, bike lanes remain severe safety hazards flooded with scofflaws on e-bikes, mopeds and motorcycles that constantly disobey the 25-mph speed limit.

Over the past week, a team of Post journalists used a radar gun to track speeders on paths crossing the Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queensboro bridges, as well as bike lanes in Midtown and at Hudson River Park.

Of the 486 two-wheelers clocked, 167 – or 34% — sped above the 25 mph max, including some as high as 35 mph. They include dirt bikes, all-terrain vehicles and others outlawed on city streets and bike lanes.

 he need for speed was especially noticeable on the Williamsburg Bridge where 44 – or 59% — of 74 motor bikes using its pathway over an hour-long period Friday went over 25 mph.

The Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge’s lanes were also filled with speeders. Over an hour, 37% and 30% of its bikers were also caught, respectively, speeding by the reporter and photographer.

On the Queensboro Bridge, 18% of the 87 motorized bikers clocked went over 25 mph – but, unlike the other East River crossings, its bike lane is shared with pedestrians who were forced to dodge dirt bikes and other rogue rides.

On Thursday afternoon, The Post set up near Stuyvesant High School on Chambers Street for an hour and clocked 33 – or 43% — of 77 motorized bikes zipping along the Hudson River Park bike path over the speed limit.

New Yorkers said they’re fed up with bike-lane lawbreakers.

“It’s a huge problem!” barked Peter Epstein, an avid 60-year-old bicyclist after pedaling along the scenic bike lane on Manhattan’s West Side. “People are walking by” because they have “the green light to cross the path, and these [motor] bikes are zooming right up to them; there’s not even time for anyone to react. It’s just crazy.”

Slow down, ZWEET, your neighbors

 
I hope the attached video comes through to you. Here in Flushing and Bayside this guy speeds through the streets like our neighborhood is his own personal speedway. His car is LOUD. He's a menace to our quiet neighborhoods. It's a growing trend. 
 

Still racing in the street

NY Post

Around 2 a.m. on a recent Sunday at a gas station in Queens, heavy-duty auto engines rev conspicuously. Clutches of twentysomething guys — and a few young women — group around customized, low-to-the ground Hondas, Mustangs and BMWs. They pass joints, talk about horsepower, and issue challenges to race.

Most every weekend, racers meet up — as The Post has previously reported, the areas with the most 311 complaints are Richmond Hill’s 124th Street, Frances Lewis Boulevard in northern Queens and Leo Fracassi Way in The Bronx — to race illegally, at speeds of up to 160 mph.

“This is the thing I’m passionate about,” said one racer, alongside his Acura Integra, its hood removed to reveal a spotless engine. “I’m not letting anyone get in the way of my passion.”

At the gas station — colloquially known as “E-85” for the racing fuel it sells — word spreads that two contenders are ready to go. Suddenly, cars skitter onto the street, spewing exhaust as they head for Nassau Expressway. Leading the way is Jimmy, a 22-year-old from Jamaica, Queens, behind the wheel of a 225-horsepower 1994 Honda Civic with the gas tank re-situated in the trunk to enhance fuel flow.

Out on the highway, all cars brake to a stop, blocking traffic.

At the front of the pack, Jimmy spins his front tires (a procedure known as a “burn out”) to improve traction. His opponent, also in a Honda, does the same. Standing between the two cars, a man forcefully drops his arm in a simulation of a starting flag.

The opponents scorch down a quarter-mile of blacktop, getting up to 120 mph and leaving behind smells of burnt rubber and spent E-85. The race lasts less than 30 seconds, then the expressway traffic is allowed to resume its normal flow.

Back at E-85, Jimmy accepts a fist bump in celebration of his win. Although he sometimes races for money — as much as $600 per run — this one “was for competition,” he said.

A regular participant told The Post that racing has led to crashes on the Belt and Southern State parkways.

In January, at a hot street-racing spot along Review Avenue in Long Island City, a racer nicknamed Mello smashed into a street pole at high speed. Paramedics pronounced him dead on the scene. 

Spookily, the spot, in the shadow of the Kosciuszko Bridge, is known as “Cemetery” for the Calvary graveyard that lies alongside it.

“Racing has gone on there for at least 30 years,” said NYPD Capt. Michael Gibbs, of the 108th Precinct, which counts the avenue in its turf. He actually grew up in the neighborhood. “Maybe, when I was a kid, I allegedly went there and watched [racing],” he admitted. “I never thought I would be on the enforcement end.”

But not long after he became captain of the 108th in January, Gibbs prioritized putting a stop to the racing. His most recent action was to order the ­deployment of speed bumps along ­Review Avenue.
Hearing about the speed bumps, one racer at E-85 shrugged it off and mysteriously said, “We have ways to work around [that].”

