Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure meeting
May 29, 2026, 10:00 AM
Jointly with the Committee on Finance
The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held an FY2027 executive budget hearing on the Department of Transportation, jointly with the Committee on Finance. The committee took testimony and recorded no votes.
What was discussed
- Chairs open the DOT executive budget hearing Finance Chair Linda Lee gaveled in the fourth day of the FY2027 executive budget hearings and, with Transportation Chair Shaun Abreu, welcomed DOT; Lee framed her questions around camera savings, red-light revenue, vacancies and Vision Zero, and Abreu said he wanted the hearing to focus on
- Swearing in the DOT panel Committee counsel administered the affirmation to Commissioner Mike Flynn and the DOT witnesses before testimony.
- Commissioner Flynn testifies on DOT's FY2027 budget Commissioner Mike Flynn presented DOT's $1.6 billion FY27 expense budget and $33 billion capital plan, highlighting record investments in a Bus Action Plan, cycling and micromobility, Open Streets, a Sammy's Law school-zone speed-limit expansion, a pothole blitz, a $331.5 million citywide LED
- How were the automated-enforcement camera savings set, and does DOT support expanding red-light cameras? Chair Lee pressed DOT on the $6 million camera-contract savings and red-light camera revenue and equity; Associate Commissioner Yaroslavsky said a new procurement (three bidders, Verra Mobility chosen) lowered costs, First Deputy Commissioner Forgione and Deputy Commissioner Beaton said placements
- Why won't DOT commit $400 million to universal daylighting? Chair Abreu and Council Member Julie Won hammered DOT over the gap between its $10,000-per-location daylighting figure and a $3 billion estimate for doing it citywide; Deputy Commissioner Beaton and First Deputy Commissioner Forgione said $10,000 covers just one of eight possible daylighting spots
- How much new bus and bike lane will the funding build, and what will it cost? Chair Abreu asked how many miles the Bus Action Plan and cycling investments would deliver; Commissioner Flynn and Deputy Commissioner Beaton said they expect a historic level of output but could not give exact mileage or per-lane costs, and said 100 new bus shelters would be installed each year for
- What is DOT's role in the World Cup, and were watch parties cancelled? Chair Abreu asked about DOT's World Cup responsibilities and reports of cancelled watch parties; Commissioner Flynn said DOT's role is both celebratory activations (watch parties, Soccer Streets) and traffic management, and said no final slate of events had been scaled down, only that planning had
- Why are traffic studies and utility street repairs taking so long? Council Member Farah N. Louis raised year-long waits for traffic studies, reliance on federal design standards, and defective utility street restorations; Associate Commissioner Yaroslavsky said 20 new traffic-operations staff are being added, and First Deputy Commissioner Forgione said DOT
- What can be done about high-speed e-bikes and scooters after the Queensboro Bridge deaths? Council Member Phil Wong cited a fatal head-on e-bike/scooter collision on the Queensboro Bridge and asked how DOT can enforce speed limits; Commissioner Flynn called the crash a tragedy, said the stand-up scooter involved was already illegal in the city, and said the priority is getting the
- Will DOT defer to community boards, and are more lower-Manhattan bus lanes and EV chargers coming? Council Member Harvey D. Epstein asked whether DOT would side with community boards on street redesigns and pressed for lower-Manhattan bus lanes and a publicly available EV charger; Commissioner Flynn said community input is one factor but DOT must balance its life-safety mission, promised a
- Does DOT have the money and speed to meet the pedestrian-lighting law and install traffic signals faster? Council Member Lincoln Restler repeatedly pressed DOT on whether the Executive Budget funds compliance with the pedestrian-lighting local law and why signal installations take so long; Associate Commissioner Yaroslavsky and First Deputy Commissioner Forgione would not give a yes-or-no on funding
- How many bus-lane miles, and when will Rockaway potholes and lighting be fixed? Council Member Selvena N. Brooks-Powers asked about bus-lane mileage and cited persistent potholes and months-long streetlight outages in southeast Queens and the Rockaways; Commissioner Flynn again declined an exact mileage figure, and First Deputy Commissioner Forgione committed to address a YMCA
- How will DOT protect Open Streets and enforce bus lanes against mopeds and double-parking? Council Member Shekar Krishnan asked about Open Streets funding and the danger of mopeds on the 34th Avenue Open Street and in the Northern Boulevard bus lane; Commissioner Flynn said the $6.4 million baselined for public realm keeps Open Streets growing (over 150 locations), agreed Class 3 mopeds
- When will DOT take over the HPD-owned streets in the 42nd district? Council Member Chris Banks demanded a timeline for transferring long-neglected HPD-jurisdiction streets in his district to DOT; First Deputy Commissioner Forgione said DDC is now rebuilding the streets to DOT standards so they can be accepted, offered to schedule a call, and Banks pressed that
- Will DOT share camera-location data with the Council and follow its racial-equity plan? Deputy Speaker Nantasha M. Williams pressed DOT to release camera counts by council district or zip code and questioned its racial-equity-plan goals; Associate Commissioner Yaroslavsky said the map is intentionally not shared to preserve deterrence, but Commissioner Flynn agreed to provide a
- Are the One LIC rezoning commitments funded and on schedule? In a second round, Council Member Julie Won pressed on capital commitments from the One LIC rezoning, including the Queensboro Bridge open space, a lighting study, a public toilet, and 44th Drive improvements; Associate Commissioner Yaroslavsky said there are no funding delays and all commitments in
- Is the Grand Street Bridge reconstruction fully funded? Council Member Phil Wong asked whether the $326.1 million to reconstruct the Grand Street Bridge over Newtown Creek is in hand and when construction starts; Associate Commissioner Yaroslavsky said the project is fully funded and projected to go to construction in fiscal year 2029.
- Is the Broadway redesign funded, and will it include public restrooms? Council Member Harvey D. Epstein asked whether the Broadway redesign from 34th Street to Union Square is funded and whether it will include a publicly available restroom and water fountains; Commissioner Flynn said the segment is fully funded and Associate Commissioner Yaroslavsky said the project
- Will the SPEED initiative and equity goals reach already-rezoned neighborhoods? Deputy Speaker Nantasha M. Williams asked whether the SPEED development-review initiative applies to already-rezoned areas like Jamaica and questioned DOT's transportation-equity goals; Deputy Commissioner Beaton said SPEED targets new rezonings but DOT is still doing a comprehensive Jamaica traffic
- Where is the off-street tractor-trailer parking the Council mandated? Chair Lee, on behalf of herself and colleagues, pressed on a 2023 law requiring off-street tractor-trailer parking by December 2025; Deputy Commissioner Beaton said DOT found none of its own land suitable but is setting up metered overnight truck parking in industrial districts while EDC leads the
Agenda
1 item
- T2026-1889 NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL FISCAL YEAR 2027 EXECUTIVE BUDGET HEARINGS 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Department of Transportation Jointly with the Committee on Finance Hearing Held by Committee