Applying The “Starve The Beast” Philosophy To Traffic Congestion

Inasmuch that Robert Moses was a product of the car-focused era in which he served, then no, Mayor Bloomberg is not Robert Moses, though I appreciate the blunt-force good-evil dichotomy that underlies the way the mayor’s apologists try to frame the issue of transportation:

Imagine narrow European-style roadways shared by pedestrians, cyclists and cars, all traveling at low speeds. Sidewalks made of recycled rubber in different colors under sleek energy-efficient lamps. Mini-islands jutting into the street, topped by trees and landscaping, designed to further slow traffic and add a dash of green.

This is what New York City streets could look like, according to the Bloomberg administration, which has issued the city’s first street design manual in an effort to make over the utilitarian 1970s-style streetscape that dominates the city.

. . .

Urban planners say that the document is long overdue, and that it promises to be as much a map to the future as it is a handbook for the present: getting people to think about streets as not just thoroughfares for cars, but as public spaces incorporating safety, aesthetics, environmental and community concerns.

Robert Moses, Mr. Bloomberg is not.

“Moses had a sort of utopian view of orderly, suburban places that de-emphasized New York’s ‘cityness,’ while Bloomberg embraces the soul of the city itself and recognizes it as a solution to the region’s environmental, sustainability, and energy problems,” said Robert Puentes, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program.

Some drivers, though, are reserving judgment. Taxi drivers, for one, say that while they appreciate the city’s efforts to beautify the streets, they hope that they do not lead, even indirectly, to fewer parking spots or traffic that is too slow.

Another way to look at it: “Robert Moses” attempted to build infrastructure that spurred economic growth while Mayor Bloomberg seems to prefer tree pits and European-style lawn furniture in the middle of Broadway. Sure, he’ll “calm” traffic . . . by getting it down to the size where he can drown it in the bathtub.