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Survey: Traffic, pedestrian safety concern NYers

By David Freedlander | dfreedlander@am-ny.com

April 28, 2008

Traffic congestion and the lack of pedestrian safety are the biggest drags on New Yorkers quality of life, a new survey says.

The report, by the Citizens Committee for New York City, comes out after a three-day stretch in which three people were killed at busy intersections in Brooklyn while crossing the street.

"In a city of neighborhoods where neighbors live cheek-to-jowl, and where open space and parkland is in short supply, there's a lot going on in the streets and on the sidewalks," said Peter H. Kostmayer, president of the group, in a statement posted on its Web site.

The group surveyed nearly 3,000 people across the five boroughs about the hopes and realities of their neighborhood.

But the chance to deal with New Yorkers top gripe, traffic, may have been lost after the Bloomberg administration's congestion pricing plan was killed by the state legislature in Albany.

The survey showed that the vast majority of New Yorkers are satisfied with their neighborhood, with 75% rating their area "good" or "excellent." Residents of the Bronx rated their neighborhood slightly lower.

In every borough, people voted safety as the most important factor in determining the quality of a neighborhood, with Queens residents voting their neighborhoods safest.

Also rated important to city residents was clean air and clean streets or sidewalks.

The neighborhood characteristic that residents in Manhattan and Brooklyn said was most important but felt least satisfied with was "decent housing at a reasonable cost."

Queens rated "public officials who are responsive to neighborhood needs" highest in that category, and people in the Bronx said safety from crime as the part of their neighborhood they would most like to have and currently do not.

The Citizen's Committee for New York City, which helps residents who want to initiate improvements in their neighborhoods, releases its "Speak Out New York" report annually.