Mayor Mamdani Holds Press Conference to Make Transportation Announcement

body else. >> I think that's right. Sorry. >> Good morning everyone and welcome to Tmont Avenue, future home of the first busway in the Bronx. Last month, we released Next Stop Fast Buses Better Service, which represents a historic partnership between the city and state to build a faster, more reliable bus system. The Tmont Avenue busway delivers on this plan. The busway will give back time to the tens of thousands of bus riders who travel along this cross town route each day, all while making the street safer for everyone. The busway also lays the groundwork for a future bus rapid transit corridor which will make cross Bronx bus travel even faster and easier. And this partnership demonstrates a strong partnership between sorry this project demonstrates a strong partnership between Alb and City Hall to improve the lives of working people in the Bronx. The city's got the streets, the state has the buses, and together we are delivering fast buses and better service for New Yorkers. Without further ado, it's my honor to introduce our mayor, Mayor Mamdani. >> Good afternoon everyone, or good morning rather speaking of the future because I'm thinking of the busway. It is a pleasure to be here in the Bronx alongside dedicated advocates and partners in government as we announce that DOT has begun work on the Bronx's first ever dedicated busway right here on Tmont Avenue. And I want to acknowledge we have a number of leaders both inside and outside of our administration joining us here today. We have our deputy mayor of operations, Julia Kersonen, that we've just heard from. We have our DOT assistant commissioner, Denise Mendes. We have our MTA executive vice president of buses, Frank Farrell Frell. We have our Bronx River Alliance deputy director, Daniel Renell's. We have our communications director and policy director of Riders Alliance, Danny Pearlstein, who is here with us. We have our MTA board member, Dan Grodnik, who is here with us. Our transportation alternatives director of advocacy, Shawn Garcia. Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion Coalition, Nila Martell. We have Renee Reynolds from the Tri-State Transportation Coalition, the executive director of that coalition to be specific. And we have our MTA board member, Blanca Lopez, who is here with us. Now, we know that for too many Bronx sites, riding a bus in our city doesn't get you where you need to go. It gets you frustrated, delayed, often times inconvenienced. The BX36 that is supposed to take you to work on time arrives 15 minutes behind schedule. The bus that crawls along at a pace slower than you can walk. The school drop off you are late to. The recital that you miss. In a city where time is money, the working people who rely on our bus system have repeatedly seen their precious time treated as if it does not matter. We are standing at the fifth busiest bus route in the Bronx that serves nearly 40,000 New Yorkers each day in an area where 72% of households do not own a car. and it is one of the few corridors that residents can rely on to traverse the burrow from east to west. And yet, while the wheels on the bus may go round and round in the nursery rhyme, the wheels of the BX36 rotate slower than nearly anywhere else in New York City at a less than 5 mph pace. This avenue, however, isn't just known for its slow buses. It is also one that is known to be notoriously dangerous. 630 people were injured in crashes on this corridor between 2020 and 2024, including four New Yorkers who tragically lost their lives. For years, riders of the BX36 have called for faster service and safer streets. And for a brief moment last year, it seemed like their calls might have finally been heard. In February of 2025, the DOT's plan for a Tmont Avenue busway was fully designed and ready to go. Installation was slated to begin that spring. Yet, before the project could get underway, it was abruptly cancelled by the previous administration. Thanks to our historic bus action plan, City Hall is bringing the Tmont Avenue busway back to life. New Yorkers will feel this change almost immediately. Come September 19th, between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. every day. Only buses, trucks with more than six wheels, accessoride vans, emergency vehicles, and bicycles will be allowed to travel the length of this corridor. Buses will not only run faster on Tmont Avenue, they will run safer, too. We will add painted sidewalk extensions to shorten crossing distances for pedestrians and force vehicles to slow down as they turn corners. And we will reinforce these extensions with granite blocks and bicycle racks to discourage illegal vehicle parking along the route. Other busways like this one have already achieved success across our city. We anticipate that these changes will improve bus speeds by up to 60%, saving riders up to 6 minutes per trip and decrease pedestrian and cyclist injuries by up to 45%. These numbers are not abstract. They will reflect a real measurable difference for the New Yorkers who commute on the BX36. After all, it doesn't take a magic school bus to take you where you need to go. It just takes a busway. