On December 3rd, I was invited by Hunter College and Sam Schwartz to present an evening of Streetfilms showing off some of the newest and boldest street designs in Paris, London, Montreal and Stockholm. So that means wonderful things we’ve been covering for years like school streets, daylighting, low traffic neighborhoods (LTN) and pedestrianized business areas.

Congratulations to NYC Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani and his team & volunteers. And now it’s time put NYC on a fast track to making our streets more safe & fair to all modes. I’ve chosen 5 Streetfilms from our vast library that might be most helpful to his administration to guide change.

A few months ago, the Meatpacking District in NYC decided that a loud 60 foot roadway on West 14th Street was too much and thwarted opportunities to get more folks to linger and shop as they passed thru. So they converted it into a green, relaxing promenade and took back 36 feet of roadway filling it with plenty of places for people to pause.

My standing piece of advice for those who live in North America who pine to see the best-practice streets of dozens of places in Europe or want to educate colleague/friends what’s possible: just go to Montreal! It’s much closer! It’s fun, vibrant & welcoming to human beings not in cars!