DRAFT Problem Statement - Residential Curb Cuts are bad because they:

• Expose pedestrians - especially children shorter than cars - to moving traffic;

• Allow driving on sidewalks;

• Encourage parking on sidewalks;

• Make pedestrians feel more vulnerable;

• Facilitate driving and short trips;

• Create inactive sidewalks with limited transparency on ground floors;

• Subsidize car parking;
• Remove valuable public right-of-way from being used for trees, planting, pedestrian amenities, bike parking or safe social gathering and play;

• Arbitrarily remove on-street parking spaces from the public;

• Are sooo suburban and ugly!
• Create a cycle of “blight” where more people want to drive to feel safe and comfortable because streets are dangerous and ugly, so they drive more and make NYC streets more unsafe, uncomfortable and ugly.

 DRAFT Coaltion Goals:

1. To cut back on the number of curb cuts for cars in NYC - epecialy curb cuts for private or exclusive use.

2. To highly tax property owners with curb cuts.

3. To raise awareness about the negative impacts of curb cuts.

4. To keep cars off of the sidewalks and in the gutter where they belong!

Planning: What steps need to be taken?

 Potential activites of the coalition:  

• Highlight through a blog examples of inappropriate and neighborhood degrading curb cuts. 

• Put coalition stickers on curb cuts to raise awareness of the issue. 

• Picket egregious examples.

• Develop a class action suit for takings claims or some other fancy legal language...

• Draft legislation to tax existing curb cuts and make new ones prohibitively expensive with revenue going directly for block association grants for parties, tree planting, traffic calming etc. Present legislation to elected officials.

• Install temporary curbs in curb cuts and plant flowers (or cactuses) inside the curb.
• Get featured on www.Curbed.com
  

Political pressure needs to be built to make new curb cuts illegal and get old ones taxed or removed.  Parking cars in urban, pedestrian friendly areas should not be free or easy for anyone.  Allowing exclusive rights to drive onto and over the sidewalk at will, while permanently reserving curb space for free, is a practice that belongs in the gutter and should be curbed.

Some coalition members have deeds to legal curb cuts but still think that they should not be allowed or at least taxed heavily.

Links:

• Illegal Curb Cuts - End the Madness
• Closing Bell: There Goes the Front Yard
• Please Give to the Anti-Curb Cut Fund!
• Curbing Illegal Curb Cuts by Targeting Self-Certification
• Curb Cutting Spreading in Carroll Gardens
• Battles Brew Over New Illegal Driveways http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2008/04/01/2008-04-01_residents_square_off_about_new_driveway_.html
  

 

Some early momentum! 

City Council Hearing on Curb Cuts

A Transportation Committee meeting chaired by Councilman John Liu regarding:

Int 213 - A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the City of New York, in relation to placing greater regulations and restraints on the creation of driveway curb cuts; ending self-certification of curb cuts by lot owners; and providing local community board notification. Proposed

Int 217-A - A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the City of New York, in relation to demarcations at mid-block pedestrian ramps on curbs.

Int 620 - A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the City of New York, in relation to requiring the illegally created curb cuts to be restored, making those who maintain illegally created curb cuts liable for penalties, requiring the department of transportation to restore illegally created curb cuts and providing for the reimbursement to the department for the cost for such work.

Int 639 - A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the City of New York, in relation to the review of curb cuts.

When

February 28, 2008   10:00 am   

Where

City Council Hearing Room
250 Broadway (bet. Park Pl. and Murray St.), 16th Floor
Manhattan

More Info

New York City Council

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