It's all about the revenue

From AM-NY:

Transit advocates and local politicians rallied on the steps of City Hall Monday in support of bringing more school-zone speed cameras to New York City.

“We should not have to worry about a child crossing a street. That shouldn’t be matter of life or death,” said Public Advocate Letitia James at the rally. “And we know what the answers are. We have solutions.”

Safe streets advocates are pushing for the state Assembly to pass the “Every School Speed Safety Camera Act,” which would allow the city to install thousands of additional cameras near schools.

Under current state law, the city can place a maximum of 140 speed cameras near schools. Those cameras must be located within a quarter mile of a school entrance. And they can only be operational during school days for 12 hours each day.

The new bill, introduced by Manhattan Assemblywoman Deborah Glick this April, would remove the restrictions on the number of cameras and those hours of operation in New York City.

DOT caught speeding more than 500 times

From WPIX:

The wheels of government move fast.

Since the start of Vision Zero in 2014, city owned vehicles have racked up 11,367 summonses.

More than 500 of them were handed out to the city Department of Transportation, which implemented much of Vision Zero, an initiative to stem the spike in pedestrian deaths, according to a PIX11 analysis of citation records.

Speed cameras - not just for school hours anymore

From the Daily News:

A pair of Queens lawmakers are pushing to drastically expand the use of speed enforcement cameras in the city to cut down on traffic fatalities.

State Sen. Jose Peralta and Assemblyman Michael DenDekker, both Democrats, will unveil a package of bills Thursday that will allow speed cameras to be placed in any of the more than 2,000 school zones in the city and keep them in operation 24 hours a day.

A law adopted in 2013 allows for only 140 cameras in the city school zones and limits their operation to school hours, the lawmakers said.

Queens Blvd speed limit to be reduced

From Sunnyside Post:

The DOT tweeted that Commissioner Polly “Trottenberg anticipates reducing the speed limit to 25 mph by the end of the year.”

Queens Boulevard was not included as part of the 25 mph city wide speed limit that went into effect Nov. 7 since it was deemed a big street designed to accommodate faster speeds.

Stop speeding on 147th Street!

The following pics are of yet another accident that occurred in the corner of 147 street an 5th avenue in Whitestone. This area has been besieged by speeding cars and reckless driving for years.

The local boys driving the Cadillac are said to have been driving at a high rate of speed (normal for this corner). They are fortunate they did not flip over and or injure themselves or some poor innocent pedestrian.

We have been trying to get traffic devices that would improve safety for years. All of which has fallen on dead ears. We have requested a 4 way stop sign and were denied. We requested an one way west bound on fifth avenue (this would limit the amount of cars and trucks as well as curtail the highway speed most drivers continue on the block). We have repeatedly requested speed humps on 147 street in order to curtail speeding. What have we gotten instead? Nothing! Why must we continue to wait until someone gets seriously hurt?

Remedy this now please.

For our elected officials receiving this email, your help is desperately needed.

Alfredo Centola
Community Activist

DOT not too keen on City Council's proposed legislation

From Capital New York:

City Council members on Wednesday considered for the first time a massive package of 22 bills and resolutions that seek to prevent traffic fatalities and bolster Mayor Bill de Blasio's Vision Zero initiative.

But the bills are a bit of hodgepodge, targeting various issues affecting traffic safety, and not all were written in consultation with the administration. Indeed, city officials expressed concerns about a few of the bills. And some of the legislation, particularly measures that target taxi and limousine drivers. will face opposition from unions and industry leaders.

Council members and others who filled the chambers for the hearing applauded when Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg announced the Senate vote. But she and council members disagreed about some of the particulars in the Council bills.

A bill that would require side guards for trucks has some “implementation and enforcement and legal issues,” Trottenberg said, while saying the department would like to work with council members to improve the legislation.

She was also concerned about a bill that would require the city to repair traffic signals within two hours, noting the city already repairs critical devices within two hours but that an across-the-board requirement “would require a real increase in resources,” doesn't account for extreme weather situations and “could create a difficult legal standard and open the city up to costly litigation.”

Even on the items the council and administration do agree on, there was room for disagreement. Trottenberg raised concerns about legislation seeking to lower the speed limit on one-way city streets to 25 mph. While de Blasio wants to lower the limit on all city streets to that speed, she said doing so on certain streets would present challenges. She also said the city isn't quite ready for reducing the speed limit.

Speed limit to be lowered on 2 major roads

From DNA Info:

The city will lower the speed limit on Northern Boulevard and Queens Boulevard in the coming months, city officials announced Thursday, two of several roadways in the city to be dubbed "arterial slow zones" as part of the de Blasio administration's Vision Zero Initiative.

The speed limit will be lowered from 30 to 25 miles per hour on a 4.2 mile stretch of Northern Boulevard between 40th Road and 114th Street beginning in May, and to 7.4 miles of Queens Boulevard, between Jackson and Hillside Avenues, starting in July.

