REMARKS
Council Member Erik D. Bottcher opens his questions on news rack regulations and commemorates Lori Felsher, victim of traffic violence
1:50:17
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167 sec
Council Member Bottcher opens the hearing by commemorating Lori Felsher, who was tragically killed by an SUV in Greenwich Village, underscoring the need for improved street safety measures.
- He acknowledges Robin Felsher, Lori's husband and a community leader, for his bravery in testifying to make streets safer
- The hearing focuses on proposed legislation to enable stricter maintenance guidelines for sidewalk news racks
- Bottcher argues poorly maintained news racks contribute to neighborhood blight and signal lack of care
- The legislation aims to allow continued operation of news racks while improving their upkeep through DOT oversight
Erik D. Bottcher
1:50:17
I wanna begin by acknowledging Robin Felsher, who's here with us today, who's Robin's wife, who is also a beloved community leader in Greenwich Village was tragically struck and killed by an SUV.
1:50:37
On October 3rd on Greenwich Avenue, right in front of their apartment building in the village.
1:50:43
And Lori's death not only left a a heart, a hole in the heart of the Greenwich Village community, It was also a extremely tragic reminder of how much more work we need to do.
1:51:04
To make our streets safe from traffic violence.
1:51:08
And I wanna thank Robin for the bravery that it must take to come here and and testify to make our streets safer, to save the lives of others.
1:51:24
Today, our legislation introduction 33 is being heard that would address the news racks on the sidewalks.
1:51:34
And people ask, Eric, why are you spending time focusing on those newsboxes on the sidewalks with those publications?
1:51:46
Because they look they look bad a lot of times.
1:51:50
And look, I like these things, you know, I like to get the free dailies, but it matters how a neighborhood looks.
1:51:59
We have to do more to uplift how neighborhoods looks, things that these newsboxes when they're abandoned, vandalized, tipped over, filled with garbage.
1:52:13
It sends a message that this is a neighborhood that is not cared for, and it sends a signal to others that this is something that's okay in this neighborhood on the in the contrary.
1:52:26
Something's well maintained.
1:52:30
It sends a message that this is a neighborhood that's well cared for.
1:52:34
And this is a place that of respect and and it affects people's everyday lives.
1:52:44
So the legislation that we're introducing that would enable the Department of Transportation to establish stricter guidelines for the maintenance of these newsboxes, while also allowing them to continue to be there because we wanna support our local media.
1:53:03
I think it's it's overdue.