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QUESTION
Council Member Aviles Questions EDC's Traffic Mitigation Approach in Red Hook
0:29:57
ยท
6 min
Council Member Alexa Aviles critically analyzes the EDC's traffic mitigation strategies amidst the ongoing negotiations on cruise terminal agreements. She expresses concern over the community's struggles with traffic congestion and contrasts the EDC's proposed passenger survey with the comprehensive traffic mitigation demands of proposed legislation. EDC represents respond by underlining their holistic approach to traffic planning, emphasizing collaborative community efforts and substantial investments in traffic management and enforcement.
Speaker 2
0:29:57
Thank you to the EDC for your testimony.
0:30:01
I think We're just to jump in and, excuse me, this might be a little bit all over all over the place.
0:30:09
We have so many questions.
0:30:12
But let's let's start at the traffic mitigation piece.
0:30:16
So EDC has noted to our office that legislating cruise terminal agreements are not necessary because the cruise terminal agreements that are still in the midst of being negotiating created fully represent the concerns of our community.
0:30:31
And I think that was also reflected in your testimony today.
0:30:36
So I'd like to know according to the legislation and compare with what we understand the language of the agreements are, which we have not yet seen, starting with the traffic mitigation.
0:30:47
So this past summer, the EDC, as was noted by both of us, we engaged in these weekly dialogue with community member.
0:30:56
Around traffic mitigation, which clearly was a result of having no plan to deal with 5000 individuals in the neighborhood at a sudden moment in time.
0:31:10
As you know, businesses suffered as traffic was at near standstill each and every Tuesday, and pedestrians suffered emergent suffered tremendously.
0:31:24
This was a disaster as we all know.
0:31:27
In the presentation to our office, you noted that the current cruise agreement will require operators to conduct a voluntary survey of passengers to be completed by guests at the terminal asking a few key questions.
0:31:42
The percent of passengers participating in airfare the origin of passenger, and the total amount of dollars spent in New York City.
0:31:53
How is these questions?
0:31:55
At all similar to a community traffic mitigation plan as outlined in the bill.
0:32:02
That would require reduction of traffic, reduction of vehicular noise, vehicular pollution to name a few.
0:32:11
How do these 3 survey questions equate an actual traffic mitigation plan and investment?
0:32:18
To make sure that that plan gets properly implemented.
Speaker 7
0:32:22
Yeah.
0:32:23
Thank you, Council member, for that question.
0:32:27
We take the issue of traffic and congestion very seriously, and it requires a fully comprehensive approach.
0:32:36
The collection of passenger data is critical for us to be able to understand point of origin for passengers The cruise lines do have shuttle service to and from airports, but this will allow us to stand up additional shuttle service.
0:32:51
In addition with expanding our transit options.
0:32:54
That is only one facet of how we mitigate traffic.
0:32:57
I wanna hand it to my colleague, Mikkel, to elaborate.
Speaker 8
0:33:03
Thank you, Sabrina.
0:33:04
Good morning.
0:33:05
Good morning, council member.
0:33:07
I feel like thank you for the question.
0:33:09
I think so to be clear, our our read of of the bill and the language around traffic mitigation specifically calls on the specific cruise lines to have their own traffic planning efforts.
0:33:25
And our proposal back to you and back to the committee is a more comprehensive approach to community traffic planning with plans for Brooklyn Cruise Terminal and Manhattan Cruise Terminal that reflects not just individual cruise lines.
0:33:42
But the total ecosystem of the types of ships that are coming in.
0:33:47
I think that also what we wanna speak to the fact of challenges that we've heard from the community about provisioning trucks coming in and idling the timing of those trucks looking at a more comprehensive approach to community planning for each terminal.
0:34:05
In doing that in a way, that includes the community's voices because as as you mentioned in your your comments, we have learned a significant amount from the stakeholders of Redhook about how these traffic issues had a negative impact on the neighborhood.
0:34:22
And so as we think about comprehensive planning.
0:34:26
We want to make sure that we have a more holistic approach rather than looking at the individual cruise lines to do that.
0:34:34
One thing I would I would also add to that effort is you asked about, like, what is the financial commitment to that type of work, and I want to highlight something that Sabrina mentioned in her testimony in terms of the work that was done with the Department of Transportation, the Police Department, the Port Authority of New York And New Jersey, as well as with our traffic consultant, WS there were real dollars put into that work, the traffic enforcement agents that we've hired every time that those should comes in to ensure that we are actually putting our resources into that planning effort.
Speaker 2
0:35:14
So I guess in response, our our suggestion in the bill our interpretation of the bill is not that each cruise industry would decide how they were gonna med mitigate traffic in our community.
0:35:31
In fact, it's it's we've been voicing quite the opposite even with when NYPD officers have come in from other parts of the city and did not know the neighborhood at all created more of a problem.
0:35:45
So I'm not sure where this interpreter rotation is that it would be the individual cruise lines.
0:35:51
Clearly, EDC through its port operator should be engaging in a full comprehensive plan that obviously includes us because and includes the cruise operator who is in the community and with no, you know, the nuances of the community, which I think would be very different certainly in Manhattan than it than it is in Red Hawk.