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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC. With us now New York City transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, who I think is just getting out of some preparations for the New York City Marathon which is coming up this Sunday. We'll talk to him about that. Also, the new findings on the effects of the Open Streets program during the pandemic, and how much it should be made permanent, and also about pedestrian safety in 2022 including the streets being much more dangerous actually, than the subways are for deaths and injuries this year but subway danger gets all the media coverage for some reason.

While the vast majority of those deaths and injuries are caused by cars, we'll acknowledge the growing number of calls we've been getting and some recent statistics about deaths and injuries involving electric scooters in the city. Commissioner Rodriguez, always good to have you on. Welcome back to WNYC.

Ydanis Rodriguez: It is an honor to be in your program. As you know, someone that we live in the same neighborhood, so I appreciate the work that you do for the whole city.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much, and, yes, you used to be my city council member and now you grind citywide as Transportation Commissioner. Listeners, your calls welcome for the New York City Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez at 212-433-WNYC, 433-9692 or tweet @Brian Lehrer. Commissioner, you want to tell us what you've been doing this morning with regard to the marathon?

Ydanis Rodriguez: Well, we were there with the NYPD Commissioner and the chairman and CEO and the second director of the Road Runners preparing for the great work that we were doing this marathon as we come back from COVID. There's going to be more than 50,000 runners, 50,000 dreamers across the nation, across the globe, who will be taking the streets and the DOT is the agency responsible to ensure that we paint the signal so that the runner knows exactly where they're going. We're going to be with our team also from the Bridges Division. They also work to be sure that the bridges are safe. The Staten Island Ferry, that morning they're going to be carrying 25,000 runners from Manhattan to Staten Island together ready to take the streets in a beautiful day that we will have as we come back from COVID in this marathon.

Brian Lehrer: Yes, maybe too beautiful a day. You remember the marathon used to be in October and they moved it to the first Sunday in November and I think that's because with climate change, there were too many warm Sundays in October compared to the past. Well, the forecast for this Sunday is a high in the 70s believe it or not but you mentioned the Staten Island Ferry and all the people have to go there because the race starts on Staten Island. One of the beautiful things about the marathon, I'm sure you agree, is that the runners touch pavement in all five boroughs. I wonder for you as Transportation Commissioner, if there's a most challenging part of the route for the Transportation Department to prepare for.

Ydanis Rodriguez: Well, the team do a great job. The agency had a great special event coordinator. We had two great individuals, Fabrizio and Mata. They've been working with the whole team to be sure that working with the railway division, the bridge division that the whole route, that 26 mile is well maintained, I can say, for the marathon to be able to start and complete those 26 miles.

Brian Lehrer: What's your advice to drivers for this Sunday and what's your advice for people who want to come out and be spectators?

Ydanis Rodriguez: Drivers are not the majority in this city. The majority in New York City in the business, they are pedestrian, they walk and we had to change the culture that people believe that the street belong to drivers. We had to learn on how to share the street and in this particular event, I think it is important that everyone do their part. The city's coming stronger, we have 48 million tourists in this year already and we are now in the city [unintelligible 00:04:15] that is guaranteed on, we are sure that only we bring those 50,000 cycling runners but we also came back with a great five borough bike tour where there were steady 6,000 cyclists across the globe, the second larger one in the whole nation and the larger one back toward the whole nation.

The second large in whole globe and the larger one in the nation. With the marathon what we are in seeing is how New York City is coming back. Still they continue doing anything that we can in order to hold those New Yorkers who are still in hope as they're coming back from COVID but the marathon is a signal on how also New York City is coming back.

Brian Lehrer: You put Mayor Adams' slogan in more proper English. You said getting things done but you know he uses the initials GSD, getting stuff done. [laughs] Let's go on to New York City's Open Streets program. US Transportation Commissioner released a report last week showing a positive economic impact, especially for restaurants in those areas. Remind everyone what does the Open Streets program actually consist of and what did your report find?

Ydanis Rodriguez: First of all, we were able to collaborate with Janette, the former DOT Commissioner, Bloomberg, and they did a great job. The Department of Finance, Preston, also, they work with our team here and we were able to prove in the data what we already know that they opened restaurant where it's so popular, because we were able to open 12,000, or those open restaurants that we never have in the history of the city becoming the larger one, but we also save 100,000 jobs.

We were able to keep especially working class New Yorkers, making the living to support [unintelligible 00:06:16] in the family. At the same time during COVID, we prove that having an opportunity to sit in a table in front of the restaurant should not be a luxury for upper class and middle class, that this is something also that we want working class New Yorkers to experience.

