A22 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2020
NIt took a pandemic, but New York City is seeing more clearly
than ever that its roadways can do more than move cars and
trucks.
Restaurants transformed parking spaces into outdoordining rooms festooned with lights and plants.
Children reclaimed the city’s side streets, playing catchon the asphalt.
Peaceful protesters flooded the streets with cries for
justice in the police killings of Black Americans.
In a year with so little solace, New York’s streetscapehas brought steady relief. It’s just one example of the many
opportunities before the city in the months and years ahead
to reimagine how its residents can live, work, play and get
around town.
One solid step would be making expansive outdoor din-ing a permanent fixture of New York life. But there are more
urgent tasks — such as protecting pedestrians and cyclists
from vehicles. After years of progress, pedestrian and cy-
clist deaths rose to 126 in 2019, from 105 in 2018, and are on
track this year to be only slightly lower. Overall traffic fatali-
ties are up to 218 this year, from 191 in 2019, according to city
data. City officials said vehicle registrations are up, and the
city has had more reckless driving during the pandemic.
Also vital is improving air quality in low-income com-munities that are plagued by high asthma rates, like the
Bronx, where residents have died of Covid-19 at far higher
rates than the city as a whole. “We have smog in people’s
backyards,” said Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,
whose district includes large swaths of the Bronx. “If you
drive 40 minutes upstate, it’s almost shocking what fresh air
feels like. In some communities you just think it’s normal
that the air is just kind of heavier.”
Righting this injustice means having fewer and more ef-ficient vehicles on the road. The city’s plan to transition to
electric buses by 2040 can happen sooner, and should begin
in these neighborhoods. New York can also look toward
building an electric fleet of sanitation trucks as that technol-
ogy improves. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said the next mayor — Bill
de Blasio’s term is up next year — should reassess any tax
cuts to companies and industries that bring heavy pollution
with them. The city can improve the air quality in these com-
munities even further by bringing back and significantly ex-
panding a borough-based composting system to reduce
waste that is inevitably diverted through transfer stations in
the South Bronx, a shift that can also bring jobs to New
Yorkers who need them.
New York’s mayor and congressional representatives
need to fight hard in Washington for the infrastructure dol-
lars the city needs. That’s the only way the city can reinvest
in its aging subway system, harden critical regional infra-
structure and expand its bus network to areas of the city
that are less accessible, like eastern Queens. Coaxing people
out of their cars demands that these efforts succeed.
Other changes need to be made to the roadways them-selves. The city should move faster to build a thoroughly in-
terconnected network of protected bike lanes. It also needs
pedestrian and cyclist islands at dangerous intersections.
More dedicated bus lanes and car-free avenues, like 14th
Street in Manhattan, may help.
A few small ideas: How about making New York’s noto-
rious trash problem part of the solution? Instead of letting
those stinky piles of refuse pile up at the curb, why not put
the city’s trash into critter-proof enclosures placed between
cyclists and cars? They could even have flower beds on top.
The next mayor should feel free to get creative.
Mitchell Moss, director of the Rudin Center for Trans-
portation at New York University, said the key is to invest in
public space in general. The city has some 1,700 parks and
playgrounds, upon which New Yorkers have relied heavily
during the pandemic. “We have to use our assets,” Mr. Moss
said. He added that the city would be smart to focus more
resources in the outer boroughs, which teemed with lifeeven as large swaths of Manhattan emptied earlier this year.
“The people who didn’t leave this city have found a way to
make this city more livable,” he said.
With New York City facing a budget crisis, some
changes will be difficult, or they may take longer than they
should. Change is generally difficult in New York, home to a
political class that tends toward calcification.
But amid unthinkable loss and suffering this year,
lessons have been learned. Embracing those lessons is in
some ways the greatest challenge facing New York, an old,
proud city ready to be born anew.Imagine New York Streets’ Potential
EDITORIALPHOTOGRAPHS BY JORDAN GALE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMESTO THE EDITOR:
Re “Iran Struggles for a Response
to Bold Strikes” (front page, Nov.
30):
I suspect that Israel chose to
assassinate a high-level Iranian
nuclear scientist with more than
tacit approval from the outgoing
Trump administration. Israel’s
prime minister, Benjamin Netanya-
hu, apparently saw what was
undoubtedly his last chance to
attack Iran, knowing that the in-
coming Biden administration
would have no part in such an
action, since Joe Biden wishes to
build bridges instead of destroying
them.
A sad commentary indeed on
President Trump and the lengths
to which he will go to make it diffi-
cult for Mr. Biden to overcome the
president’s hateful legacy.
RICHARD M. FRAUENGLASS
HUNTINGTON, N.Y.TO THE EDITOR:
Re “Why Was Iran’s Top Nuclear
Scientist Killed?” (Op-Ed,
nytimes.com, Nov. 28):
Barbara Slavin argues that the
assassination of Iran’s leading
nuclear scientist, Mohsen
Fakhrizadeh, was intended to and
will make diplomacy with Iran
more difficult.
Successful diplomacy is carried
out from a position of strength, not
weakness. Israel’s diplomatic
position is enhanced when Iran is
made to understand that its con-
tinuing pursuit of nuclear weapons
will not be without cost.
Ms. Slavin asserts that, as a
result of the assassination, “Iran
may increase its support for Ha-
mas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.”
Iran has long been supporting
these terrorist organizations and
continued to do so before the ink
was dry on its nuclear deal with
the West.
It hardly qualifies as “diplo-
macy” for the United States or
Israel to be guided by a rogue
nation’s threat not only to continue
but also to increase its fomentingof terrorism.
