City Council Survey (District 1): Margaret Chin

Political Party:
Democratic Party

http://www.MargaretChin.com

Candidate Submitted Biography:

nine years old. She grew up in NYC Chinatown and attended P.S. 130 and JHS 65. She graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and from the City College of New York (CCNY) with a degree in education. It was at City College through taking Asian Studies courses that Margaret got involved in community organizing. For more than 30 years she has dedicated herself to public service to help immigrants, low income and working families.
Margaret worked for 14 years at LaGuardia Community College's Division of Adult and Continuing Education helping immigrant adults get a college education. Many of her students learned English, got a college degree and built a better life for their families.
For the past 11 years Margaret worked at Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE), an organization that she helped to form when she was in college. As the deputy executive director, Margaret led the organization’s work in advocacy, community organizing and coalition building. She fought for the preservation and building of affordable housing; better access to government services; equal opportunity and fair treatment, for immigrants, low income and working families. Margaret left her position at AAFE at the end of August 2008 to focus on her City Council Campaign.
In her many years of public service she served on boards of many not-for-profit organizations. Margaret was formerly the Chairperson of the NY Immigration Coalition (NYIC). She was a board member of the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD) and chaired the Advocacy Committee. Margaret was a founding member of Chinatown Partnership Local Development Corporation (CPLDC) and served as the vice-chair of the board. Additionally, Margaret served as chair of the Census Bureau’s Race and Ethnicity Advisory Committee on the Asian and Pacific Islander Population for Census 2000. Margaret was a member of Community Board 3 and Community Board 1. Margaret was also one of the founding members of Asian Americans for Equality, where she served as President of the board from 1982 to 1986. In 2003 Margaret was a Fannie Mae Foundation Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
As an advocate for civic participation and voter education, Margaret was elected to the Democratic State Committee for two terms from 1986 to 1990. Margaret ran for City Council in 1991, 1993 and 2001. She fought hard to get bilingual ballots for the Asian community.
Margaret is married to Alan Tung, a public school teacher at P.S. 3 in Greenwich Village. Their son, Kevin, attended public schools and graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and Syracuse University. Margaret’s mom is a retired garment worker and still lives in Chinatown.

City Council Survey (District 1): Margaret Chin

Question 1:
What is the most important transportation need in your district? As a Council Member, how would you work to address this need?

One of the biggest holes in transportation in District 1 is cross-town bus service. While lower Manhattan is served by a number of subway lines, they run mainly North-South through the District. One obvious place for a bus lane or BRT would be Canal Street; however, traffic caused by the 1-way toll on the Verrazano bridge makes that impossible. There are also problems with existing bus service. Many buses, including the widely used M103 and M15, do not run south of Houston, or only run limited downtown stops. In addition, these buses frequently bunch up, arriving three or four at a time and stranding riders in between bursts of service. Overall improvements in bus service, routing, and scheduling would greatly benefit lower Manhattan residents. As a City Council member, I would push the MTA to consult with the community and with my office, and to work to find more flexible and reliable transportation services for District 1.


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Question 2:
The intersection of Bowery and E Houston Street is one of the most dangerous in your district, where 2 people died and 76 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)?

One of the most important issues facing District 1 is pedestrian/bike safety. Across the district, there are safety issues with high-traffic areas. On the west side, pedestrians face vehicles with no stop signs or lights on Greenwich street; in Chinatown, traffic from the Manhattan Bridge claims several lives every year; and up on Houston, the lack of a protected bike lane threatens cyclists with some of the most dangerous spots in the City.
I've crossed at this intersection; it is a huge crossing, and I know how dangerous it is. Without knowing whether the people who were in accidents were in cars or not makes it difficult to know what to concentrate on, but there are some obvious things that could be done. First, the medians are very narrow, and the protective islands should be widened greatly to actually make them a refuge for pedestrians. Second, there needs to be a devoted left turn


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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?

First and foremost, better enforcement is necessary. I don’t believe I have ever seen someone receive a speeding ticket in New York City. Secondly, and probably more importantly, we need to ensure that streets with high rates of accidents have appropriate traffic calming measures. One great example would be to install a protected bike lane on Allen Street; this project has been accepted by the Community Board, and I spoke in favor of it there. This bike lane would narrow a street which currently has lots of fast-moving traffic, while creating a protected area for cyclists in a ‘complete streets’ type of setup. If the Verrazano toll issue were resolved, a similar system could be put in place on Canal street to improve traffic safety there, as well.


