Sam Schwartz, President and CEO of Sam Schwartz.
Sam Schwartz, President and CEO of Sam Schwartz, spoke to a large crowd at this morning’s 148th CityLaw Breakfast. Professor Ross Sandler, Director of the Center for New York City Law, introduced Schwartz, followed by remarks from New York Law School’s Dean Anthony Crowell. (read more…)
Sam Schwartz
MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast faces a huge challenge as the MTA needs a new round of capital funding starting in 2015. At the CityLaw Breakfast on November 21, 2014 Chairman Prendergast laid out a well-thought out five year plan designed to maintain the system, modernize it, make it more resilient and extend it geographically. The price tag: $32 billion. In the intensive competition for public money, elected leaders find funds in that range only when engineers and managers in charge of infrastructure publicize the actual costs required to maintain these services. Chairman Prendergast has done a great public service by setting out costs realistically even if he cannot now identify where all the money will come from. (read more…)
Vision Zero’s success relies not only on motorists but also cyclists. Image Credit: CityLand.
Mayor de Blasio’s Vision Zero initiative to substantially reduce traffic fatalities can only be achieved if all users of our roadways respect traffic rules. This needs to include bicyclists for their own safety and for the safety of others. On the streets of New York City compliance by bicyclists is not the norm. They frequently do not stop for a red traffic light, and often are seen bicycling against traffic flow, riding on the sidewalk and committing other infractions. What is needed is a more rational and appropriate way to promote compliance. Past culture-changing efforts in the City such as cleaning up after your dog, banning fireworks and restricting cigarette smoking have been remarkably successful. Changing the behavior of bicyclists also can be accomplished, but only with a new approach.
We recommend getting tougher and more lenient at the same time. Here’s how. (read more…)
Sam Schwartz
This week there has been a renewed interest in Sam Schwartz’s revised congestion pricing plan which is being pushed by a group called Move NY. Read CityLaw’s great profile on Mr. Schwartz that details his plan. This was originally published on April 18, 2013.
Sam Schwartz is the president and CEO of Sam Schwartz Engineering, a firm that specializes in transportation planning and engineering. Schwartz’s new congestion pricing proposal, “Move New York,” offers a novel approach to the controversial subject.
Sam Schwartz was born and raised in Brooklyn, attended Brooklyn Technical High School, graduated from Brooklyn College where he majored in physics, and earned a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1971, Schwartz began working with the City’s Department of Transportation, as a junior engineer. He rose to be DOT’s Chief Engineer and First Deputy Commissioner.
In 1990, Schwartz left the DOT to teach classes at Cooper Union. Schwartz also began writing columns for the Daily News under the pen-name “Gridlock Sam.” In 1995, Schwartz opened his own engineering firm called Sam Schwartz Engineering. The firm is involved in projects throughout the globe, including a revolutionary streetcar system in Aruba, powered solely by battery and hydrogen fuel cells.
In a Reader