When it comes to the economic impact, what we saw was a 19% increase in those area where we established open restaurants different from those location where we didn't have open restaurants, where there was a reduce of 29% of the economy. The numbers speak by so. Besides that we also see the open restaurant as part of the effort of Mayor Adams and myself are reimagining the use of public space. Open restaurants for me they go along with open streets, with pedestrian plaza, with [unintelligible 00:07:13] with a car-free day. It's about the vision that we have to turn in York City as a most friendly for pedestrians, cyclists and families.

Brian Lehrer: Can you make that even a little more specific? Because we're talking about two different programs. One is called Open Streets and one is called Open Restaurants. What's the difference?

Ydanis Rodriguez: The open restaurant is how creative we were doing COVID and at that time I was a council member so I was able to do my job as the chairman of Transportation Committee having conversation with City Hall, with de Blasio administration, and we started Open Restaurants that became an initiative. We decided that we could take a space or the roadway and give the opportunity to a restaurant owner to put some tables and put some chairs.

Now, in 2022 during the administration of Mayor Adams [unintelligible 00:08:05] what we have seen is DOT having a number of inspectors going back to those locations to ensure that we take care of the quality life, issue related in those area. That's when it comes to Open Restaurant, reimagining the use of public space using roadway for restaurants to be able to have their tables, to have a chair for parents and the family or anyone to be able to enjoy dinner using the space that doesn't belong only to car owners, but also belongs-- that we can [unintelligible 00:08:40] use.

When it comes to Open Street, Open Street is something that I as started temporary during de Blasio administration too, and did [unintelligible 00:08:52] former chairman Transportation Committee, they used to be only closing the street having some barricades. In 2022 what we decided was to create a solid and permanent open street where we have established 200 location in the city of New York partnering this location with non-profit, business improvement districts, we've been allocating more than $20,000 to those open streets where they don't have the resources to bring cultural, educational, entertaining activities across the five boroughs to those 200 location Open Street.

Open Street is also part of the 34 Avenue in Queens that we reimagine how to turn 1.2 mile that used to be only by cars and now is used for pedestrians and cyclists. Open Street is Cascadia Plaza in our district where we live. Where Dykeman from Broadway to [unintelligible 00:09:48] used to be only used to be used only for drivers to park. Now it's a pedestrian plaza key Cascadia pedestrian plaza. Open Streets also, how are we working up Broadway, the vision for Broadway from 27th to 35th Street.

It's part of the whole vision that we had to Broadway even going up to 59th Street. It's reimagining the use of public space, it's thinking about how we can change the culture to change the way how New Yorker believe that the street belong to car owners and instead it belong to everyone and that's why we're thinking about Open Street as another way to dedicate [inaudible 00:10:26] for all the youth especially for cultural, education and educational activities.

Brian Lehrer: What do you say to the drivers? Because some people say there's a war on cars in New York City now. I was told by somebody who listens to more than one radio station that a host on another station quipped recently something like why do they call it Open Street? If you're a driver the streets are closed. What do you say to the drivers who are frustrated that they have fewer options?

Ydanis Rodriguez: First thing that I'll tell the drivers is that we shouldn't wait for another Sandy, Maria, Katrina, I know there's no storm to realize that when we drive we contribute 25% of the contamination to our city. This is about environmental justice. The second thing that I'll say to the drivers and I one of them, that we are less than 50% of New Yorkers who have car. Most than 50% New Yorker they don't drive. They take buses, they take the train, they walk, they use a bike and they use a ferry. I feel that for many decades we had not talk about how New York City only have 350 square mile even London has 607 square mile. They almost double than us.

I feel that we had to realize that we are the more density city in the whole nation. As I told my friend Ryan and I'm one of those people that when I know the commissioner and at some point in my family we had a car, I had to be looking for a parking from 8:00 PM to 11:00 PM in England. I know that we don't have enough space but the most important thing that we need to understand that is about balancing the network that we have. We also actually understand that everyone should have a better opportunity. The message that we have is that on this administration of Mayor Adams and I, we want to give drivers better options, which should be subway, should be buses, should be a scooter, should be bicycle.

We do understand that this place is in Queens in Brooklyn in the Bronx that people live in transportation deserts. People have to have a car. However, if you live in the neighborhood that you have so many trains, that you have so many opportunity to use your bike, the less than twice before getting to the car. If you want to get a car because you want to have something that is luxury, you should think twice. We do understand that some people have a car because they need it but what we are working is again together with Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams to be sure that we give drivers better options and they are subway bosses by bike lane and ferry.

