Mayor Zohran Mamdani ditched one of his sound-bite campaign pledges as his administration apparently dealt with the reality of implementing a pro-pedestrian parking policy — leaving transit advocates in the crosshairs.
Department of Transportation Mike Flynn admitted at a Tuesday City Council meeting that the administration was not following a “universal daylighting” approach at the Big Apple’s 40,000 intersections — in direct contradiction to the democratic socialist’s campaign promises.
“Daylighting” is a pro-pedestrian initiative that bans parking near crosswalks, but Flynn said the city would look at intersections on a case-by-case basis.
“Daylighting is definitely one important tool but as a few of us have mentioned earlier, we always take a holistic approach, and we really look at the unique conditions and context of each location,” he said.
Mamdani had declared at a February mayoral forum that “we deserve to have all [intersections] daylighted.”
Enacting universal daylighting could shed 300,000 parking spots across the Big Apple and cost the city up to $3 billion dollars.
The about-face is the latest flip-flop from the mayor, who took office in January as he contends with the realities of running the massive operation of city government.
Mamdani was dubbed a “class traitor” by some of his Democratic Socialists of America comrades after re-starting homeless encampment sweeps during the recent cold snap that claimed 29 New Yorkers’ lives, despite his pledge to stop the policy.
Hizzoner also promised that his freebie-filled agenda would be paid for by raising income taxes on the rich but is now 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 OK an income tax hike, but Mamdani and the City Council can up property taxes without getting the state to sign off.
“The Mamdani Administration is committed to following the data, listening to the evidence, and working with City Council and our experienced advocacy partners to expand daylighting effectively and maximize street safety across the five boroughs,” Mamdani spokeswoman Dora Pekec said in a statement.