NYC NOW - January 17, 2024 : Evening Roundup

Episode Date: January 17, 2024

A Manhattan judge has denied a request to dismiss charges against Daniel Penny, the man accused of fatally choking an unhoused man, Jordan Neely on an uptown F train last year. Also, both Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams released their budgets. Plus, this week we’re looking at 10 years of Vision Zero in New York City. The program aims to eliminate traffic deaths through redesigned streets. WNYC’s Stephen Nessen examines its effects, highlighting the success on Queens Boulevard and the challenges on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Jared Marcel. A Manhattan judge is denying the request to dismiss criminal charges against Daniel Penny, a man accused of choking an unhoused man named Jordan Neely to death on an F train last year. Penny's case was in court on Wednesday. His attorneys asked the judge to toss the case because they say he was acting to protect himself and other subway riders. The Marine Corps veteran has pleaded not to.

guilty to manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges. The judge says he expects a trial no earlier than this fall. Penny's attorneys say they're confident a jury will find him not guilty. On Tuesday, both Governor Kathy Hokel and Mayor Eric Adams released their budgets. Governor Hockel's new $233 billion spending plan proposes a housing plan that would require local governments to create housing only if they want to be eligible for certain state grants and funding. Assembly Speaker Carl Hasty says any agreed upon deal must include protections for renters. You want a housing deal. There's got to be something in it for developers and tenants and labor alike for the assembly to agree. So far, the state hasn't gotten on board with such a deal.

The governor and state lawmakers have to get a budget in place by April 1st. And down to the five boroughs. New York City avoids major cuts in schools, libraries, and elderly services as part of Mayor Adams' new $109 billion budget plan. The mayor attributes the surprising shift to the city's handling of the migrant crisis, which he says save the city $2 billion. But as WNYC's Elizabeth Kim reports, the city council says the additional money is due to Adams' inaccurately accounting for higher than anticipated tax revenues.

The city did, in fact, find nearly $3 billion more in anticipated tax revenues. That's for 2024 and 2025. and that's $2 billion more than its original estimate. The mayor's final version of the budget must be completed by June 30th. Up next, we head to Queens Boulevard to see how Vision Zero, New York City's Street Safety Initiative, has transformed one of the most dangerous city roads. All this week, we're looking at 10 years of Vision Zero in New York City. The program aims to eliminate traffic deaths through redesigned streets.

One of its great successes can be found on Queens Boulevard, which was once known as the Boulevard of Death. But Vision Zero also has its failures like Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. WNYC Stephen Nesson takes a look at the two roads. Ask a cyclist riding on Queens Boulevard what it's like these days, and he might say something like... This change is a big change. That's 48-year-old Miguel Salas, who's been biking in this area for over 20 years. But over on Atlantic Avenue, it's a different story. The streets on Atlantic Avenue are, I think, treacherous.

They are definitely, could be more, there could be done to make them favor. 47-year-old Mielei Moreno is from East New York. She's bundled up on this windy day. She says 10 years after Vision Zero launched, the historically dangerous road through her neighborhood feels like an afterthought. but still, you know, it's a traffic-heavy sort of street and car still speed. Call it a tale of two streets. In 2013 and 2014, the two roads saw the same death toll.

Ten people were killed in traffic on Atlantic Avenue and ten people were killed in traffic on Queens Boulevard. But Mayor Bill de Blasio chose to single out Queens Boulevard for improvements when he launched Vision Zero. Queens Boulevard is tragically legendary. We all became used to the phrase the Boulevard of death. That's de Blasio in 2015, announcing a $100 million plan to reduce crashes on the boulevard. Pedestrian crossings were redesigned.

New bike lanes were painted, some of them protected with concrete barriers, along the seven-mile stretch of roadway. No longer were anyone's life. be threatened simply by virtue of walking or biking or driving on this street. This is one of the actions we're taking all over the city. The changes paid off. Since Vision Zero began a decade ago, there have been 11 deaths on Queens Boulevard. There were even three years with not a single person killed.

