“You’re either on the bus, or you’re off the bus.”

— Tom Wolfe

Twenty years ago I was a member of Community Board Two. I was assigned to Traffic & Transportation committee. The DOT sent a few of Bloomberg’s Harvard boys to the meeting to describe the changes that would be implemented in SoHo, the Village, and Tribeca. There was a lot of eye-rolling and nods as they went through the proposal. The only question that mattered, like the new scam called Congestion Pricing, was how will the disabled, seniors, parents with baby carriages — be able to cross the street without being hit by marauding Jerseyites or other-worldly travelers.

The guarantee was emphatic. There would be more Traffic Agents. The streets, street-corners, crosswalks — would be monitored and pedestrians of all persuasions would be protected.

That was before the bike lanes, half of SoHo being dedicated to Lyft, Inc., Citibike, Citibank — owned bike stanchions and bikes taking up close to half of the parking that Transportation Associates prefers to allocate to not-autos. Including those spaces that the disabled and seniors used in order to get into a taxi 0r private vehicle. But they only give a shit about collecting membership fees and controlling downtown politicians — including people like Deborah Glick, shortly to collect a nice pension, compliments of us and the Village people. Fuck SoHo is the new Democratic Maga slogan.

Then we have the fact that a few Traffic Agents were hired — and are forced to watch vehicles NOT pedestrians, whether disabled, old, or simply in a wheelchair, not to mention pushing a baby carriage — continue to block crosswalks.

Widen the sidewalks, narrow Canal street to one lane in each direction and sell more fake Rolexes. Imagine! The massive traffic jam on Canal Street with two less lanes!

Are you fucking kidding? Oh, and by the way, none of the Traffic Agents are permitted to ticket.

Do something! Write letters to DOT, the Mayor, City Council, inundate them!

Dear Neighbor, We desperately need you to stop the cockamamie proposal by the Department of Transportation (DOT) to shrink traffic lanes in each direction on Canal Street from three lanes down to two by widening the sidewalks, as well as other ill-advised plans.  How can you stop this? DOT wants your opinion and feedback. View the proposal here and complete the online survey. Answer the questions and let DOT know directly what you think of their wasteful and senseless boondoggle. Residents United Against DOT Scheme                Last Wednesday over 100 people plus 75 more on Zoom attended a public forum on the matter. Most people were not pleased. Many were outraged. Residents from all over Downtown – the Lower East Side, the Bowery corridor, Chinatown, Little Italy, TriBeCa and SoHo – joined together in their opposition to the scheme.  Ostensibly floated as a safety measure, in reality eliminating two traffic lanes will only provide yet more free space for unlicensed peddlers to sell their counterfeit goods to obliging tourists.  Not to mention the inevitable increased congestion on that often gridlocked thoroughfare. In response to residents’ fears that sidewalk expansion will only serve to invite more unlicensed peddlers, DOT disingenuously responded that enforcement would solve that, ignoring the fact that 25 years of “enforcement” has only seen the problem worsen. Grand Street residents also objected to a proposal to construct a two-way bike lane there.  They argued that Grand Street is among the narrowest in the city, only eight feet wide, and that pedestrians are often forced to walk in the street to avoid bumping into each other on the sidewalk. If an additional bike lane is added, where will pedestrians go? DOT had no answer. Lack of forethought was further evident regarding the proposal to eliminate left turns for eastbound Canal Street traffic at both West Broadway and Greene Street.  That proposal means eastbound vehicles would have to travel all the way over to Centre Street – almost half a mile – to turn north and then loop back to enter central SoHo, further congesting and polluting our streets.  To be fair, there were a couple of sensible proposals in the slew of foolish ones — for instance: new, painted crosswalks, as well as curb extensions at intersections to reduce crossing distances for pedestrians.  The DOT spokesperson said that their proposals were not set in stone, more a work in progress, and wanted to hear residents’ feedback via their survey. However, the first phase of this proposal is set to begin July 2026. What Can You Do To Stop This? Let DOT hear from you! Answer the survey and let DOT know you oppose its silly scheme. Send the link to your friends and neighbors. To stop this boondoggle, we must make DOT realize that we know what is best for our community, not them. PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL Sincerely, Sean Sweeney DirectorSoHo AllianceA Volunteer Community AssociationPO Box 429 New York, NY 10012212-353-8466info@sohoalliance.orgsohoalliance.org

Above: Citibike Residential Madness Below: Madness on Canal Street/Broadway