Universal Daylighting

* There are currently bills in all our New York legislative chambers that will make Daylighting "Universal" across all intersections in NYC, saving countless lives. This explains daylighting if you're not familiar with the term.

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Many individuals and organizations are working on this push. There are currently over 100 organizations signed on to a group letter endorsing it. The Public Advocate, Jumaane Williams, and Borough Presidents Levine, Reynoso, and Richards have all signed in support.Governor Hochul has also suggested support and floated some ideas of her own.* You can massively help with this effort by performing the simple task of calling your representative and others. If you've never called your rep, it's very easy and quick. Here is a tutorial.

CITY COUNCIL SPECIFICALLY

We are currently at 21 Council Members out of a necessary 26, (There are 51 members and we need a majority.) Ideally we will get to a veto-proof 36.There will also be a hearing at city hall on 4/21 at 10am you can give public testimony directly to the Council.

CURRENT TARGETS:

Our Current targets for outreach are Council Members:

Quick call:
Banks, Feliz, Ung, Farías, Louis

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Do not feel limited to only calling these members though, of course. Absolutely please do call your own representatives, the reps where you work, or even Majority Whip Selvena Brooks-Powers to encourage her to hold a hearing and bring a vote on this bill.

CALLING REPS:

Calling reps is easy. All of them have staff ready to take calls from the public, and they usually are very friendly. This is a normal, vital part of the democratic process.When you call simply say that you would like to express your support for INTRO 1138, the universal daylighting bill. It is important to know the number (Intro 1138) so that the rep can take it down in their system and make the council member know specifically what you are calling about. Briefly explain why you think they should support daylighting.This is much more impactful than it may seem because as you can imagine the vast majority of people don't call anyone, so even a small group of committed people can easily bring something up on a council member's radar and really encourage them to support it. They assume (rightfully) that every call they get may represent thousands of people that feel the same way, so be the voice of that thousand.

MORE ON DAYLIGHTING

Daylighting is very simple. It is the process of making it so that cars can not park right up against pedestrian crosswalks.

THIS IS FAR SAFER AND BETTER FOR EVERYONE:

FOR PEDESTRIANS

Daylighting narrows the curb to curb distance (the tan colored sections here) and prevents vehicles from blocking sightlines.

FOR PARENTS AND CHILDREN

Children are especially endangered by non-daylit intersections, because they are not tall enough to see through car windows or over their hoods. This means they have to cross into the danger zone to even see if the way is clear. Daylighting lets kids and drivers see each other.

FOR MICROMOBILITY RIDERS

Clear visibility approaching intersections means less conflicts with pedestrians, and less slowing to check for cars.

FOR DRIVERS

No more guessing if intersections are clear of other cars before you enter them. That is extremely dangerous and leads to many completely unnecessary car crashes.

For Emergency Response

FDNY trucks do not have the luxury of slowing down at every intersection when seconds count. They need to know the way is clear, and pedestrians need to be able to see the truck coming to plan accordingly. Proper daylighting speeds up emergency response times.