Comment 72127

By Sigma Cub (anonymous) | Posted December 11, 2011 at 16:11:29

The recession has indeed been wonderful for the cause of pedestrian environments and the growing appreciation of life's little pleasures.

The rapid expansion of bike lanes under Sadik-Khan (made possible in part by her "streamlined" approach to community consultation) can also be credited for the stats. As the NYT noted in on Sept 10, 2011, "Since the mayor appointed her in 2007 and she began to bring her agency’s work more closely in line with his vision of a greener New York, the city has roughly doubled its miles of bike lanes, to about 500." So right there, you've got a reason for the numbers, turgid economy or not.

And yes, the synchronous eagerness to leave a legacy has been helpful, no doubt. Despite his reputation as a nanny statist par excellence, Bloomberg installed JSK and has generally been supportive of her initiatives. Having billions in the bank, after all, does provide one with a certain amount of insulation against the practical considerations of late-term politicos, who often start pandering in the hopes of jumping to the state or federal stage. As long as he is in office, JSK will probably be A-OK.

Never let it be said that a plutocrat who squashes term limits is a bad thing.

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