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Mayor. Now, I'd like to introduce DOT's assistant commissioner of transit development, Denise Mendes. >> Good morning. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. If you don't have the privilege of owning a car, everyone knows getting across the Bronx on a local bus is maddening. So the buses stop and start constantly blocked and delayed and often dangerous and chaotic traffic. So that's why this DOT and this administration are beginning work to install the original busway plan for Tmont Avenue. Too often the needs of bus riders are dep prioritized and not fairly considered. This administration is changing all of that. Tmont Avenue is one of the 50 priority corridors identified in Next Stop identified as major improvements here. is the Mani administration's joint bus action plan with Governor Hokll and the MTA. Here on Tmont Avenue, we're adding a westbound busway between Belmont Avenue and Southern Boulevard, an eastbound busway between Third Avenue and Southern Boulevard, and an offset eastbound bus lane between Webster Avenue and Third Avenue. With so few cars down corridors in the Bronx, it's important to design them to move as many people and as quickly as possible. And that's what we're aiming to accomplish with this busway. This will serve the overwhelming number of residents who depend on Tmont Avenue uh to connect to either the eight local subway lines, the Metro North as other bus routes as well. Each minute saved, as the mayor said, adds up um from your commute. Through Next Stop, we're really working to improve commuters uh their time on average of six minutes each way. Add it up, bus riders can save up to a weekend by the end of the year. And the consistency of regularly arriving buses means that New Yorkers no longer need to bake in additional 20 minutes or 30 minutes into their commute because who knows when the bus will arrive, right? So, we want to change that. We'll be working closely with the MTA to ensure bus service is much more reliable as well as fast on the corridor. This busway represents just one of many investments that we're making in New York City um as DOT has been working to continue to make the Bronx um better uh from a terms of the overall bus um service. Through our equity commitments over the last five years, more than 30% of our street safety projects took place in the burrow and nearly 30% of our capital project dollars are delivered right here in the Bronx. And that's significant amount of investments. We know there's much more work to be done and that's why we'll be back on Tmont Avenue to deliver and plan uh full-scale bus and streetscape improvements to transform the avenue into a worldclass corridor. I'd like to thank all of the officials and advocates here today for their support, especially Riders Alliance uh and those who have been strong champions uh for bus riders across the city. I'd also like to like to thank our amazing DOT team uh who have helped to make this project possible. uh Darissa Cruz, Lucy Freriedman Bell, Sarah Feller, Phil Bethl, and Nolan Levenson, and so many much more um across uh the agency as well as our partners at the MTA. Thank you so much. Thank you, Assistant Commissioner. Next, I'd like to introduce MTA Executive Vice President of Buses, Frank Farrell. Thank you. Uh good morning. I'm Frank Farrell, executive vice president for buses. I'm the guy who uh makes sure your bus gets going where it's supposed to be from point A to point B safely, reliable, and efficiently. Uh so I'm thrilled to be here today to talk about this project and um how it will help help the MTA do just that. I know for some folks it may be hard to believe, but uh you know, it is probably the best time to be a bus rider right now. We have a protransit governor in Kathy Hokll and a protransit mayor here today uh who are committed to getting buses moving faster for riders and a team led by you know chair liber and presidents at the MTA who know how to make that happen. That is the key to to unlocking this transformative project that will help real impact on customers have a real impact on customers. For millions of New Yorkers, this bus is the bus is how they get to work every day. Whether it's to school, health care, houses of warship, to see friends and family, we have to deliver for them. We have to get them where they need to go faster. This busway and other street improvements where we're talking about today will greatly improve the lives of 39,000 daily BX36 riders. The commitments we've made in the fast bus plan, like rolling out more busways and bus lanes, expanding ACE, and redesigning our networks are tactics we know work. Bus ways across New York City have increased bus speeds significantly. And when combined with dedicated bus lanes and street upgrades, ACE has shown to speed up buses more than 30% along some segments. And here in the Bronx, after we redesigned the local network, the redesigned route saw speed increases and customers sat satisfaction has rose. In fact, when we redesigned the Bronx network in 2022, we made improvements to the BX36 route like connecting Tmont the Tmont corridor from uh to with Washington Heights in part because we expected