Far-left City Council Democrats are pushing to legalize jaywalking– a move critics ripped as yet another step in the wrong direction for the crime-plagued Big Apple.
Councilwoman Mercedes Narcisse, a Democrat representing Canarsie and other parts of southeastern Brooklyn, sponsored legislation last week that would greenlight pedestrians to freely cross streets outside the crosswalk or without obeying traffic signals.
The bill is already being cheered by cop-hating Democratic Socialist Councilwoman Tiffany Caban (D-Queens) and fellow far-lefty Shahana Hanif (D-Brooklyn) who’ve joined on as co-sponsors.
Proponents of the legislation say it’s necessary to end what they believe has long been bias enforcement by cops against blacks and Latinos of a law nearly every New Yorkers breaks.
However, allowing New Yorkers to cavalierly cross wherever — and whenever– they want is in direct conflict with the mass installation of red-light and speed cameras and other traffic-calming measures the city has made the past decade through its Vision Zero initiative to help lower traffic fatalities, critics said.
“I think this bill is ridiculous,” said Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens). “How can anyone imagine this is a good idea considering the [amount] of pedestrian deaths we continue to have each year? It would only put more pedestrians in danger.”
Council Majority Leader Joseph Borelli (R-Staten Island) said legalizing jaywalking might send the wrong message to New Yorkers.
“‘Rules shmooles’ is the mantra of many [lefty] Council members, but I just hope this doesn’t have the same golden results as our repeal of pissing-in-public laws,” he said.
There were 260 overall traffic deaths citywide in 2022 — a 5.5% decrease from 275 the previous year, marking the first time the Big Apple had experienced a decrease in traffic deaths since 2018, records show. Pedestrian deaths dropped 4.7%, from 124 in 2021 to 121 in 2022.
The city is on pace to have an even less deadly year in 2023, with 112 traffic deaths reported through June 30, including 44 pedestrian fatalities.
There were 50,757 traffic injuries last year, a slight uptick from the previous year’s 50,738 but a vast improvement from 2019 when there were 60,571.
Yet some contend that jaywalking is perfectly safe.
“I really don’t think there’s stats that show jaywalking is dangerous,” said Eric McClure, executive director of the safe-roads group StreetsPAC.
McClure said he typically “finds its easier” to cross in the middle of a block without having to worry about vehicles making fast, unexpected turns at an intersection.
Paul Koenigsberg, a city-based personal injury lawyer, said he believes it’s “highly unlikely” that legalizing jaywalking will cause a surge in traffic accidents, but he conceded that in some cases it could help pedestrians involved in personal injury lawsuits if they were technically jaywalking when struck by a vehicle.
Jaywalking has been on the books in the city since 1958 and carries a penalty of $250.
In 2019, the NYPD issued 361 jaywalking tickets, but jaywalking enforcement was all but nonexistent throughout the pandemic as only 90 and 33 summonses were handed out in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Last year, cops handed out 117 tickets, but they’re on pace to shatter that total this year with 111 tickets issued through March 30, records show.
This is not the first time city pols have considered legalizing jaywalking.
In January 2020, then-Council Speaker Corey Johnson demanded it in response to reports showing blacks and Latinos received nearly 90% of all 316 jaywalking tickets handed out during the first nine months of the previous year, a disparity he called “very disconcerting.”
Efforts to legislate such a rule change, however, were dramatically delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A bill sponsored by former Councilman Ben Kallos (D-Manhattan) to legalize jaywalking didn’t get a public hearing until October 2021 and ultimately died in a committee by year’s end when the Council session ended.
Council Speaker Adrienne Adams through a spokesperson Friday declined to say whether she supports the legislation, but the Queens Democrat was a co-sponsor of Kallos’ bill.
Narcisse declined comment.
Spokespersons for both the NYPD and Mayor Eric Adams, who’s made crime-fighting and traffic safety major components of his administration, said their offices need more time to review the legislation.
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WALKING DEAD
Hundreds of NYC pedestrians are killed every year, while jaywalking is rarely enforced:
Traffic injuries and fatalities
Year/Injuries/Fatalities
2013/55,540/299
2014/51,477/259
2015/53,588/234
2016/60,155/232
2017/59,182/224
2018/60,796/206
2019/60,571/220
2020/43,853/242
2021/50,738/275
2022/50,757/260
2023/24,364/112*
Jaywalking summonses
2019: 361
2020: 90
2021: 33
2022: 117
2023: 111**
*As of June 30.
** As of March 30
Sources: NYPD, NYC