KENNETH A. MARGOLIS
CHAPPAQUA, N.Y.TO THE EDITOR:
Iran’s choice is not only between
retaliation or waiting for a Biden
administration to run interference
for it.
There is a third option on the
table: Iran can finally heed its
citizens’ repeated demands to
abandon its imperial ambitions
and focus on their needs. The
Iranian people have spoken out
repeatedly and at great personal
cost, getting gunned down or im-
prisoned. All they want is a gov-
ernment that will focus on their
well-being and stop spending its
resources on visions of imperial
grandeur.
The Iranian people have no
hatred for Jews and no interest in
imposing their dictates on their
Sunni neighbors. President Barack
Obama ignominiously turned his
back on the Iranian people’s 2009
Green Revolution. The question
now is whether President Biden
will make the same mistake and
side with the ayatollahs against
their own people.
CHARLES KNAPP, ROXBURY, CONN.TO THE EDITOR:
Barbara Slavin describes the as-
sassination of the military officer
in charge of Iran’s nuclear bomb
program as an illegal criminal act
under international law. She did
not express concern about possible
violation of international law for a
regime repeatedly threatening to
destroy another country; export-
ing arms to support conflicts in
Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and
Iraq that have displaced large
numbers of civilians; or building a
weapon of mass destruction.
Welcome to an Alice in Wonder-
land understanding of interna-
tional law.STEVEN WILF, HARTFORD, CONN.
The writer is a professor of global
commerce at the University of Con-
necticut School of Law.Killing of an Iranian Nuclear Scientist
LETTERSTO THE EDITOR:
My patriotic “I Voted” sticker, still
stuck on the bedroom door, contin-
ues to reassure me that I had a
small but vital part in supporting
our democracy.
How cool it would be, when we
begin to have public health approv-
al to venture out in public as we
used to do, to be surrounded by
fellow patriots and considerate
neighbors sporting similar brag-
ging rights: “I Was Vaccinated.”
The Covid vaccinators should
issue such stickers. I would feel
proud to wear mine, and safer if I
see others, in stores and restau-
rants.
I’m 79, my husband, 81. We hope
to live through Covid. When the
pandemic has passed, I will apply
my sticker to our bedroom door:
2020 Memories!
NANCY GALLOWAY, BERKELEY, CALIF.‘I Was Vaccinated’
TO THE EDITOR:
Re “Why Scrub for Show if the
Virus Can Waft Freely?” (news
article, Nov. 20):
Here’s a follow-up question:
Since we now know that virus
droplets are the main cause of
coronavirus transmission, and
these droplets are particularly
dangerous in areas with poor
ventilation, why isn’t more effort
being made to help schools up-
grade their heating, ventilation
and air-conditioning (HVAC) sys-
tems?
Earlier this year, the Govern-
ment Accountability Office esti-
mated that 41 percent of school
districts need to update or replace
HVAC systems in at least half their
school buildings; that’s about
36,000 schools. Even before Covid,
more than 14 million school days
were missed every year because of
asthma, a chronic condition wors-
ened by poor indoor air quality.
It’s easier to find funding for
cleaning products than for struc-
tural improvements, which is why
many schools focus on disinfecting.
Yet we must consider the health
risks from over-cleaning and using
more chemicals in poorly venti-
lated areas, especially in low-
income communities that are al-
ready most affected by the corona-
virus.
Congress needs to pass the
Heroes Act, which includes $5
billion to support K-12 school facili-
ties, to help schools reopen safely.
Scrubbing surfaces makes us feel
safer, but clean desks won’t matter
if schools don’t have clean air.ROCHELLE DAVIS, CHICAGO
The writer is president and chief
executive of the Healthy Schools Cam-
paign.Disinfecting the Schools
TO THE EDITOR:
Re “China and U.S. Can Have
Cooperative Competition” (Op-Ed,
Nov. 25):
Fu Ying, a former vice foreign
minister of China, suggests the
need for an equal and candid con-
versation. She is right. Both sides
should be honest about what is
going on.
The Chinese Communist Party is
committing a genocide. The United
States is the world’s best and loud-
est advocate for human rights, and
our founding principles have
shaped the world’s understanding
of liberty and democracy.
Communist China is trying to
expand borders beyond its territo-
rial control in a quest for world
dominance. The United States will
stand against those who encroach
on others’ sovereign territory.
China regularly steals American
research and technology, and tech
companies like TikTok and Huawei
are required by Chinese law to
turn over data to the Chinese Com-
munist Party.
Every time the party speaks, it
tells one-sided stories and half-
truths, and Ms. Fu’s article is no
different.
We can no longer pretend that
Communist China is an ally with
good intentions, merely a partner
with customs and a political sys-
tem that we don’t fully understand.
Communist China is a totalitarian
regime bent on world domination,
and as long as its officials refuse to
tell the truth or respect human
rights, they will be treated as such.RICK SCOTT, WASHINGTON
The writer, a Republican, is a U.S.
senator from Florida.Don’t Get Duped by China
TO THE EDITOR:
Re “Who Won? Many G.O.P. Gov-
ernors Still Would Rather Not Say”
(news article, Nov. 19):
Gillum Ferguson, a spokesman
for Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee, was
quoted as saying that “if the roles
were reversed, Democrats would
surely mount their own legal chal-
lenges.”
Well, the roles were reversed in
2016, and rather than spew out-
rageous, baseless lies about the
election or mount frivolous law-
suits, Democrats accepted the
process and the country’s ideals,
sucked up the defeat and unhappi-
ly moved on.
It is high time for Republicans to
do the same.
SHERYL GIARDINA
RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J.Republicans, Go Home