Op-Ed | Improving the quality of life for all New Yorkers

Our administration’s North Star has always been building a safer, more affordable city for working-class New Yorkers. Sometimes, that means delivering on big, generational projects that will build neighborhoods and transform boroughs. And sometimes, that means taking care of the fundamentals — the things we take for granted until they don’t work. In this administration, we’re doing both — and this holiday season, that means fewer potholes on our streets, fewer garbage bags on our sidewalks, and a historic plan to transform Fifth Avenue. 

This week, we will celebrate the record speed at which we’re filling potholes — and the investments we’ve made in preventing potholes from forming in the first place — as we fill the 500,000^th pothole in our city streets since the start of this administration. In the three years of our administration, we’ve received less than 90,000 311 complaints about potholes; during the first three years of the previous administration, they received nearly 150,000 pothole complaints. We are filling potholes faster than ever before, closing 311 complaints in less than two days, so that New Yorkers don’t have to spend their valuable time on the phone calling again and again about the same problem.  Had we not taken action, we would have had more to fill — but with better repaving, we now have fewer potholes to fill. We also understand that consistent investment in paving is the best way to prevent potholes, which is why we’re averaging nearly 1,200 new lane-miles of paving each year. So, if you see a pothole — which there are always more of in the winter — call 311, and we’ll get out there as soon as possible. And if you’re on the road and you see one of our crews at working, take it slow, so they can get the job done safely.

All of this is part of our larger commitment to making our city more livable and more affordable. When it comes to trash, for example, 70 percent of our city’s garbage is now required to be put out in sealed, lidded bins instead of black garbage bags on the street. As of January 2^nd, we will start issuing summonses to one to nine-unit residential buildings — including single-family homes and apartment buildings — as well as city agencies, houses of worship, and non-profit offices that don’t put out their trash in bins with secure lids. That is tens of millions of pounds of garbage every day that won’t be out on our streets in bags that leak or smell, that pedestrians can trip over, and that rats and other vermin can chew through.

New Yorkers deserve a clean and sanitary city, and that is what containerization makes possible. And we are coming for the remaining 30 percent of our city’s garbage from large buildings, so that piles of black garbage bags on the sidewalk will be a memory of the past.

Finally, we are working on transforming our streets, like the historic Fifth Avenue between Bryant Park and Central Park — to make them more pedestrian-friendly as well as boost economic activity in the neighborhood. For the avenue’s 200^th birthday recently, we announced a $150 million initial investment in the project, which will double the sidewalk width so we can enjoy Fifth Avenue without being packed together like sardines.

Keeping New York City the greatest city in the world means working hard every day to make sure it remains livable and affordable for all. And this holiday season, fixed potholes and improved streets mean New Yorkers have one less thing to worry about.