This column, from the weekly opinion piece MATTER OF FACT, first appeared on BrooklynReporter.com, the Home Reporter and Spectator dated June 10, 2022
Street safety has been a local issue I have covered many times after a death or serious injury. These victims of traffic violence have often been children. I have written too many times about this, sharing that I am sick of writing that particular column.
Many factors created this dangerous environment for pedestrians and cyclists. There is no one solution, nor no single person, who can fix it. Myriad actions, with the help of various stakeholders, are needed to have a positive impact on what has become a pandemic.
That is why it was such a welcome event when Senator Gounardes and Councilman Brannan hosted a pedestrian, cyclist, and street safety town hall Monday, June 6. The forum took place in-person at McKinley Junior High School and was live-streamed on Facebook, including panelists from the 68 precinct, Department of Transportation, and Community Board 10.
Unfortunately, this town hall for a very serious subject was continuously overwhelmed by interruptions and several downright inappropriate comments that were indicative of another pandemic that has devolved in recent years: a complete lack of decorum and civility by those with a “win at any cost” mentality for their political team.
Keeping everyone who shares the roadways safe is not a Democratic or Republican issue. We all agree on this. There may be different opinions on how best to do it. We may have criticisms of those in positions of authority and it is to be expected that one’s political beliefs will often mean they are more critical of a politician from the party they vote against, but naked partisanship should never become the focus when we come together as a community to tackle a serious issue like street safety.
It is clear that political motivations were the focus of some who attended. It was not most of the people there, but as we have often seen, a very loud minority making a lot of noise can quickly take up all the oxygen in the room.
“That was totally inappropriate. We are going to ask you to leave because that was totally inappropriate.”
Senator Gounardes responding to town hall attendee who said that the nine delivery workers killed on their bikes on New York City streets last year were “not enough!”
From an attendee holding a political yard sign that attacked one of the elected officials hosting the event to absurd conspiracy theories in the Facebook Live comments, it was evident that some intended to hijack the event, both in-person and virtually, as a way to derail something organized by electeds they seek to oppose at every turn, at any cost, in every situation.
Less than four minutes in, the forum was overrun by loud interruptions from a few attendees. Gounardes explained that anyone who came to interrupt, could leave, which elicited a large round of applause from the majority of guests who had already seemed to be growing frustrated by the behavior.
On the virtual side, the Facebook live comments were full of attacks and complaints from a handful of viewers. One stated, “there are too many schools in our area. They have to stop making more school public schools,” to which another commenter agreed, “we should close down more schools.” When someone asked if that was serious and “what do we do with the children?” the response was, “Bring them to your house and tech them there.”
As Gounardes and Brannan sat alongside local NYPD leaders, discussing what they have worked on together and where they plan to focus their coordination, partisan attendees who claim that those electeds do not support the police that they hold in such high esteem, slammed the NYPD as ineffective and missing in action. At one point, Captain Tolson was interrupted by someone dismissively shouting, “zero enforcement!” and one attendee bellowed, “We love you, but why are you not around?”
When Gounardes added that “nine delivery workers were killed on their bikes on the street last year,” the attendee holding the political yard sign replied, “Not enough.” Gounardes immediately condemned the comment that expressed more delivery workers should be killed in traffic crashes and told the guest to leave, which he proudly did, raising his large sign over his head, while exiting to a chorus of boos from the audience.
We can be critical without using every platform, even those for issues we agree on, to score political points. It distracts from issues that are, quite literally, a matter of life and death.
