Protesters Blast Brewer for Pulling Support for ‘Universal’ Daylighting Bill

A dozen protestors and a handful of organizers from Families for Safe Streets railed against City Council member Gale Brewer at her UWS office on Oct. 10 over her recent decision to rescind her support from a proposed law mandating “universal daylighting” on all city street corners.

“Daylighting” is the practice of prohibiting parking within 20 ft of crosswalks, which creates better visibility at intersections. It is the law in 40 states across the US, including New York State. New York City has been historically exempted.

Brewer herself was not present for the hour-long demonstration from 10 to 11 a.m. A spokesperson for Brewer insisted she is “still for daylighting, just not universal daylighting.”

Brewer was previously a signatory to a letter sent to DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez in May 2024 advocating for daylighting throughout the city.

Per Streetsblog, Brewer pulled her support for universal daylighting legislation last month after learning the law would remove 13,000 parking spaces within her district.

The Families for Safe Streets protestors wore matching black-and-orange shirts and held signs reading “Daylit streets are safe streets” and “You supported safety, Gale. Don’t turn your back now.” A few rode bikes and scooters to get to the protest, which were parked neatly on the edge of the sidewalk.

Harlem resident Chris Sanders was one of the protestors.

“It’s easier for me to cross,” Sanders said when asked why he supported daylighting. “It’s easier for strollers, or people who don’t walk as fast. And when I’m driving, it’s easier for me to see who’s on the sidewalk.”

Many protestors had very personal reasons to advocate for daylighting.

Upper West Side resident Mary Beth Kelly said she co-founded Families for Safe Streets in 2006 after a tow truck struck and killed her husband Carl Nacht on W. 38th St., while the two were biking.

“We had the right of way,” Kelly said. “I’ve been advocating for safe streets ever since.”

Kelly added that she had “been in the trenches” with Brewer for almost two decades. She called Brewer’s turn against universal daylighting legislation “a grave disappointment.”

Upper East Side resident Kirby Kersels said his partner had gone into a coma for six weeks and lost her sight permanently after being struck by a truck in 2008.

“It’s incredibly personal,” he said of daylighting.

Howard Yaruss, a board member at Manhattan Community Board 7, explained that he had co-chaired a committee that had adopted a daylighting resolution.

“Gale always talks about how she respects the community board—her community board overwhelmingly approved daylighting,” Yaruss said. “Now she’s just flipped without explanation.”

A spokesperson for Brewer insisted that the council member had explained to Yaruss that she was modifying her stance, not abandoning the concept of daylighting entirely.

Kelly said she thought motorists had gotten in the councilmember’s ear.

“I think she might offer up the survey that DOT did that has a flawed methodology,” she said. “But the real reason... is parking spots.”

Brewer insisted she only changed her support for universal daylighting after Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, in a recent op-ed in the Daily News, said he was no longer for universal daylighting following a recent report.

“That DOT study determined that a mix of safety strategies at intersections will be more effective than daylighting only,” Brewer stated in a newsletter announcing her changing status. “For that reason, I am not co-sponsoring Int. 1138, which requires daylighting at all city intersections (beyond the 100 per year already scheduled).”

Protestors shared stories through a microphone about others who had been injured in accidents, and read the 2024 letter Brewer signed advocating for daylighting.

“What happened here, Gale?” Upper West Side resident Maggie Bradley said. “We want this Gale back.”

Bradley’s mother Isabel was killed in 1987 by a driver in Ware, Massachusetts.

“You can’t tell me that a parking space at the corner of a street is worth a life,” she added.

Despite their feelings of frustration toward Brewer, protestors were optimistic that daylighting legislation would be passed in the coming years.

“If it doesn’t go through before this administration, then [Democratic mayoral nominee] Zohran Mamdani will pick it up,” Kelly said. “He’s on board with doing safe streets infrastructure. He’s a bike rider.”

Kersels compared universal daylighting to congestion pricing: “I think when it passes, people will say, ‘why didn’t we do this earlier?’”

After protestors read the 2024 letter aloud, a pedestrian who had stopped to listen to the protest piped up.

“How many of the 40,000 intersections that universal daylighting would affect have actually been demonstrated to be unsafe?” the man, who introduced himself as “Lewis” but declined to share his surname, said. “We’re not talking about just the intersections that need it. We’re talking about every intersection. You’re talking about taking hundreds of thousands of parking spots off the street.”

DOT deputy commissioner Eric Beaton has indeed estimated that 300,000 parking spaces citywide would be removed across New York City if universal daylighting is approved.

A few protesters began chanting “Safe streets!” over Lewis while the group walked inside Brewer’s office to hand her staffers a copy of the 2024 letter, along with a request that Brewer again pledge support for the proposed daylighting bill.

Elizabeth Adams, a Brooklyn resident who grew up in the Upper West Side and is affiliated with the bike lobbying group Transportation Alternatives, stayed outside to talk to Lewis.

“The things that are proven to work to reduce crashes and people being killed is slowing the speed and visibility,” Adams said.

“You want to drive people to not own cars,” Lewis retorted. “It’s a political thing.”

Brewer, in a statement to the West Side Spirit, said: “I voted for Local Law 66 of 2023, which requires DOT to implement daylighting at a minimum of 100 intersections per year beginning on January 1, 2025. It is my understanding that DOT is actively implementing this law. Local Law 66 also required DOT to conduct a study on the safety benefits of daylighting by February 1, 2026.

“I support the wide range of measures utilized by DOT to enhance pedestrian safety, including daylighting. DOT’s study determined that a mix of safety strategies at intersections will be more effective than daylighting only.”