Brian Lehrer: You mentioned scooters as well and we're going to get to scooters in a minute as a problem as well as a solution. We have a call on the parking aspect of what you were just talking about from Maxine on the Upper West Side. Maxine, you're on WNYC with New York City Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. Hi, Maxine.

Maxine: Hi, Maxine retired school teacher. I've lived in this city my whole life. I've always had a car in the bad old days in the '70s and '80s. I piled my kids and my dog into the car and that's the only way I could leave this city. We have no options to leave the city whether for vacations or whatever and yet we are allowing luxury buildings right on 103rd to be built without garages.

You are giving us no options whatsoever. Open Streets should be called Closed Streets. You did this during the pandemic when you got no input from many in the community the civil servants, the workers. You got no input because you are one on Zoom not in Spanish. Half the city had left and also many people were dying. There were many many many other issues going on when this happened.

Brian Lehrer: Maxine, let me get a response for you, and she's raising a number of things. Commissioner, you can respond to any or all of them. I'm particularly interested in the part of her question that's about new residential towers going up without garages adding density but no additional capacity as a matter of requirement by the city for those inevitably additional cars to show up in the neighborhood. What do you say to anything that Maxine raised?

Ydanis Rodriguez: Maxine, I used to be a teacher like you. I taught for 15 year so I know that teacher make important contributions to our city. Look, one thing that we need to understand is that as we look for the pressing in the future when it comes to parking spots and requirement, reality is that our priority is to put most of the value that we have to improve mass transportation. We believe that's the future of the city. As a commissioner I can say that I had no choice to do things or to move agenda thinking about being popular with everyone. Half percent of New Yorker has not left the city. New Yorkers they left the city during COVID and they coming back.

While we are working on this administration Mayor Eric Adams is to be sure that we invest in underserved community. Those were the community where we have most New Yorker dying because of COVID. Those are the New Yorkers that now become a priority when we look at transportation. I think that Manhattan is one of the transit rich neighborhood that we have. We have trains from the west to the east. We have all the lines covered in Manhattan. Do we have New Yorkers in Manhattan? One of these who exactly connected what you say? I understand what you say. My daughter went through the west side Montessori they went to the [inaudible 00:16:51]

I had to move from the west to the east. However, when we look about policy for the city, we have to think about the majority of New Yorkers. I think one message that I have for all New York is about, if you have a space where to park your car, go and buy the car. But if you are looking about having enough space in the city of New York to park the vehicle, we don't have [inaudible 00:17:16] island we don't have learners of state New York.

We are the more density sitting hall in the whole city. Our priority is to go through the congestion price, is to raise the revenue, is to have the billions of dollars that the MTA need in order to improve our mass transportation. Drivers, if you need a car continue having your car. If you live in some places in Brooklyn, in Queens, in Bronx and you have to walk 15 block from your home to take the train station, I understand it. If you live in Manhattan that you have a train station two block away from where you live and if you only are needing the car to go during the weekend to go out, we got to think twice if we get into the car.

Brian Lehrer: Maxine, thank you for your call even though I'm sure you're unsatisfied with that answer. This is WNYC FM HD and AM New York WNJTFM 88.1 Trenton, WNJP 88.5 Sussex, WNJY 89.3 Net Con and WNJO 90.3 Toms River. We are New York and New Jersey Public Radio and live streaming at wnyc.org with the New York City Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez for another few minutes. Commissioner, I mentioned in the intro the stat that so many more people get killed or injured on the streets than in the subways. Yet subway danger is a defining political issue right now and pedestrian and cyclists and even driver danger isn't. Why do you think that is?

Ydanis Rodriguez: Brian, we need the voice of individual like you and many orders who I know care a lot for safety for pedestrians and cyclists. To look at the data and be able to share with the whole city that in 2022 we have one of the lowest numbers of pedestrian being killed in the city of New York City. The numbers go higher when we look at motorists who are speeding and many of them are dying losing their life in our highway. You remember four months ago that there was a driver coming through the Hobson River Drive almost under the George Washington Bridge and the vehicle they were driving so fast that it went through the rail yard of the Metro-North of the Amtrak and they lose their life.

There was another drivers who almost near the [inaudible 00:19:56] 92nd Street. They were speeding. He looked at the driver was drunk. The two young teenage young lady who were in the car, they lose their life. No, New Yorkers should know that in 2022, we have one of the lowest, second lowest numbers when it come to pedestrian and cyclists who are losing their life. One is too many for DOT and for Mayor Eric Adams.

