New York Traffic Congestion Man-Made

In December, city authorities intentionally stopped traffic in New York City’s Midtown. Apparently, their goal was to make drivers miserable enough that cars would be left and home and drivers to change to mass transit or bicycles.

“High-level” sources told the New York Post the gridlock was the result of an attempt by the Bloomberg/de Blasio administrations.

“Traffic is being engineered,” a former top New York Police official told The Post. The individual went on to explain the traffic problems were part of a long-term plan which had its roots under Bloomberg. The problems weren’t alleviated under de Blasio.

“City streets are engineered to create traffic congestion, slow traffic and favor bikers, and pedestrians,” said the former official.

The effort included:

• Cutting off entire traffic lanes by creating pedestrian plazas,
• Take away an entire traffic lane to create protected bike paths,
• Change intersections into ones where drivers had to wait for green arrows to turn — in any direction, and
• Ordered traffic enforcement cops to focus more on issuing tickets than on directing traffic.

Both administrations claimed the goal — and benefit — was safer streets. The truth is different. City officials claimed 45,000 fewer vehicles went into Midtown daily than in 2010, but pedestrian fatalities rose.

The headaches for drivers in Midtown started under Bloomberg in 2003. His ‘Thru Streets” program prohibited vehicle operators from making turns onto most avenues from nine, major Midtown cross streets during business hours.

When Albany turned thumbs down on a Bloomberg plan to try to charge drivers ‘access’ to Midtown, Bloomberg shifted tactics and began targeting drivers with “Green Light for Midtown” project.

Green Light, begun in 2009, saw roadway-choking redesigns of Broadway, Times Square and Herald Square. Pedestrian plazas joined more protected bike lanes which further snarled traffic by reducing speed limits and redesigning intersections.

One long-time city resident said de Blasio ‘doesn’t care about traffic and point to the mayor’s blaming congestion on then-President-elect Donald Trump and the increasing security requirements around Trump Tower in Midtown.

“Almost no one’s directing traffic anymore,” said another individual. “Everyone is focusing on enforcement of parking violations.”

De Blasio spokesman Austin Finan told reporters there wasn’t any attempt to slow down cars.

“The idea that we want to engineer traffic congestion is not true,” Finan said during a press conference.

“DOT and NYPD work hard to keep New Yorkers moving safely by food, bus, car, AND bike.”