a new bus priority project here. By the way, the BX36 is one of the busiest routes in the Bronx as it provides critical east to west transit connection. But currently, the BX36 can move as slow as 5 mph. That is simply not good enough. Look, what we're really what we're really doing here is making the lives of riders better. Customers want faster, more reliable, and safe service. This work along Tmont Avenue will achieve that. Everyone at the MTA cares deeply about the the quality of bus service we're providing to New Yorkers. Everyone from senior leadership right down to the folks who maintain our fleet and our bus operators. Thank you to Governor Hokll for understanding the need for a robust bus network and providing critical support needed to improve service for riders. And thank you to the city for doing their part in following through on the promises of this fast bus plan. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, next I'd like to introduce board chair of the Bronx River Alliance, Noa Martell's. Good morning to you all. Not that tall. Uh, my name is Noa Martell. I am the board chair of the Bronx River Alliance and the founder of Loving the Bronx. I'm here this morning on behalf of the Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion Coalition, which includes Bronx, New York City, and regional organizations like Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, Transportation Alternatives, Mothers on the Move, Harlem River Coalition, Writers Alliance, Tri-State Transportation Campaign, and over 20 more organizations. Throughout the reimagine the Cross Bronx community engagement process and after we heard from thousands of Bronx sites who want meaningful investments along the Cross Bronx corridor to improve and reconnect neighborhoods. This busway is part of that. With this investment, the Mandani administration is once again showing the people of the Bronx that it respects their time, prioritizes public health, and is committed to improving air quality. By seamlessly connecting our neighborhoods and moving away from harmful highway reliance, we are building a healthier, safer Bronx for generations to come. And as New York City continues to invest in in our transportation infrastructure, we look forward to working alongside city leaders to ensure the Bronx is not left behind. Together, we can make capping the Cross Bronx Expressway a reality and create healthier and more connected communities in the process. Thank you. >> Thank you. And finally, I'd like to introduce Writers Alliance policy and communications director, Danny Pearlstein. >> Thank you so much, uh, Deputy Mayor, and it's so wonderful to be here with the mayor and and all of these great colleagues who we've worked with, uh, to win this Tmont busway. You know, I came over here, I live in Inwood, I dropped my daughter off at camp in Washington Heights, and I thought, will I have enough time to get here on the bus? And the answer was no. Um, it was more than 50% faster to ride my bike. So that's what I did to get here on time. And that's what has to change. And that, you know, Bronx riders ride the bus disproportionately more than riders in any other burrow. More people in the Bronx depend on bus service than in any other burrow. And that's because of the hills. That's because the subways only run north to south. And yet the Bronx, as the mayor pointed out, for too long, this is the first busway the Bronx will get after they've been appearing over the years in many other burrows. So this is a very long time in coming. This is very sweet news. And it's not just, you know, for for people like me who can get on a bike, right? It's for people who at the other end of the 36 in Manhattan are working at Columbia University Medical Center, right? The the members of 1199, of the nurses association, the people helped deliver my son when he was born there a few years ago. This is a bus that's delivering for thousands of workers every single day. That's saving valuable time back in the lives that people invest in themselves, their families, and the communities. So, this is the type of transformative project that we're so excited to win and to celebrate today. And like the mayor pointed out, we'd love to see more of these roll out across the Bronx and throughout the city. Thank you. >> Thank you. And now we'll turn it over to questions. >> We'll start with on topic questions, please. Uh we'll go first to Ethan from AM New York. If you can just wait for the microphone. Um, sorry, Mayor. You had the first uh bus town hall event last week. Are you planning on doing something similar in the Bronx for this uh, you know, bus rapid transit plan over here on Tmont? >> You know, we are going to continue to engage with New Yorkers to hear from them of how best we can speed up their commutes. I'm going to pass it over to our deputy mayor, Julia Kurten, to speak more about the additional details on this. Thank you. Yes, we will be kicking off community engagement here later this year. >> Thanks, Ethan. Other on topics, Dave from Streets Block. >> Hey, how's it going? >> How's it going, Dave? >> Great. Love this bus way. Um, >> what's today's t-shirt? >> It's a Connies. You ever been down there in