Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s transportation boss all but declared war on drivers during an event Thursday — claiming most car owners are “wealthy” and calling parking a public land “giveaway.”
asserted
owners → declare → parking
Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn told an audience at a New York Law School breakfast that the administration is prioritizing walking, public transit, cycling and e-bikes while making driving and parking so burdensome that it forces motorists to ditch their cars.
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it → tell → cars
He framed the push as a way to save working New Yorkers money.
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He → frame → money
“Car owners in our city are more than twice as wealthy as non-car owners,” he said, calling car-owning a “burden” for lower income New Yorkers — then ripped parking as a “giveaway.”
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he → say → giveaway
The claims riled the members Brooklyn4All, a grassroots group of Brooklyn neighbors made up of bus riders, cyclists, subway riders and drivers.
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claims → rile → riders
“Transportation is not one-size-fits-all, and people must have the freedom to choose what works for their lives.
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what → fit → lives
Aren’t we a democracy?” a spokesperson told The Post.
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spokesperson → tell → Post
The group formed about five months ago because residents felt the DOT wasn’t listening to them.
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DOT → form → them
A 2024 Hunter College report cited by Flynn during his speech even warned that “low income residents need cars more than middle to high income residents.”
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residents → cite → residents
The report said a car can help someone improve their “economic mobility” and the data showed housing type and neighborhood are better indicators of car ownership than income, race or age.
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type → say → income
The data showed about 85% of Staten Island households have a vehicle, compared with 63% in Queens, 45% in Brooklyn, 40% in the Bronx and just 23% in Manhattan — despite Manhattan having the highest median income.
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Manhattan → show → income
About 87% of residents in single-family homes live in a household with a vehicle, compared with 33% of people in apartment buildings with five or more units, according to the study.
uncertain
% → live → study
Brooklyn4All said drivers include seniors, people with disabilities and workers with odd hours.
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drivers → say → hours
“For people in our community, a car isn’t a luxury; it is a necessity to get to work, take our kids to school, and buy groceries.
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it → get → groceries
Can we go to Costco on a bike?” the spokesperson said.
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spokesperson → go → bike
Flynn acknowledged that some lower-income New Yorkers “have a car, need a car,” but still argued that improving transportation for residents without vehicles would “support our transportation equity goals.”
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improving → acknowledge → goals
The Hunter report, despite its warning about lower-income residents’ need for cars, recommended making vehicle ownership more expensive and parking more difficult to encourage New Yorkers to ditch their vehicles.
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parking → recommend → vehicles
Their proposals included paid street parking, which Flynn said the administration is reviewing.
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administration → include → parking
The study also suggested a recurring registration charge based on a vehicle’s value and a three-cent-per-mile driving fee.
uncertain
study → suggest → mile
“Punishing drivers by making commuting harder doesn’t force people onto bikes and public transit—it just places a heavy, unfair tax on working-class families who are already struggling to get by,” the Brooklyn4All spokesperson said.
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spokesperson → punish → families
The authors said their target was occasional, recreational car use — not residents who rely on vehicles for work and everyday tasks.
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who → say → work
Hunter’s project page lists DOT as a client, and the report thanks the agency and “other community advocates” for participating, which “helped form the contents of this report.”
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which → list → report
Ryan Russo, the faculty guiding the report, no longer works at Hunter College and did not immediately return The Post’s request for comment.
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Russo → guide → comment
The Aporia
