PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Eureka Anderson on Intro 606 and Intro 1131
7:59:55
·
113 sec
Eureka Anderson testified in opposition to Intro 606 and in support of Intro 1131. She argued that Intro 606 would unfairly penalize sustainable transportation choices and distract from real safety issues caused by cars.
- Anderson emphasized the lack of bike infrastructure in her neighborhood, with only 3% of NYC streets having protected bike lanes.
- She criticized Intro 606 for potentially allowing police to stop and inspect bikes for batteries, even when not visibly different from regular bikes.
- Anderson argued that the bill pits cyclists against pedestrians while ignoring the larger issue of car dominance in NYC streets.
Eureka Anderson
7:59:55
Thank you, Cher.
7:59:56
Thanks for letting me speak.
7:59:58
I'm here to post intro 606 in support of intro 1131.
8:00:02
I live on the upper west side near the 7 Second Street, train station.
8:00:06
My partner and I get around via transit and bikes.
8:00:10
We sometimes convert our bikes into ebikes via battery kits.
8:00:14
Since we use battery kits, you can't actually see from the outside if our bikes are ebikes or not.
8:00:20
Intra 606 could allow bike police to stop us and inspect our bikes for batteries.
8:00:25
Regardless of the nature of my bike and regardless of how I was riding, it would be penalizing me for getting around in a sustainable way.
8:00:33
Instead of addressing real safety or space issues, intercity606 turns neighbors like me into suspect.
8:00:40
Some here seem to think that we've already offered off options for riders.
8:00:45
The one way street I live on has free parking on both sides, but no bike lanes.
8:00:50
Because of this, when I exit my building and push into the intersection of 72nd Street Station, known as the bow tie of death.
8:00:57
To go south legally, I have to detour 2 blocks over to West 72nd Street, the street also has two lanes of parking but no bike lanes.
8:01:06
Across New York City, just 3% of streets have protected bike lanes and only 25% have any bike lanes at all.
8:01:13
Intra 606 is the distraction.
8:01:15
It's not really about bikes.
8:01:17
It's about cars and about the excessive amount of space devoted to them at the expense of safe options for everyone else.
8:01:25
260 New Yorkers were killed by cars last year.
8:01:28
To distract from this, inter 606 pits cyclists and pedestrians against one another.
8:01:33
Let's address the real issue, us fighting over scraps after our city was handed over to cars.
8:01:40
Reject intro 606.
8:01:42
The real goal of this bill is to keep cars as the only form of personal transportation in New York City.
8:01:48
Thank you.