Atlantic Avenue didn't get the same attention from the city. One mile of Medians were upgraded with new plants, but that didn't do much to change traffic. Since Vision Zero launched, 40 people have been killed in traffic along Atlantic Avenue. That's nearly four times more deaths than on Queens Boulevard over the same period. The end result? Lives saved on one roadway,

while lives continue to be lost on the other. Atlantic Avenue is one of the last boulevards of deaths. That's John Orcut, the director of Bike New York. He says he doesn't blame de Blasio, who had to pick and choose which street improvements to fight for, He says the mayor had to focus his political will on the worst street, which at that time was Queens Boulevard. He says, fast forward to today, and Mayor Adams hasn't done anything about Atlantic. It needs to come up on the radar further.

If you want to be the public safety mayor and reduce the traffic, you need to go where the chaos is. I went to where Orkut says the chaos is. I'm standing on the corner of Logan Street and Atlantic Avenue. This is a six-lane highway, essentially. You can hear the trucks rumbling by. The car's honking, constantly jockeying, trying to get ahead of each other. It's a chaotic roadway, to say the least. Back in 2003, a baby and two women were killed here by a hit-and-run driver.

The city has hardly redesigned the street, despite promises to make it safer. Hey, can I talk to you for a second? At dusk on a recent evening, cruising cautiously along the sun. sidewalk on a single-gear road bike is 48-year-old Louise Tavares. He's heading home from his nearby job where he works for a paratransit company. He still has a clipboard from work in one hand and says he wishes Atlantic was as safe as Queens Boulevard. Yes, because I've been hit twice. When you're coming down Atlantic, no one obeys the stop signs.

So it's either between riding on the street or riding on the sidewalk, and I prefer to ride on the sidewalk sometimes because I'm afraid of getting him. with cars zooming past by one, you know? I asked the Department of Transportation about improvements it's made to Atlantic Avenue. The agency pointed to three and a half miles of new bike lanes in East New York, far away from Atlantic, close to Jamaica Bay. And DOT says those changes to the median on Atlantic were effective and reduced pedestrian injuries by 39% along that stretch,

and cyclist injuries by 14%. But there's just no. comparison to the improvements on Queens Boulevard. I'm standing on the corner of Queens Boulevard and Broadway. Much like Atlantic Avenue, there is a lot of traffic here, but there is a major difference between the two roadways. I'm watching folks crossing a very large, wide, well-painted crosswalk. And while a bus did just go zooming past, folks could stand in the median, protected from

the traffic, and wait for the bus to cross. That's a big difference that Atlantic doesn't have. Hey, excuse me. Can I bother you for one second? 37-year-old Brian Roth is a middle school history teacher. He rides a city bike from his home in Jackson Heights to Bushwick every day. And he says crossing Queens Boulevard is a breeze. You know, I go through this every day in the morning during rush hour and right now,

and I've never had a close call or anything. And I can see why. This roadway also has two bike lanes, one going in each direct. with green paint, and there's some plastic ballards to protect the bikers and some concrete jersey barriers on the other side. Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Renoso had a front row seat Division Zero as a council member when de Blasio launched the program. Now, Renoso wants to see Mayor Adams put that same kind of energy

into redesigning all of Atlantic Avenue. Bill de Blasio was willing to expand political capital to get this done. I don't necessarily know if this mayor, given his history on these transportation projects that we've seen, if this is something that is going to be prioritized. Renoso is referring to Mayor Adams, buckling to pressure when it comes to street safety projects. Adams canceled plans for a dedicated bus lane on Fordham Road in the Bronx, dramatically scaled back a McGinnis Boulevard bike lane in Greenpoint, and shortened another bike lane on Ashland Place in Fort Green,

after pushback from developers. While there's no grand redesign in store for Atlantic Avenue, there are 13 blocks in Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, and Bedstay that could be rezoned for new development. New buildings come with street safety improvements, but that rezoning process will likely take years. And while locals wait for changes to Atlantic Avenue, there's actually more money coming for Queens Boulevard.

The federal government recently awarded the city $30 million, much of which will be used. for further safety improvements on the roadway. Atlantic Avenue was left off the feds list. Stephen Nesson, WNYC News. That's WNYC Transportation Reporter, Stephen Nesson. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day.

I'm Jared Marcell. We'll be back tomorrow.