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City Council Survey (District 29): Heidi Harrison Chain
Political Party: Democratic Party http://www.heidichain.com Candidate Submitted Biography: Heidi Harrison Chain is a proven community leader with a history of accomplishment. Both professionally and personally, she has always put our community first. Heidi believes that by working together we can better our community and our city. Currently a Director in the Office of Legal Affairs of New York City Department of Finance (where she has worked for 20 years), Heidi also works in her free time with the NYPD to enhance police-community relations and to help you by addressing public safety, quality of life, and emergency preparedness issues. She has been called “one of our hardest working community leaders” and has an acknowledged reputation for consensus building, project management, and problem solving. Heidi is married to Herb and they have one son. Born and raised in Rego Park and Forest Hills, Heidi graduated from PS 174, Russel Sage Junior High School and Forest Hills High School. Heidi then graduated from the University of Rochester with a B.A. in Political Science and Economics. Heidi attended the National Law Center at George Washington University and transferred to Villanova University School of Law where she graduated with a J..D. Heidi is admitted to the Bar of the State of New York, The District of Columbia. She is admitted to the Federal Courts in New York and the United States Supreme Court. Heidi holds and has held many leadership positions within our community: •President,112th Precinct Community Council Heidi Chain has worked hard for you and has improved our community with her unparalleled dedication and leadership. Among her many accomplishments, she: •Developed the Safe Street Crossing Program to help seniors cross Queens Boulevard Heidi Chain believes that we deserve a leader who has the knowledge and experience to deliver more for our community by tackling the difficult issues of today head on —that’s why she’s running for NYC City Council. City Council Survey (District 29): Heidi Harrison ChainQuestion 1: What is the most important transportation need in your district? As a Council Member, how would you work to address this need?The most important transportation need concerns the traffic situation in our community. We have unsafe streets, high traffic congestion and too many people hurt or killed in numerous accidents in our community. Our seniors indicate that they do not have enough time to cross the streets. We have the highest number of arrests for drunk driving, and too many people speeding on our streets. As councilmember, I would bring together the Dept of Transportation, the NYPD, and other interested stakeholders to resolve this major problem. I would advocate for City employees to help people cross Queens Boulevard. I have already implemented this program on weekends with auxiliary police officers. In addition, we should encourage everyone to take public transportation, which means that our subways and the LIRR station need elevators to be handicapped-accessible. As councilmember, I would work to insure that the MTA provide these elevators. Other quality of life issues that I would correct include: having crossing guards by all schools, better DOT street signage in our community and working with the community to arrange for traffic devices already requested by concerned citizens. I would also advocate for fewer parking tickets but more enforcement of moving violations. Question 2: The intersection of 108th Street and 71st Avenue is one of the most dangerous in your district, where 1 people died and 49 people were injured between 1995-2005 (NYS DOT). As a City Council member, what traffic enforcement policies or physical changes to the intersection infrastructure would you support to make this intersection safer for everyone who uses it (pedestrians, cyclists and drivers)?I have been on the front lines of the battle to keep Queens Boulevard from claiming more victims. As president of the 112th Precinct Council, I developed the Safe Street Crossing Program to help our residents cross Queens Boulevard. As councilmember, I would advocate for City employees to direct traffic and helping people cross the street at this busy, dangerous intersection. Question 3: According to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles' most currently available data, in 2007 speeding was a contributing factor in over 3,000 motor vehicle crashes in New York City. Furthermore, the same data showed that the top human contributing factor to the 264 fatal crashes in New York City during 2007 was also speeding. Given these figures, what measures, if any, do you support to redress this problem? Finally, do you believe that New York City’s current speed limits are safe?Too many drivers speed in our community. In addition, there are a high number of arrests for drunk driving in our community. There should be more enforcement of moving violations, especially around speeding. The timing of traffic lights should also be reexamined (for example, lead/lag arrows do not allow enough time/vehicles to safely pass per light change, which leads to unnecessary aggressive driving) and there should be an increased use of the red light cameras. The speeding in our community does not only occur on the main roads. Rather, people speed through the side streets in our community, leading to a dangerous situation for pedestrians. Additional traffic regulation (stop signs and traffic lights) would enhance safety. Furthermore, there can be additional speed bumps placed in locations if local residents are agreeable. These and other traffic calming devices should be employed. Question 4: The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's website reports: "In New York City, obesity is epidemic: more than half of adult New Yorkers are overweight (34%) or obese (22%). Data show that obesity begins early in life: nearly half of all elementary school children and Head Start children are not a healthy weight. In New York City, 1 in 5 kindergarten