[crosstalk]

Brian Lehrer: [unintelligible 00:20:22] push you on those stats a little bit. A report released in June by the group Transportation Alternatives counted 113 people who died by traffic, what they call traffic violence in the city between January and June. That's 29% higher than the pre-pandemic year of 2018. Traffic deaths, they say word down 7% from this same time last year, but it's still up from pre-pandemic and a major killer in New York City. Can you take too much credit already?

Ydanis Rodriguez: You know what? If we look, and again, the data say as of today, what I can tell is about when you look about yes, pedestrians, the only pedestrian, what we are seeing is, so far by this year, we have lost 88 pedestrians and 14 cyclists. When you look about the other year that we've been looking at this number, we have one of the lowest number. However, when you look at the motorists, you have 33. When you look at the motor vehicle occupants, we have 53. That numbers again, most of those numbers, first of all, those individuals, unfortunately, they're losing their lives who are inside the vehicle and they are in the highway, they are speeding, they are reckless drivers, they are drunk.

Brian Lehrer: They're are dangers to themselves.

Ydanis Rodriguez: Yes. I think this is something that-- I have a lot of respect for TA family for [unintelligible 00:21:56] but I think it is important that as we have one agenda together, that we look and we segregate the numbers and understanding that with the investment that we have seen under this administration where we have improved safety in more than 1,200 intersections in the city of New York, we have seen a reduction of pedestrian and cyclists. One is too many, but we understand that we have make a lot of progress in that particular area.

Brian Lehrer: In that area, it's still overwhelmingly about cars, but you should see our caller board talking about e-bikes and scooters. A rising danger, in particular, also appears to be the proliferation of electric scooters, even separate from e-bikes. A report on Channel 7 in July that you were quoted in says, "680 people have been injured so far this year in scooter-related incidents in the city."

There was a story in the West Side Rag about a horrific incident on the Upper West Side this summer, maybe you saw it, that happened to involve a family I know personally. I have the couple from that family on the line because they want to ask you a question. We're going to bring in John and Pam from the Upper West Side. John and Pam, you're on WNYC with the Transportation Commissioner. Would you tell the listeners briefly what happened and why you were unhappy with the city's response?

John: Thank you so much. Mr. Rodriguez and Brian, thank you so much for everything you do. I am sitting here in a car parked on the side of the road after having picked up my disabled wife from physical therapy. On July 19th, Mr. Rodriguez, with all due respect to your top-of-the-show comments about how it's a pedestrian city and you want to see more people on bikes and scooters, my wife was walking legally in the crosswalk as a motorized vehicle, most or [unintelligible 00:24:08] like one of those rebel machines came over the sidewalk and smashed into her, not knowing if she was dead at the time. She suffered a traumatic brain injury from this incident.

Her life is completely turned upside down. She has lost her career. Our question to you is what can you do as long as you say you want this city to be a pedestrian and motorized scooter city, what will you do and can you do to protect all these pedestrians who are walking legally but are constantly in threat of being hit, injured, or killed by these vehicles going the wrong way, driving on the sidewalk, going against lights, and so forth? It's really quite a bigger issue.

Pam: It's lawlessness. It's utter lawlessness.

John: We need your help.

Pam: Our question is, what can you do to help this because we can't walk outside our street. We both have PTSD from this, and we can't walk outside our streets without fearing for our lives every day.

John: Finally, Mr. Rodriguez, at this point when you talk about wanting us to not use our cars, my disabled wife now needs the use of a car so I can get her to these therapy sessions and other places. She is paralyzed on her right side as a result of this and she's not the only one. It's not an isolated case as Mr. Lehrer pointed out, the 600 others injured that were reported, there may be many more that are not. Thank you so much for your attention to this.

Brian Lehrer: Thank you very much. Commissioner, go ahead.

Ydanis Rodriguez: First of all, thank you, and I'm sorry for that experience that you have. One thing that I can say, in my family, first of all, I had never say that no one should have a car. What I say is about those New Yorker that doesn't have to have a car, they should think twice before getting into. If anyone need a vehicle, for whatever need they have is it right? The street is a public space that the city should share between car owners but also cyclists and pedestrians.

We also recognize, in New York City we have a lot of transportation desert area that also we are improving our mass transportation to those location, hoping that we can connect those community giving them the option, but we do realize that there is a numbers to New Yorker that they have the vehicles and those also, we have the car share program for those New Yorkers that they don't need a car every day, that they have the resources to be able to use those vehicle in a car share formula. When it comes to a scooter, what I can tell you, first of all, we take this very seriously. We know, again, that we have the responsibility to run the largest transportation system in the whole nation.

The team that we have at DOT that is in charge of building the infrastructure, they are working 24/7 to be sure that we create a bike lane, we create for those individual that they have the bike, electric or not, to use the bike lane, but also we work with the NYPD to address the piece related to enforcement. We also have educational department at DOT, and that team, they have the ambassador that they go through community board. They meet with electoral official, they meet with the interfaith community.