In addition to the speed limit, the DOT will change the timing of signals to discourage speeding and will increase police enforcement on the selected streets, officials said.

DeBlasio leaves Queens like a bat out of hell

Lame photo-op precedes scandal


From CBS 2:

Just days after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced an aggressive plan to prevent traffic deaths, CBS 2 cameras caught the driver of a car carrying the mayor violating a number of traffic laws.

As CBS 2′s Marcia Kramer reported Thursday, the mayor’s two-car caravan was seen speeding, blowing through stop signs, and violating other traffic laws. Kramer reported that if the driver of the lead car, which carried the mayor in its passenger seat, would have racked up enough points to get his license suspended if he’d been ticketed.

When the mayor announced his 62-point safe streets initiative, which includes lowering the speed limit to 25 mph, he said, “We want the public to know that we are holding ourselves to this standard.”

But Kramer reported the mayor failed to practice what he preached Thursday.

CBS 2 crews found Mayor de Blasio’s cars going through a stop sign at a Queens intersection, and that wasn’t the only traffic violation caught on tape.

The safety violations came just two days after the mayor unveiled his traffic safety plan.

Isn't this the guy who's become famous for being late everywhere? What was the rush, Bill?

Council seeks to reduce speed limit

From The Politicker:

The New York City Council hopes to pass legislation that would reduce the speed limit on most residential and side streets to 20 miles per hour, Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced today.

“We are actively working on that bill and our goal is to pass it before the end of the year,” Ms. Quinn said during an unrelated press conference this afternoon before the month’s final council meeting. “We’re actively working on it right now.”

The bill, introduced by Councilman David Greenfield, is aimed at reducing serous pedestrian injuries and traffic fatalities. Last year, 148 pedestrians were killed in traffic accidents and crashes.

“We are working to fine-tune this life-saving legislation that will slow down automobiles on narrow residential streets. I am hopeful that we can get consensus on this important legislation, which will literally save lives once it is enacted here in New York City,” he said in response to the speaker’s comments.

But there are complications. The city’s Department of Transportation has argued the proposal would conflict with state law, which only allows limits that low if other traffic-calming devices are used. Last Friday, Councilman Jimmy Vacca, chair of the council’s transportation committee, told WNYC the bill was being “tweaked a little bit” and that members were “aiming for 25 miles per hour on narrow, one-way streets.”

In other traffic safety news, a problem intersection in Astoria is under scrutiny and Woodhaven Blvd solutions are being pondered.

Whitestone truck problem continues

As you can see, the problems on 5th avenue continue. Between the onslaught of cars, speeding cars, cars that blow through the stop sign on the corner of 147th street, cars that speed around a slower moving car that is actually following the speed limit, cars that speed around you onto oncoming traffic if you dare stop at the stop sign.

Then you have this, trucks and tractor trailers, all day every day. According to Department of Transportation Commissioner Maura McCarthy, this is a mere inconvenience. In other words if SHE doesn't consider it a danger than the residents need to love with it? Or it isn't a quality of life issue that negatively affects the residents/taxpayers on the block?

How much longer do we have to wait?

What are they waiting for?

Last year it was a fire hydrant and a diesel spill that requires DEP as well as other agencies to clean it up. Do we have to wait for a tragedy ?

What's the quota commissioner?

Alfredo Centola
President
Malba Gardens Civic

Pedestrians getting hit in pedestrian lanes

From the Daily News:

A speeding bicyclist slammed into a woman on the Queensboro Bridge — knocking her out cold and fracturing her skull, the Daily News has learned.

Lingbo Shen, 52, said she was walking toward her Queens home in a pedestrian lane of the span when the cyclist crashed into her about 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

“Somebody hit me from the back,” she told The News. “I fell. I was unconscious for nearly four hours.”

Shen — a research analyst at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan — awoke just before midnight and found herself in the emergency room at New York Hospital.

She was being treated for a cracked skull, broken collar bone and three fractured ribs. A hematoma was causing her to bleed from her ears.

The crash comes a week after a Daily News investigation on speeding and inattentive bicyclists in Central Park. It took reporters just 35 minutes to find 16 bikers riding over the 25-mph speed limit.

On Monday, a blind man walking in a pedestrian lane was struck by leadfooted cyclist Omar Shakir, 30, just above E. 90th St. in the park.

Richard Bernstein, 38 — who is in the city training for his eighth marathon — went to Mount Sinai Medical Center with a fractured pelvis and hip. He also lost some teeth.

Bikes are vehicles. They should not be allowed to mix with pedestrians. Period. Expect more of these types of accidents when the City's bike share program starts in March.

(And thank you, Daily News, for leaving Ed Koch out of this.)