Mayor Zahran Mamdani abandoned one of his campaign pledges when his administration seemingly grappled with the reality of implementing a pro-pedestrian parking policy — leaving transit advocates in the crosshairs.
Transportation Secretary Mike Flynn admitted at a City Council meeting on Tuesday that the administration had not taken a “universal daylight” approach at the Big Apple’s 40,000 intersections — in direct contradiction to Democratic Socialist election campaign promises.
“Daylighting” is a pro-pedestrian initiative that prohibits parking near crosswalks, but Flynn said the city will look at intersections on a case-by-case basis.
“Daylight is certainly an important tool, but as a few of us have mentioned previously, we always take a holistic approach, really looking at the unique conditions and context of each site,” he said.
Mamdani declared at a mayor’s forum last February that “we deserve to have it all.” [intersections] daylight.”
Enabling a comprehensive daylighting system could eliminate 300,000 parking spaces across New York and cost the city up to $3 billion.
The shift is the latest flip-flop by the mayor, who took office in January as he grapples with the realities of running the massive operation of city government.
Mamdani was called a “class traitor” by some of his fellow Democratic Socialists of America after he restarted sweeps of homeless encampments during the recent cold snap that killed 29 New Yorkers, despite his pledge to stop the policy.
Hizzoner also promised that his freebie-filled agenda would be funded by higher income taxes on the rich, but now he’s threatening to raise property taxes by nearly 10% to balance his first budget as mayor.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature would have to approve the income tax increase, but Mamdani and the City Council could raise property taxes without state approval.
“The Mamdani administration is committed to following the data, listening to the evidence, and working with the City Council and our experienced advocacy partners to effectively expand daylighting and maximize street safety across the five boroughs,” Mamdani spokeswoman Dora Piekic said in a statement.