(Ben Guttmann)
Dec. 30, 2020 By: Ben Guttmann
A few months ago, in this very publication, I announced my candidacy to represent the 26th district in the New York City Council. This neighborhood is my home, it is where I’ve grown a business, and I believe that this community is the future of New York and can be a model far beyond the five boroughs.
But today, I’m suspending my campaign. With a coming winter that promises to be challenging for us all, my first commitments to our employees and clients, my students, and of course to my friends and family, make it necessary to take a step back and rededicate my time and efforts. It’s been an honor to be a part of the conversation about how to save the promise of New York for the next generation – and I wanted to leave this race with one idea for the road, literally.
It’s rather simple: streets should be for people. In this decade, we should reallocate 25% of the 3 million on-street parking spaces in this city to community-building uses.
New York City happens when you walk out your front door. When you take that step from the private realm to the public one, you enter what is the essential fabric of our city: the street.
Our streets make up an incredible 27% of the land in our city. They are the largest single part of NYC. But they are easy to overlook in the “everydayness” of it all. We’re used to what we’ve got in most of our neighborhoods: one row of moving cars, two rows of parked ones, and the occasional tree, meter, cyclist, or pile of stinking garbage.
But I believe that our streets contain the answers to help us address nearly every problem we have in this city. We saw some of this happen at light speed in the spring and summer of 2020, when the pandemic forced communal life outdoors, and we built sidewalk cafes, pop-up bike lanes, and instant open streets. In 2021 and beyond, we need to continue this creative re-imagining of our streets to remain a competitive, equitable, healthy, and sustainable city for our next generation.
Streets can help us save and spark small businesses and entrepreneurialism. Streets can help us address our open space crisis and allow for healthy community gathering. Streets can help us solve our environmental challenges, from the sewers and garbage on up to the climate. Streets can even help us build a more just and equitable society.
And most of all, streets can help us do what we most need them to do: safely and efficiently get around this city, whether that means by foot, wheelchair, stroller, bike, bus, train, or yes, car.
Through research and discussions over the past few months, I’ve become passionately convinced that how we view our street needs to radically change. I’m also a Community Board member who knows exactly what kind of pushback and criticism a plan like this can face. But as we’ve seen in 2020, the arguments against progress held little water, and the upside of our sudden shift outward saved both lives and jobs. Indeed, the cost of inaction is far greater.
I’m stepping back from this campaign, but I look forward to sharing more ideas for how to build a better city as we progress into a new, hopeful year. I’m deeply grateful to everybody who donated time, money, expertise, or all of the above in this campaign. Your support means more than you know, and I hope to make you proud in whatever is next.
This is a difficult decision, but what makes it easier is the great field of candidates that I leave behind. I’ve known many of the contenders for years, and I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know some of the others over the past few months. Everybody is doing this for the right reasons, and everybody cares about our community enough to go through the wringer of this race.
I don’t know who I’m voting for yet. But I will say that in a community as diverse as Western Queens – and which has not had a long history of equally diverse representation – we’d likely be well-served by a woman and/or BIPOC Councilmember. I eagerly look forward to seeing the debate shake out over the coming months, and to see this continued passion for our great city in 2021 and beyond.
Thank you again, happy new year, and see you around the neighborhood.
- * Ben Guttmann is the co-founder and co-owner of Digital Natives, a Long Island City-based digital marketing agency. He ran for City Council in district 26 to represent Sunnyside, Woodside, Long Island City and parts of Astoria.
Featured Events
19 Comments
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_vehicles_per_capita
The list of countries with the fewest 4-wheelers seems to correspond with countries people are desperate to escape. You can go 72 hours without a seeing a car. Or eating.
Pave sunnyside and put up a parking lot
Get your own post name, Gardens Watcher is taken.
There are better candidates. There are other posting names, so pick another one. Gardens Watcher is taken.
I pay fees and taxes to park my vehicle on the street.
I use a garage. Do I get reimbursed for my fees and taxes? Or are you just being obtuse?
That’s your choice to use a garage. Taxes and vehicle registration fees, on the other hand, are mandatory. In other words, no choice.
I didn’t even know he was running. I mean who cares? I have one more suggestion with rank voting , we should list every person who lives in the district ( undocumented of course also) and then let the voters rank from 1 to final number of residents .
Good riddance but unfortunately there are a line of progressive clowns lined up to take his spot and enlighten us. Knuckle dragging stiffs that still believe in ethics, values, merit, and work will have to endure this non sense for many more years until they totally run the place into the ground. Should we laugh or cry at this buffoonery?
Many of us are planning on voting for a POC. He lacked credentials.
“In this decade, we should reallocate 25% of the 3 million on-street parking spaces in this city to community-building uses.” Really????Absolutely not.
Agreed, why build community spaces? I should be able to park my private property on public property for free.
Public property that I pay taxes and fees for asshat.
I pay fees and taxes to park my vehicle on the street.
This will be a moot point soon enough when only the wealthy and politically connected will have cars and us peasants will be peddling around like in China.
Is peddling around like China different than peddling around like England or the Netherlands?
Because England and the Netherlands still have a car-owning middle class as well. For now.
Duh- The People’s Republic of China has the largest fleet of motor vehicles in the world, with 360 million motor vehicles in June 2020 including 270 million cars, and in 2009 became the world’s largest new car market as well.In 2011, a total of 80 million cars and commercial vehicles were built, led by China, with 18.4 million motor vehicles manufactured.
US has 838 Cars per 1,000 citizens 273,602,100 total cars.
Netherlands has 487 cars per thousand citizens 8,373,244 total cars. United Kingdom has 471 cars per thousand 31,200,182 total cars.
Lol have you been to China?
TRAFFIC TRAFFIC TRAFFIC