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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Brent Bovenzi, Resident of Williamsburg, on Universal Daylighting
3:20:39
·
118 sec
Brent Bovenzi, a Williamsburg resident, testifies in support of Intro 1138, advocating for universal daylighting to improve street safety across New York City. He criticizes the DOT's approach and suggests more efficient ways to implement daylighting.
- Argues that universal daylighting is a statement of values, emphasizing that all streets should be safe
- Criticizes DOT for "sandbagging" their study and being resistant to change
- Proposes coordinating daylighting implementation with existing street work to reduce costs and increase efficiency
- Highlights the importance of daylighting given the increasing size of vehicles and suggests various methods to implement it in different neighborhoods
Brent Bovenzi
3:20:39
Hi.
3:20:40
My name is Brent Bovenzi.
3:20:41
I'm a resident of Williamsburg, and I'm speaking in support of intro eleven thirty eight.
3:20:46
Thank you for having this hearing.
3:20:48
And yeah, I think universal daylighting is a statement of our values of making streets safe not just for some but for all.
3:20:55
All streets should be safe.
3:20:57
You know, all of them have this, know, all of them can be dangerous and we can make them safer.
3:21:04
I find that DOT seems to be just sandbagging their study.
3:21:07
That they seem to not want to do more work because that is more work for them to do.
3:21:14
And I think we can see this anytime anybody has requested, if you have requested a stop sign or stoplight, you see it takes forever to get a reply and then at the end of it, there is some sort of criteria that that intersection doesn't meet.
3:21:27
That's why we need this universal approach to making all of our intersections safer in one go.
3:21:33
And I think there's ways that that can be cheaper than what DOT says.
3:21:38
We repave streets, we rebuild pedestrian ramps, and there's new construction redoing sidewalks every single year.
3:21:45
If we actually coordinate within an agency to add intersection, add universal daylighting at the same time, we can scale up well beyond a thousand hardened intersections every year and it's not gonna have to cost us millions and millions to do even though that millions and millions is totally worth it to save lives of New Yorkers.
3:22:04
I think that this is only getting more important today.
3:22:07
Cars and trucks are only getting larger making it hard to see them.
3:22:10
So once in a while I walk around and I can't even see over a truck's hood and I'm five eleven.
3:22:17
There are so many ways to do daylighting from planters to boulders to rain gardens to trees to cafe seating that I can I do think we can right fit daylighting to match the neighborhood it's in?
3:22:28
It isn't a one size fit all but we have a lot of sizes to fit in there and that's why I do think it can be universal across the whole city.
3:22:36
So I urge you to pass this.
3:22:37
Thank you.