Kevin Duggan

‘Broadway Vision’: City Will Revamp Six More Blocks By 2031 - Streetsblog New York City New York City is designing six blocks of Broadway in Manhattan to emphasize pedestrians and outdoor dining. But it will take a long time.

The city will rebuild a section of Broadway north of the Flatiron, replacing painted plazas and shared streets with concrete. But the six-block buildout will take until 2031 and cost more than $150 million. nyc.streetsblog.org/2026/02/27/b...

Meanwhile on Fifth Avenue, the "pedestrian first" plan still includes three lanes of through traffic. nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/12/03/o...

Mamdani's FDNY Spews Anti-Street Safety Talking Points at Bizarre Council Hearing - Streetsblog New York City FDNY and DOT were at cross-purposes during a bikelash Council hearing.

FDNY brass fanned the flames of a bikelash City Council hearing, calling the safety of protected bike lanes into question without any data to back that up, and contradicting DOT officials sitting right next to them. nyc.streetsblog.org/2026/02/26/m...

I say claims, because DOT keeps a clear lane wide enough for FDNY access, as seen here bsky.app/profile/kevi...

Chief Woods claims that the FDNY doesn't use protected bike lanes for emergency vehicle access.

“We don’t use the bike lanes because we’re concerned that we could actually hit a bicyclist in that bike lane," he says.

“We don’t use a bike lane and we don’t stress our members to use a bike lane."

Per DOT's website: “It is illegal to park within 15 feet of either side of a fire hydrant, including on floating parking lanes (next to protected bike lanes).” www.nyc.gov/html/dot/htm...

Kevin Woods, Chief of Fire Operations at FDNY, walks back an earlier comment that FD opposes protected bike lanes.

"We’re not against protected bike lanes, we’re against the complexity that it brings on and we’re willing to work with DOT," Chief Woods says.

Chief Woods says they need more than the standard 30 feet clearance for a hydrant when there's a protected bike lane.

The DOT official sitting right next to him says this is the first time he's hearing that FDNY needs more clearance.

CM Ariola is now showing a slideshow of locations she claims are more dangerous, like this section of Court Street, which recently got a road diet and a protected bike lane.

Worth noting that the area's CM @cmrestler.bsky.social opposes her law for firehouse consultation

Now CM Simcha Felder says he doesn't trust the city's safety stats of bike lanes.

Notes he's an accountant by training, claiming you can get any numbers you want.

Ariola and Restler get into a back and forth, with Ariola saying DOT is moving forward without consultation from FDNY, while Restler says he's never encountered a project in his district where that consultation hasn't happened.

Restler says he's disappointed that the FDNY leadership on the panel are calling into question the safety of protected bike lanes.

He backs the mayor's evidence-based approach to making streets safer.

Restler urges FDNY to put timelines on its firehouse reviews, so DOT doesn't get zero feedback and projects linger forever.

From what I understand, DOT doesn't have to wait for the firehouse feedback to proceed.

CM Restler, who voted against the legislation, says he did so because he worries it will gum up the works and notes that it has been used in lawsuits to do just that.

A good example is in Astoria, where a judge has ordered DOT to rip out a half-done bike lane nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/12/05/q...

“DOT you’ve gone wild on our streets of New York," says CM Paladino.

Calls it "insane" that the agency has "put bike riders, bus lanes, and bike racks over fire fighters."

Woods says the city should repurpose parking for "cut-outs" on some busy single-lane streets.

Nobody wants to lose their real estate or their parking spots but we need cut outs for drivers to pull into so trucks can get past, the chief says.

Ariola accuses DOT of showing a "blatant disregard" for people's safety by installing planters in the street, claiming these obstruct emergency response

Chief Woods says that a protected bike lane "reduces the real estate in that street."

Mentions that drivers no longer can pull over, or ladders have to deploy further away from the curb.

Unmentioned is that first responders can and often do use PBLs to bypass traffic.

A DOT official testifies that all of its projects have been designed with more than a decade of back-and-forth with the fire department in mind

Some DOT projects need to consult with more than one firehouse, if it spans across several districts.

It's up to the captain and company officers to provide that feedback, but there's no deadline for them to file it (DOT can also move ahead without feedback).

FDNY gets feedback from firehouses on projects about 40% of the time, according to an agency official

FDNY Chief Woods says he doesn't "believe the plans of the open streets were shared with us."

CM Ariola chastises DOT for not notifying FDNY about open streets projects.

DOT's increase of these so-called "major transportation projects" has meant a growing backlog at FDNY in reviewing them, which "slows the process down," says Kevin Woods, Chief of Fire Operations at FDNY

Council Member Joann Ariola is holding an oversight hearing on the impact of her legislation requiring DOT to notify not only FDNY HQ but also the local firehouses for any street redesign/open street that is more than three blocks long

The above could make a solid counter-argument in favor of DOT control, IMO, given that it manages traffic and everything in the roadbed.

In response to a caller complaining about outdoor dining allegedly causing traffic, Menin says she wants to ensure the sheds don't do that or obstruct emergency vehicles.

Unclear if there's any proof they block either, since the structures take up what is usually free street parking.

Menin also questions giving the program to DOT.
I don’t know why we’d give it to a transit agency, Menin says.
She favors shifting it to the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, which ran the far smaller sidewalk cafe licensing program pre-pandemic (and which Menin headed under de Blasio).

NYC Council Speaker Julie Menin says on WNYC this morning that there are "certain blocks that have over-saturation" of outdoor dining structures, and that she will meet with community groups next week to address those concerns.

FLASHBACK: What Happened To Car-Free 'Snow Routes' — And Could They Have Helped City Clear the Streets? - Streetsblog New York City What happened to the bright red signs that banned parking from snow emergency routes in New York City?

NYC used to ban parking on certain snow routes to help clear the white stuff faster, but swept away the policy during the Bloomberg administration to give drivers a break, @jktrotter.bsky.social and @emilylip.bsky.social report. nyc.streetsblog.org/2026/02/06/w...

YouTube video by Streetsblog NYC Outdoor dining is coming back to NYC year-round #nycfood #restaurant #nyc #news

NYC Council Speaker Julie Menin announced on Wednesday morning that the city would restore a year-round outdoor dining program.

Streetsblog's @kevinduggan.bsky.social explains how we got here: youtube.com/shorts/A2pxj...