LESSONS LEARNED WHILE ON THE BEAT
Open our streets, reimagine our city
COURIER LIFE, MAY 7-13, 2021 41
WITH BROOKLYN BOROUGH PRESIDENT ERIC ADAMS
How to bring New Yorkers back to the subways
Like much of our city’s public
infrastructure, our
transit system was devastated
when the COVID-19 pandemic
fi rst hit New York.
Riders fl ed the system in
record numbers as the virus
spread, ripping a hole in the
MTA’s budget and leaving its future
in doubt. Faced with a grim
fi scal picture, transit offi cials
fl oated the possibility of mass
layoffs and draconian service
cutbacks to ensure long-term
solvency. For the fi rst time in its
history, the 24 hours a day system
that once ensured that New
York City never slept, went dark
in the early morning hours.
Fortunately, the future of
our public transit system is now
looking much brighter - thanks
in part to a major infusion of
cash from the federal government,
robust evidence showing
a low risk of transmission
underground, and the recent
announcement that subways
would return to 24/7 service
starting May 17th. But while
ridership is on the rise, it remains
stubbornly low - roughly
40 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
And while it is understandable
that our system has not rebounded
totally as New Yorkers
have not fully returned to work,
the primary reason people are
avoiding the system is not what
many would expect.
A recent survey conducted
by the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority (MTA) of
more than 33,000 riders found
that crime and harassment
were the biggest concerns for
current and lapsed riders, with
36 percent of respondents who
relied on the subway before the
pandemic said they “are not
using transit because of crime
and harassment.” These concerns
are shared by our transit
workers, who have experienced
an uptick in attacks:
In the past six months, more
than 1,000 transit workers have
been assaulted, according to
MTA data. In addition, a recent
rise in hate crimes above and
below-ground, particularly
against Asian New Yorkers,
have left many people feeling
scared and vulnerable.
This is not about fear-mongering.
Our subway system is
still, thankfully, a far cry from
the bad old days. But the perception
that our subways are
unsafe is real, and cannot be
dismissed out of hand. That’s
why we must take proactive
steps to address these concerns
and encourage New Yorkers to
ride our subways again.
We must start by reforming
our 311 system to ensure law
enforcement or an appropriate
professional is deployed to the
right location when necessary.
Under the city’s current laws,
the 311 system cannot refer any
call to an agency unless the
complaint lists a specifi c address,
which are not assigned
to subway stations. That needs
to change immediately.
Next, we must recognize
that many of the crimes being
committed on the subway are
perpetrated by people suffering
from severe mental health
issues - such as Rigoberto Lopez,
who committed a series
of subway stabbings in the
course of one night earlier this
year. That’s why we should
strengthen the use of Kendra’s
Law, initially passed after a
horrifi c murder of Kendra Webdale
in the subway, which provides
for court-ordered assisted
outpatient treatment for individuals
with serious mental
health issues who are deemed a
threat to themselves or others.
Making riders feel comfortable
using the system will also
require coordinating our entire
ecosystem of public safety -
not just police. That means supporting
funding for bystander
intervention training through
partnerships with organizations
like Hollaback! to defuse
tense situations with appropriate
training.
Ultimately, the course of
our city’s recovery from the
COVID-19 pandemic will be
determined by how quickly
our transit system bounces
back, and with more riders and
more “eyes on the street” we
can expect public safety to improve
as well. There have been
promising signs in the past
few months - but bringing riders
back remains of paramount
importance. As someone who
began his career as part of the
Transit Police, I know how critical
perceptions of safety are to
the health of our subway system.
I am committed to ensuring
all New Yorkers feel safe
underground.”
Eric Adams is borough
president of Brooklyn. He served
22 years in the New York City
Police Department (NYPD), retiring
at the rank of captain, as
well as represented District 20
in the New York State Senate.
Borough President Eric Adams.
OP-ED
BY JUSTIN KREBS
Every Saturday from
last July to December, Mark
and Joanna of the Fifth Avenue
Business Improvement
District schlepped the blue
wooden barriers into the intersections
of Fifth Avenue in
Brooklyn to let cars know the
street was closed to them. And
in doing so, they opened the
streets to everyone else.
The Fifth Avenue Open
Streets — and others like it
around the city — give New
Yorkers a safe way to gather
outside their homes, a new
public realm where we can
walk, bike, scoot, play, and
sit. They provide a lifeline to
restaurants and bars that can
now offer outdoor seating, a
boost to retail, and makeshift
spaces to perform, helping to
set the stage for the Open Culture
program.
To prepare for the renewal
of Open Streets this spring,
the Fifth Avenue BID ran a Go-
FundMe campaign to ensure
it wouldn’t just be Joanna and
Mark hauling the blue barriers
and pacing up and down the
avenue. They happily raised
$55,000 so far, enough to staff
up — and, with the BID’s commitment
to invest from its own
budget to cover any shortfall,
these funds may expand Open
Streets to Sundays from July to
September as well.
While this sounds like a
happy ending, there’s a problem
in this story: the city’s lack
of leadership and investment
in a public good. The city has
allowed these Open Streets to
exist — but moving forward the
city can do more to create, preserve,
and support them, and
protect the community members
volunteering to help them
succeed.
First off, the city should invest
fi nancially. Every time you
sing the praises of a successful
GoFundMe for a public space,
you’re also actually whispering
about a lack of public investment.
(The same is true of
medical bill fundraisers which
should be made obsolete by single
payer health care.) It’s great
that the Fifth Avenue BID was
able to raise the funds, presumably
mostly from Park Slope
neighbors. But most communities
citywide, especially those
suffering from congestion and
lack of quality open space, don’t
have the organizational infrastructure
or local fundraising
capacity to achieve this.
We’ve seen this play out
over the years where some
parks have well-heeled “friends
of” groups and others fall into
disrepair, or in schools where
some PTAs can fund teaching
aides or Chromebooks and
other schools have no arts, music
or science programs. When
we rely on the ability to conduct
local fundraising, we exacerbate
inequities—meaning
some neighborhoods can afford
Open Streets and some cannot.
Add in that it required the
incredible capacity of the Fifth
Avenue BID. If your neighborhood
doesn’t have a civic or
business association, it’s harder
to do this work — or you may
have an association that’s overwhelmed
with other challenges
from vacant storefronts to traffi
c fatalities to food insecurity.
Second, right now, neighborhood
organizations and individual
businesses are working
without certainty. Will the
rules change in a few weeks or
a few months for outdoor dining?
Will Open Streets have
consistent days and hours —
will they be able to continue
into the fall? Into next year?
While most Open Streets have
moved beyond the pop-up feel
of last summer, they still live in
the unknown — which affects
how they invest resources and
their ability to plan long-term.
Throughout my work in
parks, open space, culture,
block associations, parent organizing,
and more, I’ve always
sought to invest in the
commons — creating the physical
and virtual spaces where
we gather, where we fi nd life
beyond our homes, fi nd life and
joy and connection in the public
realm, and have the opportunities
to build community
connections and create social
capital. To me, this energy is
critical for the success of our
city — and this model a tremendous
opportunity.
Justin Krebs is National Director
of Campaigns at MoveOn,
a member of the PS39 Parents
Association, and a candidate for
the 39th Council District.