There's a lot more work that we have to do because what we have seen is basically, we started seeing that increase before, but after COVID, we saw a lot of numbers on New Yorkers doing their ordering through Amazon, through UPS, buying their own scooter through those ad company. When it come to the scooter pilot program that we do in DOT, the one that we are doing in the Bronx, those entity that they are part of the pilot program, that's different because they had to maintain the control of the bike or the speed a mile that they are allow ready to use it. When it come to all the New Yorkers that they are buying a lot of electrical scooter, a lot of [unintelligible 00:28:43] the message is clear.

Intersections have been declared by Mayor Adams and I are sacred places. We had to protect pedestrian and especially senior citizens who made more than 50% of those who are injured because of crashes at intersections. The same approach that we have declaring intersections sacred is the same message that I had to anyone when it come to sidewalk.

No one should be allowed to use a bike, to use electrical scooter in the sidewalk. We work in the NYPD to be sure that we enforce the law, but also, we're working with the sheriff in New York City to be sure that we're going after those store, that they are selling illegal scooter so that they know that the message is clear, that we want to see micro-mobility playing a role in this future on New York City but in a way that should be safe for those who use it and protecting pedestrians and cyclists, especially the senior citizen population.

Brian Lehrer: Let me ask you one follow-up question and then we're out of time. John and Pam, thank you both for speaking up. I hope you're both okay, and I will point out that half to three-quarters of the callers on our board wanted to raise this issue or related issue to this with some of their near misses and other experiences. This is a big thing at least for our callers. We had John and Pam prearrange so they got to be the voice of those callers on this segment. As one follow up on the enforcement piece that you refer to the West Side Rag story on John and Pam's incident says when the actress Lisa Banes was killed last year by an E-scooter on West 64th Street, the driver was later arrested because he fled the scene.

It appears that killing her due to recklessness going through red light and failure to yield was not the crime but fleeing the killing was and it says after an immobility vehicle collision that injures or kills a pedestrian, the police tend to shy away from holding drivers accountable due to the way the law is structured unless they flee the scene or are intoxicated. I know from talking to them off the air that that was one of John and Pam's frustrations too. Do the police need to do more? Do you want to send out a message here to the NYPD or are you doing it behind the scenes to step up enforcement when there are incidents of this sort or to present them?

Ydanis Rodriguez: Brian, we have one of the best police commissioners that any city must have. They work 24/7 with Mayor Adams as you heard supporting our men and women in blue who work so hard to be sure that we're safe. We have a lot of challenges nationwide when it comes to increase of crimes and all the challenging reckless drivers have been increased nationwide is known in the city of New York and that's why we're working so hard. What I can tell you and we work together with the NYPD, so I can say that, you have seen and you will see me like in the next couple of days also with Chief [unintelligible 00:32:01] and other members of the NYPD who are responsible to do whatever they have to do to improve safety for pedestrian and cyclists, doing a lot of things together.

When it come to those irresponsible bad actors, Brian, they don't represent the majority. I think that everyone know that in all sectors there's always going to be the few bad apples and we need to be sure that we do whatever we can we have to do to make them accountable, to do enforcement, to be sure that we educate but most important, I also want to take this opportunity to encourage everyone that has a voice to support DOT as we build infrastructure of both lane and bike lane. We will continue doing a lot of enforcement, but we had to build the infrastructure that connect all community across the 5 boroughs.

What we have seen our Mayor Adam is that the approach of investing on transportation and he gave me an 18% increase in the budget to DOT. He had the additional billion dollar that I have for the next four year is that he's putting his money where his mouth is. Now we have to do a lot of work persuading all voices across the 5 boroughs that we had to continue building the infrastructure or bike lane in both lane in order to give the option for those individual who use bike, for those who use the electrical scooter to be able to have the lane where they can go. We already are planning Third Avenue from 59 to 96 Street.

There's five lanes that up to now being used only for vehicles. Now we are only leaving three for vehicles and we taking one lane that will be repurposed for bus and the other one's going to be for bike lane. This is what we will continue doing in the city of New York. It's expanding our investment infrastructure to be sure that those individual who use a scooter, who use electrical bike, they should know where they can ride those motor transportation and those who are not respecting and protecting pedestrians those who are using those electrical bike and escorting the sidewalk they should know that they're going to be consequences.

Brian Lehrer: New York City Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, we always appreciate when you come on with us. Thank you very, very much.

Ydanis Rodriguez: Thank you.

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