students, and 1 in 4 Head Start children, is obese." Do you believe that increasing walking and biking in New York City would improve public health? If yes, how would you work to increase walking and biking in your district?Yes, I believe that increasing walking and biking would improve public health. We have picturesque parks in Queens and a beautiful community. We can have bicycle parking, both indoor and outdoor, which will encourage more people to ride. We could encourage walking by having walking/biking tours of our community published with information about the local community. We have a very rich history in this council district and having walking and biking tours to highlight the beauty or interest in our community could greatly encourage people to practice healthier habits than they do now. The NYC Parks Department could also have additional nature walks and bicycling trails in the parks. Making Queens and the other boroughs more pedestrian and bike-friendly will go a long way to improving public health without a major investment on the health care side of the budget. Another way to increase walking and biking in my district is to work with law enforcement, schools, senior centers and other community organizations to create more “Fun Walk/Runs” and short biking races to benefit charitable causes related to public health. Events like the recent Tour de Queens bike race should be encouraged and additional events should be scheduled. Question 5: Road pricing, including such measures as non-stop tolling, fees based on vehicle miles travelled or entry into a highly congested zone, has been the source of much discussion in New York City and other major metropolitan areas. London famously uses a congestion charge to fund its transit system, Oregon recently piloted a program to replace the gas tax with a fee for miles driven and Seattle recently studied how road pricing could be introduced on a regional basis. Seattle's study, “Traffic Choices Study" (http://psrc.org/projects/trafficchoices/index.htm), found that introducing new tolls on major corridors during peak traffic hours influenced drivers’ behavior and projected that a region-wide road pricing scheme could significantly reduce vehicular traffic congestion. Do you think that introducing a road pricing strategy would change New Yorkers’ travel choices? Do you think that this would be an effective way for the City to reduce backups on high-traffic roadways like the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the Gowanus Expressway or the Long Island Expressway? Finally, do you believe there are additional benefits in the surrounding neighborhoods which could be realized from the reduction of vehicular congestion on these routes?Road pricing would certainly change millions of New Yorkers’ travel choices. However, it may not have a positive benefit on my council district. If the costs for traveling into Manhattan are increased, it is possible that drivers would drive and park in this neighborhood and then take the ample public transportation (9 subway stops and 2 LIRR stops) from here. This could result in increased congestion in this council district, and less parking available for our residents. Therefore, I am very concerned about congestion pricing that is focused on reducing the congestion in only Manhattan. I am concerned about any proposal that includes toll increases on the bridges. I would be in favor of something that reduces congestion within the city as a whole; the spillover effects on the outer boroughs need to be considered, however, before any proposal is adopted. Question 6: Do you believe that reducing residential parking requirements as set forth within NYC zoning regulations would affect neighborhood traffic congestion, and if so, in what way? I support a Residential Parking Permit (RPP) program like TA advocates to discourage all-day parking by commuters who use neighborhoods as parking lots. This is a major concern in our council district. The residential parking permit program will also decrease congestion and reduce the hydrocarbon footprint as residents will not have to drive around in circles using fuel looking for a place to park in their own neighborhood. Question 7: The NYC Department of Transportation's Public Plaza Program, Pedestrian Street Program and Summer Streets events are intended to diversify the use of public space and provide more places for New Yorkers to recreate and socialize. Do you support the temporary or permanent repurposing of street space for pedestrians and cyclists? I wholeheartedly support the NYC DOT's Public Plaza, Pedestrian Street and Summer Street programs to reclaim communal space and create a greater sense of community that existed before the construction of the parkways and interstate highway system literally cut our city to pieces during the 20th century. I work on Adams Street in Brooklyn and know firsthand how successful this program can be for the community. Question 8: The City recently released plans for Bus Rapid Transit and expressed interest in bringing a bike share program to New York City. Do you think these new projects would enhance the city's transportation network? Please explain.I would support bringing a bike share program to New York City. As TA and the NYC Bike Share Coalition accurately point out, “NYC is perfect for bike share because it has a rapidly expanding on-street bike network, the density and mixed land use necessary to generate sufficient ridership and relatively flat terrain.” I also would support the BRT features for implementation in NYC including more frequent service, bus bulbs which bring sidewalks out on land so buses do not have to maneuver into and out of bus stops, longer bus stops to eliminate delays as buses wait to enter. Another great idea is the low floor buses that can speed boarding and exiting and encourage people to exit through the rear door and pre-boarding fair payment.
Submitted by heidichain on Sat, 08/08/2009 - 20:38.
Submitted by heidichain on Sat, 07/18/2009 - 17:28.
Submitted by heidichain on Sat, 08/08/2009 - 20:38.
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