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A Framework to Curb the Chaos in NYC


Rethinking the curb (photo: Open Plans)


In 2011, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority launched a pilot to implement dynamic pricing at a small portion of the city’s on- and off-street parking spots. The pilot used new parking management technology to set the price of each spot according to its value, i.e. how often the spot is occupied.

Until then, San Francisco’s policy was as straightforward as most of New York City’s: 90% of curb space was free, largely unmanaged, parking. (New York City doesn’t actually know how much curb space is relegated to free parking but it hovers around 95%.) The philosophy behind the demand-responsive model was that the most frequently occupied spots must be the most desirable and coveted spots; therefore they should, and then did, cost more to use than those perceived as less valuable.

Quickly, the pilot showed results—traffic decreased by 8%; double parking by 22%. It took 43% less time for drivers to find a parking space, and the city earned $1.9 million in revenue. 

San Francisco was leaps and bounds ahead of most American cities at the time, and still is. Their groundbreaking efforts to reimagine the city’s curb space have brought order and efficiency to an area that mostly breeds chaos in New York. Acknowledging the high demand and competition for scant curb space has allowed SFMTA to create a holistic Curb Management Strategy that designates every curb section according to land use and context. Designations now prioritize people and active use – like freight, mobility, and public space – over private vehicle storage. The plan, and the underlying philosophy, has completely realigned San Francisco’s relationship to the curb.

Open Plans’ newly-released report, Curb the Chaos: Solutions for Cities at the Curb, explores how New York, and any city, can build upon pioneering curb work like this. 

Most cities aren't so much mismanaging curbs as they are under-managing them. Despite intense demand for this space – from deliveristas, freight, restaurants, mobility, and more – nearly all curb space across American cities is allocated for free car storage. The result is a streetscape that is lawless, unsafe, and suboptimal for every user. 

But there’s a better way. Like San Francisco, there are encouraging and inspiring examples around the country of how cities are wading into curb reform to make their entire city work better.

Seattle has been paving the way for a diverse set of curb uses for decades. They, too, operate with a curb priority framework that decenters private parking. Seattle’s explicit acknowledgement that the curb lane is for more than just parking serves as a foundational lesson in good curb management.

And perhaps surprisingly, Omaha, Nebraska has undertaken an ambitious curb management initiative using new technology to digitize curb uses (we created a sample modeled after their project with BetaNYC to show it is possible in New York City, too).

Engaging in strategic rethinking can reveal opportunities for tweaking existing policies, too. San Francisco realized that its commercial loading zones could double as pick-up/drop-off spots for noncommercial vehicles like Grubhub drivers or taxis; this small change increased productivity, commerce, and user satisfaction.

Technology is creating new possibilities, if cities and states are willing to use it. Lack of enforcement is a major barrier to effective curb reform; it doesn’t matter how many new loading zones a city designates if there’s always a car parked in them. Cameras can enforce those violations, as well as blocked bike lanes, bus lanes, and bus stops. And it works.

New York City’s own automated enforcement program, the largest in the nation, consistently sees a decrease in violations at each active location. After speed cameras started operating 24/7 in August 2022, speeding in those zones decreased 34%. The possibilities go far beyond red light cameras, but New York City can’t freely pursue them because we don’t have home rule. Every time a new bill proposes the use of technology, we must ask the state for permission.

Often, state government in Albany denies us that permission, like with the recent push to pass Sammy’s Law, which stalled in the Assembly. If we’re going to get serious about real change at the curb, both the City and the State must be willing to think, and operate, in new ways — like by giving the City permission to regulate and manage its own streets and curbs. 

The curb lane is a highly valuable, abundant source of real estate. Yet despite New York’s reputation for squeezing value out of every possible inch of the city, we’ve let this space languish. We’re not alone – curb reform is a relatively new field and, as our report shows, there are just a handful of cities doing transformative work.

But that could change quickly. The federal government recently awarded eight SMART grants to cities for curb-related projects, and the New York City Department of Transportation has also announced the pending release of a city-wide curb management strategy that will put the City in the small minority boldly pursuing holistic curb solutions. 

It’s worth considering that the Open Restaurants program feels like revolutionary reclamation of space, but it has only repurposed about 1% of New York City’s curb space. Imagine the exponential benefits to reimagining the curb at-large.

As New York City and others around the country begin to see the potential in curb lanes, we must learn from each other. Our report is a call for collaboration and shared learning – as well as courage. We have the evidence to show that curb innovations can improve health, happiness, commerce, and city coffers. Now local officials must heed the evidence, work together, and restore order to our curbs.

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Sara Lind is a co-Executive Director at Open Plans and Michael Sutherland is Policy Analyst at Open Plans. On Twitter, @saraklind & @msuthnyc of @OpenPlansNYC.

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For Our Energy Future, the Governor Should Sign the Clean Slate Act into Law


Gov. Hochul signs legislation (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)


New York’s clean energy transition is critical for the state’s future, but for it to be successful, we will need to expand our workforce across the city and state. This is proving to be a challenge, driven in part by outdated laws that punish justice-involved individuals long after they have served their sentences. 

