As anticipated, last night the DOT revealed forthcoming changes planned for Delancey Street, one of the most dangerous thoroughfares in the city. In five years, 129 people have been hurt in traffic crashes at the intersections of Delancey and Essex and Delancey and Clinton, and three pedestrians have been killed on Delancey in the past year. In response to calls for safety improvements, the DOT presented the plan [pdf] to the local Community Board last night. more ›

In the wake of the death of 12-year-old Dashane Santana, who was struck and killed crossing Delancey Street last Friday, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is asking the Department of Transportation to assign crossing guards to the dangerous thoroughfare. "With traffic coming on and off the Williamsburg Bridge and a wide area for pedestrians to cross, there is an urgent need for a more aggressive approach to safety," Silver wrote in a letter to commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan obtained by DNAinfo. "We simply cannot wait for another tragedy to occur." more ›

Dashane Santana, the 12-year-old girl who was struck and killed by a minivan crossing Delancey Street yesterday had dreams of attending Juilliard and becoming an actress. "She was a loving little girl—that was my girl," Santana's mother, Shamika Benjamin told the Post. Benjamin seemed to confirm the accounts of two witnesses who said that Santana was held up in the middle of the street as the traffic light turned green. "She was crossing the street when she dropped her bookbag." Police have not charged the 58-year-old driver of the van, and are deeming the tragedy an accident. more ›

Today in Maddening News Of The New Year, we learn that the much-maligned BQE will continue to be under construction pretty much forever, as it has been for all time. It's not exactly new news, but at least we get some historical context for the headache. more ›

A Staten Island artist/activist spent the morning dressed up as a Christmas tree and wishing commuters a ferry Merry Christmas, in protest against the DOT's ban on holiday decorations in the terminals. Scott LoBaido, whom you may recall from previous stunts such as paying the $10 Verrazano Bridge toll in pennies and trying to hang his own art in protest at the Brooklyn Museum, is upset about the decoration ban, like many other commuters. But instead of just griping about it, the Staten Island Advance reports that he ensconced himself in this impressive-looking tree and went forth to spread holiday cheer. more ›

Staten Island has HAD IT with the War on Religious Holidays That Have Been Secularlized To The Point Of Insipidity. So says the editorial board of the Staten Island Advance, who penned an article entitled "Bureaucratic Cowardice" in response to the DOT's decision to remove Christmas and Hanukkah decorations from the Staten Island ferry terminals. "It’s out of some warped sense of political correctness that the people in charge of places that attract a lot of traffic…seem to live in abject terror of offending a handful of cranks." Who's worse: litigious cranks or cranks on an editorial board? more ›

There's been a bit of an uproar among commuters who use the Staten Island Ferry, which has been stripped of the holiday decorations that formerly livened up the terminals in Manhattan and Staten Island. The DOT has taken away the "holiday" tree and the big electric Hanukkah menorahs, which Rabbi Moshe Katzman has provided every year for decades. DOT spokesman Seth Solomonow issued a statement explaining the new policy, suggesting that the change is mainly about "keeping the passenger terminal clear" to "allow staff and crew to focus on their primary mission: Getting the system’s 65,000 daily commuters where they need to go safely and on schedule." But could there possibly be more than a desire for "clear" terminals at work here? more ›

Following the news of marked improvements for pedestrians and cyclists traveling around Grand Army Plaza, the DOT has announced [pdf] new improvements around Prospect Park's southeast entrance, including closing the East Drive entrance to automobiles. According to the agency, 20 people are injured at this corner every year, and Streetsblog notes that closing the entrance allows for a realigning of the crosswalks, which "should make motorists more aware of people walking across the street." 57% of the crashes between pedestrians and vehicles at Ocean and Parkside between 2005 and 2009 occurred when the pedestrian had the walk signal. more ›

The DOT has released its report on cycling in NYC and determined that the number of people who commute by bicycle has increased 8% over last year. (Read it below) Overall, bike riding has increased 102% compared to 2007 and by 289% compared to 2001, says the DOT, which measures commuter cyclists by counting them at the four East River bridges, the Hudson River Greenway at 50th Street, and the Whitehall ferry terminal. An average of 18,846 cyclists per day was recorded this year, up from 17,491 in 2010. The DOT attributes the increase in large part to Steve Cuozzo the DOT: more ›

Bad news for anyone who commutes on four wheels, ever tries to get out of the city, or lives remotely near the highway: the BQE and the Gowanus expressway won't be getting better anytime soon. The city has just killed plans to revamp and repair major chunks of both expressways, citing, unsurprisingly, a lack of cash. more ›

