Looking at the cars in your neighborhood, you probably assume that most are coming to or from somewhere nearby. But actually, a majority is cut-through traffic. These drivers aren’t your neighbors, and they’re not visiting a resident or a local business — they’re just using your small, residential streets kind of like a thruway. In Brooklyn's Community Board 6, it's at 76%! That's three out of every four drivers just using those streets to get somewhere else. 

Think the traffic outside your window is from your neighborhoods? Actually, up to 90% of drivers in NYC neighborhoods are just using local streets as a shortcut. 'Cut-through driving' is turning residential blocks into miniature unofficial thruways and creating chaos, pollution, and unsafe streets for residents.

We have helped 21 community boards pass daylighting resolutions, demonstrating to DOT that New Yorkers want safer intersections and they're willing to trade some street parking to get them. These grassroots efforts are extremely powerful, but our best chance at widespread change is a new bill, now in the City Council, that would mandate New York City daylight all intersections and put items - like planters, seating, or bike racks - in the spots.

Our 2025 Agenda for a Livable City is live! These are the policies we'll be working to get enacted before the year is through. Among a bunch of bills and bright ideas are five priorities we see as the biggest opportunities for making real change in 2025.

New York City’s streets are world-renowned for their culture, vitality and dynamism. But these qualities don’t materialize out of thin air – they’re a product of dedicated leadership and bold imaginations right in our own backyard. It’s this work, day-in and day-out, that builds a more equitable, people-centered future for our city. This year, we’re recognizing seven neighborhood leaders and groups doing the extraordinary, too-often unseen work of creating and caring for spaces in their local communities.

Happy first week of congestion pricing to all who celebrate! Who should celebrate? Literally everyone, because whether you're waiting on a late bus, playing Frogger to cross the street, or stuck in record-setting car traffic, congestion pricing will be good for you. But the City can't just sit back and celebrate. We must put the newly freed street space to work, reclaiming and reusing it to double down on congestion pricing's impact. 

The dust has settled on the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity City Council vote and we can clearly see the new picture of parking requirements across the city. So what did we get?

Halloween has to be one of our most public space-y holidays, right? It's all about strolling your neighborhood, seeing and being seen, soaking up the festival atmosphere as you visit with fellow revelers. This tradition hinges on having a walkable community where people aren't too far apart, you know the folks who live next door, and the sidewalks and streets are safe for kids to wander at night. In other words - it hinges on livability.

We’ve talked a lot during the lengthy public review process about why lifting parking mandates in City of Yes is crucial to building more affordable housing and a more livable city. With a just a few weeks left before City Council votes on a final version of this historic text amendment, we want to talk specifics.

Halloween has to be one of our most public space-y holidays, right? It's all about strolling your neighborhood, seeing and being seen, soaking up the festival atmosphere as you visit with fellow revelers. This tradition hinges on having a walkable community where people aren't too far apart, you know the folks who live next door, and the sidewalks and streets are safe for kids to wander at night. In other words - it hinges on livability.

We sat down with Maryam and Andy, the couple behind The Longest Table, a joyous community potluck that draws 1,000 people to their Chelsea block. Learn more about their simple-yet-powerful approach to building community in public space.

Something wicked is lurking in zoning codes. Across the country, cities have reported unsettling cases of drastically low housing production, suffocating car culture, and horrifically high rents. Developers watch helplessly as their costs skyrocket; many affordable housing plans have been completely abandoned in fear of this ancient force. It's casting a pall over city neighborhoods that is permeating our lives.

Public spaces are vital to our lives as New Yorkers. So why are they so few and far between? Under managed? Burdened by bureaucracy and red tape? It's largely because our City doesn't have a cohesive framework for thinking about people-centered space and creating it in a way that provides well-maintained, local spaces in every corner of the city.

Soon, Council Members will vote on City of Yes for Housing Opportunity; but not before they decide if they’ll change, or remove, any of its proposals. We're rallying on Thursday, September 26th to remind them that lifting parking mandates is an essential piece of the puzzle. Without lifting parking mandates, New York City cannot build the desperately needed new housing intended by City of Yes.

As school starts, streets around schools become more dangerous, especially in low-income communities of color. With so much space dedicated to cars, many schools lack outdoor areas for students to play and learn. Our city needs to prioritize safer streets for our kids by making it easier for schools to apply for Open Streets and creating slow zones near schools. It’s time to focus on giving students safer, more welcoming environments to grow.