Political Party:
http://www.waltnestlerforcitycouncil.org
Candidate Submitted Biography:
As a third generation resident of Clason Point, Walter was raised, educated and maintains his professional office within the 18th District. A product of neighborhood schools like P.S. 69, Holy Cross and Saint Raymond’s High School, Walter went on to receive degrees in Environmental Studies and Landscape Architecture from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry as well as several credits towards a Masters Degree in Urban Planning from Hunter College. Upon the completion of his education, Walter went to work for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation in 1978 as a Landscape Architect working on construction contract and design programs for the City’s parks. In 1985 he opened the only professional Landscape Architecture firm in the Bronx, which to this day is still the only firm of its type located in the entire borough.
Professionally, the Office of Walter G. Nestler Landscape Architect P.C., has done design work for the NYC Dept. of Parks and Recreation, NYC Dept. of Sanitation, the Montefiore Hospital Campus and many residential projects throughout the New York Metropolitan area. Walter Nestler is a licensed professional landscape architect in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut and has maintained membership in the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) for more than thirty years.
Walter is currently a member of Community Board 9 in the Bronx and serves on the Board's Parks Committee.
Question 1: What is the most important transportation need in your district? As a Council Member, how would you work to address this need? Universal access to the subway system is the major transportation issue. Presently there is no elevator service connection street level to the elevated platforms in my entire 18th city council district nor in any of the adjacent stations along the IRT #6 elevated line. The Parckchester station is centrally located within the district and a major transportation hub. I would advocate for the inclusion of elevator installations in this station to facilate access for our elderly, physcally challabged, mothers with strollers and bicycle riders, just to name a few. Additionally I would recommend a universal drop-off / pick-up entrance at this station, again to provide access specifically for our elderly and physically challanged riders.
Question 2: The intersection of Morrison Ave and Westchester Ave is one of the most dangerous in your district, where 0 people died and 32 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 recommend the design and installation of traffic and pedestrian control barriers along with improved signage. The installation of state of the art visual and audio traffic signal devises would also be my suggestion. There are actually a number of more periolus intersections within the district, several in which fatalities have occured. These intersections and vehicular corridors do need to be redesigned and reconstructed inorder to reduce hazards which currently exist.
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? I do believe existing NYC speed limits are safe. As mentioned, speeding is the major contributing factor in fatal crashes. The design and installation of speed control devices, increased fines and license suspension are a few deterrents. In the situtation of repeated offenders, in addition to license suspension, required community service and mandatory jail sentesing are proposals I would support. These proposals would apply equally so to bicyclists who disregard safe riding rules.
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? I do believe walking and biking would provide positive results to reducing the current obesity epidemic in our city. I am a strong supporter of expanding our Greenway System throughout our local neighborhoods connecting housing, schools, recreational facilities and transportation hubs. I would support proposals which encourage elmentary and middle school students to attend schools within there neighborhoods, not only would this promote better health through excersice by walking and biking, it would also reduce the number of school buses on our streets thereby improving traffic congestion and air quality. The economic saving of reducing the number of buses might also prove to be a positive benifit.
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? I do not support any road pricing measures as presently proposed. People in the outer boroughs rely on automobile transportation and a convient and cost effective option for our required daily transportation needs. Unless there is a increase in, and improvement to, the mass transit options currently available I could not accept any additional costs to the necessary transportation needs of the residents living in the fringe communities in our outer boroughs where two and three fare zones are the only mass transportation options avialble. I am a strong proponent of a Ferry system servicing and connecting the wateredge communities of the east Bronx to Manhattan's east river transportation nodes, LaGuardia airport and Westchester County waterfront communities. Recreational venues including Citi field, Yankee Stadium, Randalls Island, Roberto Clemente State Park, Govenor's Island, etc. are several examples of recreatonal ferry service destinations which I advocate and support. I would only consider road pricing proposals if innovative solutions like ferry service or expansion of the 2nd ave subway into the east Bronx were part of an broadbased overall comprenhensive planning proposal inclusive of our east Bronx regional transportation needs.
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 believe reduced parking requirements will only increase the traffic congestion within our outerborough communities. I believe Manhattan is unto itself when it involves parking and related congestion proposals keeping in mind Manhattan does have the majority of subway and surface transportation options available to service its residents. Again, the outer boroughs needs are very different from those of Manhattan. We can see this becomming a problem in the upzoned neighborhoods which have transformed themselves over the past eight years. While housing, retail activity and populations have increased public transportation has not kept pace. Further reductions in required parking have only increased the traffic congestion and further eroded related neighborhood environmental quality.
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? Again these types of urban improvements are most desireable in Manhattan and areas like downtown Brooklyn. In districts more like my 18th city council district, expansion of and practical design of local greenways in addition to expanded green street properties would have a more positive impact on local neighborhood environmental and recreational needs. I advocate the reduction and elimination of unnessary DOT road beds and right-of-ways. I am a supporter of an expanded "Green Streets" program. I recommend the design and construction of greenways which service the local transportation needs of my districts neighborhoods in addition to the regionally planned, currently designed and constructed green way systems.
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 believe the residents of my district and our city would gain greater benifit if the current mass transportation systems were designed, adapted and altered to provied universal access to all citizens inclusive of all ages, mobility levels and bicycle friendly. For example, the inclusion of elevators in all subway stations, safe and secure bicycle storage and the connection of all stations to local greenways and safely designed bicycle transport corridors would have a greater impact on our citizens health and improved environmental conditions. If one looks at a city like Amsterdam,(and all cities within the Netherlands for that matter) bicycle transportation is a fundemental design feature in all of their transportation design solutions. This is the comprensensive type of planning and design soultions I feel need to be incorporate into all of our transportatioin proposals city wide.
Submitted by walter on Wed, 08/05/2009 - 23:56.
Submitted by walter on Fri, 07/31/2009 - 12:11. |
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