That’s why Con Edison supports the Clean Slate Act and applauds its passage through the State Legislature. Now, Governor Kathy Hochul should immediately sign it into law. 

Like so many other employers across the state, we at Con Edison are feeling the brunt of New York’s labor shortage. At this critical moment, we must ensure that we’re reaching every potential employee, even those who may count themselves out because they think that a decent paycheck and a steady job are out of reach because they have a criminal record. 

Research shows that recidivism decreases with the passage of time — and that employment itself is key to reducing recidivism. Once a person is off parole or probation, by sealing misdemeanors after three years and felonies after eight, we can give these New Yorkers the opportunity to leave their past behind and build a new future. They can access job training and education without unnecessary barriers, and transition into the workforce with a record that is sealed. 

At Con Edison, we have made a conscious effort to recruit and hire justice-involved individuals. Every day, we see the impact these employees have on their communities, and the power of a second chance. And we’re not alone. Major companies like National Grid, Verizon, JPMorgan Chase, and Microsoft support Clean Slate, as do the Partnership for New York City, the Business Council of New York State, and many chambers of commerce. 

A larger workforce is not just good for employers, it’s good for the economy. A recent report from the New York City Comptroller estimated that annual wages, in the City alone, would increase by $2.4 billion under Clean Slate. Another study found that the State loses an estimated $7.1 billion in wages because of unemployment and underemployment among people with conviction records.

The Clean Slate Act will also increase employment, wages, and public safety. For example, in Michigan where a similar law was passed, research showed that an individual was 11% more likely to have a job and earned nearly 20% more in wages within two years of expunging their criminal record. 

Our current system of perpetual punishment limits opportunities for a job, a place to live, and an education. Long after a sentence has been served, these essentials should not remain out of reach for a lifetime, especially when their absence reverberates across children, families, and whole communities, and disproportionately impacts Black and Latino New Yorkers. 

But we can change this. The Legislature has now passed the Clean State Act, and we are grateful to the sponsors of the bill, the legislative leaders, members of both chambers who approved it, and the coalition partners behind this hard-fought victory. Now it is time for Governor Hochul to act and sign the bill into law immediately to ensure we can unlock the human and economic potential of New Yorkers with conviction histories. We have too much at stake to wait.

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Joeann E. Walker is Senior Attorney at Con Edison and a CEO Action for Racial Equity Fellow.

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Lifelong Learning is How We Survive the 21st Century


Lifelong learning in action (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayoral Photo Office)


As I write this essay, the sky outside my window is a dull, apocalyptic orange. The disorienting sight of wildfire smoke – a familiar scene for many worldwide – is new for most New Yorkers. Perhaps this will become as seasonal as the changing of the leaves, though I hope not.

Three years ago, in March 2020, I recall watching neighbors rush down our street, their arms full of grocery boxes. The SARS-CoV-2 virus was heading from Italy toward our coast. Though few of us knew it, life was about to become unrecognizable.

Years later––this February––I experienced existential awe and fear as I used ChatGPT for the first time. It was as though the science fiction movies of my childhood had come to life (Hello, C-3PO). Undoubtedly, these powerful machines will shape society in unknowable ways.

These three examples demonstrate a few realities about the 21st century: it is characterized by rapid change, complex challenges, and unpredictability. In this social climate, there is a premium on our ability to learn our way through diverse personal and professional challenges. The goal of this learning is adaptation. The format of this learning is self-directed.

For centuries, we have largely conceptualized learning as an early-life endeavor, formally occurring between early childhood and early adulthood; the late adult educator and sociologist Peter Jarvis called this a “front-end” model of education. Jarvis and others criticized this model for its restrictiveness, predicting that it would fail societies as they became increasingly affected by globalization, digitization, inequality/social exclusion, and the evolving nature of knowledge.

Jarvis was right. Look at the state of our politics. Look at the state of our public health. Look at the state of our environment. This is no time to stop learning.

But what does lifelong learning look like? It looks like retraining for the jobs of the future; developing strategies for climate-related disruptions; experimenting with diverse perspectives and worldviews; mastering artificial intelligence technologies; cultivating analytical thinking skills key to media literacy; collectively defining democratic citizenship; understanding the foundations of mental and physical health; learning how to age in place; and much more.

And what does a city with a culture of lifelong learning look like? According to the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, it is one that has inclusive education policies; makes educational technology accessible; sufficiently funds education/learning "ecosystems"; creates multiple spaces for learning; collaborates with social media companies, views education/learning as a social good; promotes a cultural shift towards lifelong learning, and has a strong social fabric.

I’m on a mission to help create a culture of lifelong learning in New York City. Will you join me? Together, we can survive the 21st Century.

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Ben Jurney is an Ed.D. Student in Adult Learning & Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University, and a former intern for Gotham Gazette.

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