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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Bahij Chancey, Urban Planner at WXY Studio, on Intro 1138 and Daylighting
5:36:22
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127 sec
Bahij Chancey, an urban planner at WXY Studio, strongly supports Intro 1138, emphasizing that daylighting not only improves safety but also creates opportunities for better public spaces. He argues that clearing 20 feet in front of crosswalks can lead to the creation of high-impact infrastructure that makes streets safer and more welcoming.
- Daylighting complements other city priorities like loading zones, trash containerization, open streets, and outdoor dining.
- The bill is seen as a powerful tool to advance Vision Zero, equity, and climate resilience in New York City.
- Chancey stresses that small changes to street geometry can have significant impacts on how people move, interact, and feel in their neighborhoods.
Bahij Chancey
5:36:22
Thank you very much.
5:36:23
Good afternoon.
5:36:24
My name is Behish Chancey, and I'm an urban planner at WXY Studio.
5:36:28
We are an architecture, design, and planning practice based in New York City that works extensively with city agencies, including DOT.
5:36:36
I'm here to express our strong support for Intro eleven thirty eight.
5:36:40
Much has already been said at today's hearing about the safety benefits of daylighting.
5:36:44
But as planners and designers, we know that safety is just the beginning of what it can offer.
5:36:49
Clearing 20 feet in front of crosswalks does not just save lives, it creates the foundation for a better public realm.
5:36:56
Daylighting will improve visibility at intersections, which dramatically reduces crashes involving pedestrians, especially children and seniors, but the benefits will go much further.
5:37:05
These reclaimed spaces can be designed as high impact infrastructure in New York City.
5:37:10
Green buffers, seating, planters, bike corrals, and rain gardens that make our streets not just safer, but more welcoming and beautiful.
5:37:19
Daylighting is also complementary to a host of other city curbside priorities, like loading zones, trash containerization, open streets, and outdoor dining.
5:37:28
Every corner with daylighting is an opportunity to expand our city's walkability, slow traffic, and carve out public space in the densest city in the country.
5:37:36
When implemented thoughtfully with hard barriers, these zones can become natural extensions of our sidewalk, small plazas that offer refuge, greenery, and clarity in our city's complex streetscape.
5:37:48
I've worked closely with the bill sponsor, council member one, on the one LIC neighborhood planning process.
5:37:54
And there, like in many other neighborhoods where I've worked, the safety benefits and public realm benefits that New Yorkers ask for repetitively can really be advanced by the measures of eleven thirty eight.
5:38:06
This bill is a powerful, scalable tool to advance vision zero, our city's equity and climate resilience, and it aligns with what we already know, that small changes to street geometry can have outsized impacts on how people move, interact, and feel in their neighborhoods.
5:38:22
I thank the council for your leadership on this, and I urge you to pass this bill to help make every
UNKNOWN
5:38:26
The time has expired.
Bahij Chancey
5:38:27
New York City safe.
5:38:28
Thank you.