Promises, Promises

Nicole Gelinas, writing in City and State last week, asked if the 2013 campaign was turning out to be the “Complete-Streets Election.”  While the mayoral candidates still tend to dance around the subject of bike lanes–when not trashing them outright– the candidates in my backyard aren’t shy about how important safe streets are this election season.

In City Council District 33, incumbent Stephen Levin and challenger Stephen Pierson recently sent out mailings in support of their campaigns, and better streets for cyclists and pedestrians are a big part of each.  (Full disclosure: StreetsPAC, on which I serve as a board member, recently endorsed Levin in this race.)

Here’s the relevant part of Levin’s mailing:

Pierson’s mailing also features some livable streets promises:

In 2011, bike lanes were considered the “third rail of New York City politics.”  Today, as TA’s Noah Budnick told Gelinas, “No serious candidates is going to run against these things.”