Rockaway? >> No. >> Got to go get a Frozen. Um, so we're very excited about this bus way here uh at Streets Blog, but we also all know that a busway, bus lanes, they're only as good as the enforcement uh keeping cars out of them. And NYPD data showed last week that the uh unformed officers in the department only give out nine bus lane uh tickets for parking in bus lanes across the entire city in a week. Um, and I know that the NYPD is supposed to be a really big partner in the uh fast buses plan. So, what do you have to say about that uh that kind of effort given how important they are to keeping bus lanes clear, bus stops clear, places like that? >> Well, I I think as you said, enforcement is critical to ensuring that our buses can actually travel at the speed that we are building the streetscape for them. In addition to NYPD enforcement though, one critical part of this is also ACE and ABLE and ensuring that we are expanding the number of miles across the city where we are able to hold those accountable who are deliberately trying to slow down our buses by being in those very lanes oftentimes seen by consecutive buses. So we will follow up on whatever enforcement that we can enhance. However, the importance of enforcement is not lost on us at all. >> Thank you. All right, Andrew from NBC. >> Thank you. So, mayor, we everyone knows you campaigned on fast and free and you have uh talked recently about you still want to pursue free, but New Yorkers now understand that's not happening right away. But on the fast part of it, level setting wise, are these busways going to make buses fast or just faster from the slowest in the country? because 6 minutes each way there might be some New Yorkers hearing about this saying doesn't sound very fast to me. >> You know, I think every day is an opportunity to do better for this city. The first thing we want to do is improve from where we are. As you've said, we're talking about a bus that at times is crawling at slower than 5 miles an hour. So, yes, we have to make it faster. Our goal is to make it fast. And what that is going to come from is not only the busways that we're speaking about like the one on Tmont today, but it's also going to come at its peak from bus rapid transit. And that is an example of how we're going to utilize every tool that we have to make it such that these are not only achievements relative to where we were prior to this administration, but they are achievements in and of themselves. Thank you, Ed. >> Other on topic questions. Okay, thank you. We'll now move on to off topics and we'll start with Liz Kim from Gothamist. Just give a minute for our speakers. >> Hi Mr. Mayor. Good morning. >> Good morning. How are you? >> Good. I want to ask you about something AOC said over the weekend that you probably heard in an interview where she quoted council member Chi O who once said on Twitter or ex um woke one was crazy. and she was talking about it in response to questions about whether the left has some sort of um during that time whether how how she responds to some unpopular or controversial proposals on the left like defund the police and I wonder what you make of that. What do you make of that statement because you yourself have walked back defund the police. Do you think woke one was crazy? >> Look, I think that each person has a responsibility to tell New Yorkers, to tell Americans when they're running for office what they believe. And sometimes what you believe can change. It can develop. It can grow. And I know that there are some for whom they still believe in that. I've made very clear that I do not believe in defunding the police. that I will not be defunding the police and that to me delivering critical public safety also looks like working with our police department alongside many other partners. And we've seen over the first seven months of this administration what that can look like when we're talking about the fewest murders on record in New York City, the fewest shooting incidents on record in New York City. And that to me is how we measure a lot of our public safety. >> Thank you. We're going to go to Farha from City and State. Morning, Mr. Mayor. >> Morning. How are you? >> Hi. Doing good. So, um, as of recently, as last fall, um, the NYPD would go to conferences in Israel with the Israeli National Police. This past January, Speaker Julie Mannon also mentioned that she would not stop plans if the council had plans to take these trips to Israel. Based on the recent comments that you have made against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, does your does the NYPD or the city council have current plans to visit Israel this fall? And if so, do you think that your comments might cause a backlash on the reception? >> I don't know what the city council's plans are. They're an independent body and I'll leave it to the speaker to answer that question. Uh I can follow up with the NYPD to find about those plans. I'll tell you most of my focus today is Tmont Avenue Bus Way, but I will follow up on that and we'll let you know. >> Thanks. We'll go to Heather from News12. >> Hi, Mayor. How are you >> doing? Well, how are you? >> Good, thank you. So, a group of organizations are conducting