DOT uses / Money from drunk driver fines / To buy new haikus! Today DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan unveiled the first of 216 safety signs featuring colorful artwork and haikus. The signs will be installed at a dozen high-crash locations near cultural institutions and schools citywide, using state money collected from DWI fines. Haikus for safer streets! We can't wait to hear what cantankerous NY Post columnist Steve Cuozzo has to say about this! ("In the good old days / Cars ran poets down like dogs / Wrote rhymes with their blood.") more ›

The Claremont neighborhood of the Bronx has become the first neighborhood in NYC to be transformed into an idyllic "Slow Zone" by the DOT. While the department already has many 20 mph reduced speed zones on streets around schools, the Claremont slow zone is the first to cover a large swath of a neighborhood, with "gateway" signs that clearly indicate the entrance of the slow zone, and 28 new signs marking the 20 mph speed limit in and around the zone. And the zone itself is "self-enforcing," because the quarter-square-mile area comes complete with 14 speed bumps that will force maniac drivers to take it easy. more ›

You'll recall that last month a private bus company was allegedly caught requiring female passengers to sit in the back of a public bus that connects the predominantly Hasidic neighborhoods of South Williamsburg and Borough Park. The company, Private Transportation Corporation, pays the city $20,000 a year to operate the bus route, and while the owner denies any gender segregation, several female reporters with different media outlets found that they were expected to move to the back. And though the company promised the DOT this sort of thing isn't happening, the Hasidic watchdog blog Failed Messiah has obtained a hard copy of their schedule that tells a very different story. more ›

Hey, Brooklyn: If you're planning to get out of town on this long Veteran's Day Weekend, better do it fast—and think about taking Monday off, too—because there are all sorts of traffic nightmares awaiting you in the next 55 hours. more ›

You may not have noticed because you're an on-the-go New Yorker making things happen with your big city ambition and consistent failure to call your mother, but there is a desperate shortage of places to sit down and catch your breath in this town! Soon enough, that will be remedied, as the DOT today announced an ambitious plan to install 1,000 new CityBenches throughout NYC over the next three years. Take a look at the cool new design you'll probably be too busy to ever enjoy. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg and the Department of Transportation are hoping that a new website will solve one of the biggest headaches facing New York drivers. No, not bicycles but constantly ripped up roads. "We’re going to fix something that has aggravated New Yorkers for years, with good reason," Bloomberg said at a press conference yesterday. "That is, why do our streets get torn up, repaved and then sometimes torn up all over again [after] for another project?" If the new site, the Street Works Manual (accompanying PDF here), works as advertised then companies like ConEd will start syncing up their street construction with other companies and city agencies. And that's not all! more ›

The Department of Transportation dazzled curious Greenwich Village residents last night at the Manhattan Community Board 2 meeting with a presentation [pdf] about the much-anticipated bike share program. Slated to launch in July 2012, the program will initially service Manhattan below 81st Street and reach as far into Brooklyn as Park Slope, Bed-Stuy, and Crown Heights—an area with 1.2 million residents that sees more than 2 million daily commuters and visitors. The key points: more ›

Crossing the street just got a little less treacherous for blind people at 25 intersections in all four boroughs (sorry, Staten Island). New Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS) introduced today feature a "distinct clicking sound" at certain intersection to let sight-impaired pedestrians know when the “walk” phase has begun. It's a heavy blow for Good Samaritans, who have been helping blind people cross the road for centuries—already installed at 21 other intersections, the DOT's new Machines are slowly but steadily rendering human kindness obsolete. more ›

So you've been given the job of being a "pedestrian safety manager" on one of the city's Brooklyn/Manhattan bridges. From now until November 26 you have the fun duty of trying to bring peace between the bikers and walkers going over the spans between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays (noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays). What do you think your hourly salary is? more ›

If you're chomping at the handlebar to get a taste of some sweet, sweet NYC Bike Share action, you don't have to wait until next summer. The DOT is holding a bike share demonstration today from noon until 4:00 p.m. in DUMBO at the Manhattan Bridge Archway on Water & Adams Streets. Get your questions answered, give the DOT feedback, and take a bike for a spin. It's a perfect day for a ride. more ›

Capitulating to pressure from City Council, the mayor's office and the DOT have agreed to hold public hearings regarding the new bike-share program before it is implemented. "No one is against bike-share—it's something that every major city across the world is adopting and bracing," councilmember Leroy Comrie tells the Times, "But what I don't want to see happen is a pattern develop, where City Hall finds ways to exclude Council from its natural role." Exactly, you want Council to be properly informed before making a huge decision of policy. more ›