Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani hasn’t taken office yet, but New York City’s drivers are already sweating — because he just handed a top transition role to the man many call the city’s No. 1 enemy of cars.
Ben Furnas — the longtime Transportation Alternatives powerhouse known for his crusade against cars — has officially joined Mamdani’s transportation, climate, and infrastructure team. And yes… his wish list is exactly what drivers feared.
Furnas’ group didn’t even wait. Earlier this month, Transportation Alternatives dropped its full-blown “transportation agenda” for the incoming administration — over 80 sweeping demands that reshape New York’s streets as we know them.
And some of them are… wild.
One proposal calls for building playgrounds in the middle of city streets, turning them into cul-de-sacs — supposedly solving the city’s “playground desert problem.” How traffic would be rerouted? The plan doesn’t say.
Another demand: shutting down streets outside every New York City school to create “school streets.” Right now, only 72 out of nearly 3,000 schools use this model.
And then comes the big one: busways on every major route — just like the controversial attempts to ban cars from 34th Street. Even bus riders have pushed back, insisting the issue isn’t cars… it’s the lack of buses.
At a community meeting earlier this year, Murray Hill residents were blunt: they fear the anti-car lobby won’t stop until it gets 14th Street, 34th Street, maybe even 42nd Street car-free. Transportation Alternatives’ blueprint seems to confirm their worst suspicions, prioritizing busways anywhere ridership is high and speeds are low.
“I’m so sick and tired of reading, ‘New York City buses are the slowest,’” said Murray Hill resident Stacey Rauch, who rides the bus daily. “It’s a cult — ‘cars are bad.’ Be reasonable. Not everyone can walk or bike everywhere.”
She warned that the agenda would hit seniors and people with disabilities hardest.
“He may think he’s doing good,” she said. “Ask his grandma — she probably wouldn’t agree.”
The plan also takes aim at parking — calling to eliminate spaces near subway stations and replace them with wider sidewalks, bike racks, benches, “micro forests,” and even public restrooms.
City Council Member Robert Holden didn’t mince words.
“If the Mamdani administration lets them turn our neighborhoods into playgrounds in the middle of streets and wage war on drivers, it’ll be a disaster,” he said.
He also blasted the possibility that controversial former DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez could land a new role under Mamdani — and warned the infamous rat-infested outdoor dining sheds could return stronger than ever, as Transportation Alternatives pushes for enclosed, year-round structures.
Critics say the anti-car group has long held outsized influence with left-leaning city officials, describing the relationship as “incestuous.” Furnas’ new appointment, they argue, gives him unprecedented leverage to shape the city’s next Department of Transportation with more activists who share his ideology.
Rauch, who voted for Mamdani, said she feels betrayed.
“I’m furious. He didn’t take PAC money — so why is he favoring special-interest groups?”
Furnas, meanwhile, insists his agenda helps drivers too.
“When more New Yorkers can get around by bus or bike, traffic goes down,” he told The Post. “That means faster, safer trips for the people who still need to drive.”
Whether New Yorkers buy that… remains to be seen.