sitins at um courouses across the city to review arraignments and just watch in on them. They're saying under your administration, arrests for low-level issue uh low-level arrests have remained high or even increased. They also cited data from the mayor's office of criminal justice that the number of arrests from January to June of this year exceeded 50%. They're kind of calling on you to address this and stand up to your campaign promises of addressing low-level arrests. I just wanted your response on this. They're supposed to be releasing their findings tomorrow. >> Well, I look forward to the release of their findings and I think that if I'm understanding your uh question correctly, if they're engaging in court watch and they're going to to observe these kinds of proceedings, that's an important part of our criminal legal system. And I've made very clear that I don't believe New Yorkers should have to choose between safety and justice. We have to be able to deliver both of these things. And I was sharing earlier about some of the achievements that our administration is proud of when it comes to the fewest murders on record and it comes to the fewest shooting incidents on record. And also we know that every single day is an opportunity to do better. So I look forward to the findings and we'll review those. Thank you. >> Thank you, Heather. Okay, I've got time for two more. We'll go to Chris from Politico and then we'll go to Catherine. >> Chris, did you recently get married? >> No. >> Oh, I know you did. Well, I mean somewhat. I just saw your wedding ring and I've never seen it before. >> Yep. Uh no, it's been uh like a decade. >> Oh, >> are you always trying to throw me off before I ask you questions? I'm starting to trend here. >> I just wanted to wish you congratulations. >> Anyways, want to ask one observing things we're all thinking. >> One or two wanted to ask you two very different things having nothing to do with what you just talked about. um the Elizabeth Street Garden, your administration is going to walk away from the plan to build housing in the garden. How do you explain doing this given you promised last year that you would move forward with that plan? And then on a totally different topic, um the city council announced today that it's launching an investigation into prediction markets. Um I'm curious where you stand on the idea of regulating prediction markets. Do you think there needs to be more regulation on that in order to protect from deceptive marketing practices? And who do you think should ultimately regulate prediction markets, the state or the federal government? >> I think to to be direct, yes, I think there needs to be more regulation. I think it's an open conversation as to what each level of government should do. However, I don't think that we have seen the limits of that regulation as yet. Uh, and I appreciate especially the attorney general for having taken action on this. I think it was a couple of weeks ago. Um, and on your first question, you know, it was in the campaign itself uh, before the general election that I shared with New Yorkers that the actions of former first deputy mayor Randy Mastro made it nearly impossible for any future administration to be able to fulfill a vision of building housing on the Elizabeth Street Garden site. So, while we are working to resolve the lawsuit with the developers who were set to build upon that site, we continue to believe in the importance of building more affordable housing and that is why we are going to be building more than 180 homes at 22 Suffach Street and more at 100 gold as well. >> Thank you. And >> that's what I said over the course in the final I think it was maybe it was a week before the general election that those actions made it nearly impossible for us to move forward. >> Thank you Chris. Last question will be Katherine from Prince. >> Hi mayor. >> Hi. How are you? >> Good. How's it going? um on the Pitar lawsuit. Yes. Um the city has continued to implement the tax while it appeals the decision from Monday, >> but if the court ultimately rules in favor of the plaintiffs in that case, does that mean all this implementation work is for nothing? Like is the city doing anything to sort of prepare prepare for that fact if you know they have to start from scratch? Um, and also in Elizabeth Street Garden, did you ask the legislature a after coming into office if if they would at all be willing to explore um, lifting that designation? >> I I think we've been clear that the actions of the prior administration made it nearly impossible to proceed on that vision and proceed on it in a way that would be realistic. Uh, and when it comes to your first question, we continue to be confident not only in the importance of a tax on secondary homes worth more than $5 million, in the necessity of the half a billion dollars it would raise towards making sure that our streets are safer, making sure that our schools are stronger, that our city is more affordable, and also our law department has informed Mr. Mastro that it will appear before the appellet division second department on Thursday morning to address the stay and any other related matters. All right. Thank you everyone. >> Upstate.