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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, active transportation is a great way to improve public health - it is easy, efficient and all ages can participate. I believe part of the reason New York City's obesity rates are lower than the rest of the state is because so much of city life involves active transportation - and making it easier and safer would only help lower our obesity rate. This includes the development of quality facilities in public schools, especially in any new school construction.
I also believe it is important to stress physical education in our children’s schools. As a mother, former teacher, and wife of a public school teacher, I know that physical education can and does have a positive impact on our children’s physical and mental health.
To increase walking and biking we need to 1) Increase infrastructure - keeping sidewalks in good condition and adding safe and convenient bike lanes 2) Working with transit to make it easy to walk and bike to subway stations. 3) Increasing exposure - through events like Summer Streets 4) Education – letting members of the community know and understand the benefits of exercise and transportation alternatives.


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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 works; It has gotten cars off the road elsewhere and I don’t see why it wouldn't in New York. It would change people's behavior as long as there is adequate public transit. I was disappointed by the City and State’s failure to institute congestion pricing last year. I believe that a sensible pricing system would help reduce congestion and improve traffic safety in the denser areas of the City. While some New Yorkers would still need to take a bus and two subways on their daily commute, it will be difficult to generate broad support for this system. That is why revenue from the system needs to go to creating real transportation alternatives across the City and region, to reduce commuters’ reliance on cars to get into the City. I recognize that there are some groups who may initially be adversely effected by congestion pricing, such as lower income individuals and small businesses, and would be cognizant of these issues in creating any proposal.
I also believe that government officials, such as City Council members and others, should not be eligible for waivers from any congestion pricing system.


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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?

In much of District 1, residential and commercial parking already compete for limited amounts of space. Muni-meters and government waivers severely limit the amount of parking space available for local residents. I am not sure about which reductions you specifically mean, but I do know that parking is a serious issue for many residents of the District and the City. It is not an issue for me, as my family does not own a car and I have never had a driver’s license.
I also believe that government officials, such as City Council members and others, should not be eligible for waivers from any parking pricing system. We have a serious permit parking problem in our district. Residential and commercial parking is significantly reduced, due to the number of police, official, and other placarded vehicles parked in the district.


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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 support temporary repurposing of City streets. Summer Streets was a resounding success bringing New Yorkers of all ages from all five boroughs to experience the joys of running, biking and walking in our city.
I am more skeptical about permanent closing. While the Times Square changes have been popular, they have created some serious traffic problems. My district is one of the most walkable in the City, and people want to see more green space. However, we also have serious traffic problems in district 1, including Canal street traffic, Park Row closures, and the traffic associated with three bridges and two tunnels here, I cannot fully support permanently closing major streets or intersections.
Most importantly, the Department of Transportation engages in adequate community consultation in advance of major projects. One example is the Grand street bike lane. I support the idea of increasing space for projects like bike lanes, the installation on Grand street was done by fiat, without community discussion, and has created major traffic problems. Any temporary or permanent street closures or alterations must include significant advance community consultation, which I will facilitate as City Council member for District 1.


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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.

Yes, but for very different reasons. BRT is a super express bus. In places like LA, they have a devoted lane and priority in traffic light patterns so they just zoom along the road. It gets 50 people to their destination faster than a drive in traffic and gets cars off the road so its faster for everyone else as well. I'm not sure what New York has proposed, but this is an excellent small step forward in terms of transportation alternatives. It can help commuters greatly without the significant investment of new rail projects.
BRT is in many ways a better system for outer-borough transit issues; in District 1, it often has as many negatives as positives. The bus bulbs on lower Broadway, for example, have created increased congestion during rush hour, as well as problematic double parking.
A bike share program would be great for New York city, but due to its size and commuting from different boroughs, I imagine it would benefit a very different population than Bus Rapid Transit. You would need a large number of well-located stations to make it a viable reality. Paris has a large one, DC just got one last year, and Montreal has recently developed one- so why not New York?


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Submitted by MChin09 on Sun, 08/09/2009 - 16:26.
Submitted by MChin09 on Tue, 07/14/2009 - 17:45.
Submitted by MChin09 on Sun, 08/09/2009 - 16:26.