New York is bleeding people because the city won’t move fast enough to fix its streets. A new report from Transportation Alternatives shows that safety projects take way too long to finish, leaving dangerous roads open for years. While officials argue over permits and lawsuits, pedestrians are getting hurt and killed on the very blocks where plans were drawn up years ago.
The data is brutal and hard to ignore. Between 2022 and 2025, bike lane projects announced by the group required an average of 527 days to move from public presentation to completion. That is longer than it took to build the Empire State Building, which famously rose in 410 days nearly a century ago. We are letting red tape choke the life out of this city while the administration talks about progress.
Deadly Delays in the Bronx and Brooklyn
The cost of this bureaucracy is measured in blood, not just days. Safety improvements on Tremont Avenue in the Bronx, which were proposed in June 2024, remained unfinished until September 2026. During that period, 17 New Yorkers suffered serious injuries on that single street. Meanwhile, safety improvements proposed for Third Avenue in Brooklyn back in 2023 have still not been installed. Since 2022, three pedestrians have been killed and 14 people seriously injured there.
The situation in Sunset Park is just as grim. Safety improvements proposed there in 2020 have still not been installed. In 2025 alone, two elderly women died while walking on Seventh Avenue during separate incidents. Ben Furnas, the executive director of Transportation Alternatives, put it plainly: “Red tape is killing New Yorkers.” We cannot claim to care about safety while we let these projects sit in limbo for years.
Who Is Actually to Blame?
While the transportation group points out the delays, the political blame game is heating up for Tuesday’s election. The New York Post reports that Democrats have run New York state for more than a decade, driving an accelerating decline. The state budget has ballooned to $269 billion in 2026, which is up over 40% in just five years. Voters are asking if the government is delivering 40% more value, and the answer seems to be no.
The article argues that New Yorkers should not be confused about who is responsible for the state’s direction. It is not Donald Trump, but rather the long-standing Democratic leadership. Critics say James has shown contempt for public safety and has cynically weaponized her powers while refusing to fight fraud.
Saritha Komatireddy is running for Attorney General as a proven bipartisan career prosecutor who promises to put public safety first. She argues that the current leadership has allowed billions to be stolen from public-benefit programs. According to the report, state and local debt now reaches $37,000 per reports, rising rapidly despite increasing tax bills and de-facto taxes such as congestion pricing tolls.
Hochul is seeking re-election with no genuine agenda other than opposing Trump. Her campaign website omits any details regarding plans for the next four years, prompting critics to claim she has essentially admitted she will continue the same policies. The rush to double down on high spending has only grown worse on her watch, leaving the state in a fiscal crisis.
Election Day Is the Only Answer
These delays and the fiscal mess come to a head on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. New York voters can alter the state’s trajectory through the ballot box. According to the report, this election offers a chance to reverse New York’s decline rather than serving as a referendum on Donald Trump.
This is opinion and commentary from the RapForMayor team.
