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DOT opposes blanket median‑cleaning mandate but supports vegetation on new medians; council members press for clearer maintenance roles
Summary
Intro 1147 would require medians to be cleaned at least quarterly; DOT opposed the bill as written but said it will inspect problem locations and coordinate with agencies. Intro 12 33, requiring vegetation on new medians separating bike lanes from traffic, received conditional support from DOT pending Parks' standards and maintenance plans.
Chair Silvina Brooks Powers and witnesses discussed medians’ role in pedestrian safety, stormwater management, and neighborhood aesthetics during a committee hearing that covered Intro 11 47 (quarterly median cleaning) and Intro 12 33 (planting vegetation on new medians separating bike lanes from traffic).
DOT opposed the quarterly‑cleaning bill as written, saying median maintenance is a multi‑agency task that varies by median type. “Routine median maintenance is a multi agency effort across paved and planted medians,” the department said, adding that DOT performs horticultural care, litter removal, and ad hoc services for capital‑constructed planted medians but that sanitation and Parks have responsibilities for other median types.
Council members recounted neighborhood complaints about overgrown or trash‑filled medians and pressed DOT and Parks for clearer maintenance responsibilities and faster responses. John Corey, a Rockaway community activist who testified for the public record, urged passage of median‑maintenance measures and expressed frustration that council members must supplement agency budgets to get basic upkeep.
DOT said it supports planting vegetation in newly constructed medians when medians meet Parks’ technical requirements and when a long‑term maintenance plan is in place. “As part of our capital and in house street improvement project work, we already ensure that as long as newly constructed medians meet the requirements of the parks department and have a long term maintenance plan, vegetation is planted,” DOT said in testimony supporting Intro 12 33 with those conditions.
DOT also provided figures and maintenance practice notes: the department said there are roughly 5,800,000 square yards of medians in the city (figure provided in testimony), and identified a subset of capital maintenance locations (Grand Concourse, Fourth Avenue, and a site in Queens) that receive contractor horticultural care; DOT said it spends about $745,000 per year on landscape maintenance for those high‑profile sites. DOT said hardscaped medians are cleaned by the Department of Sanitation and planted medians with trees are generally handled by Parks.
The agencies agreed to inspect specific problem medians brought up by Council members (including a median on South Conduit in Rosedale) and to continue interagency coordination. No formal action or votes were taken on the bills at the hearing.
Ending — Next steps: Council members asked for a clearer mapping of median ownership, maintenance contracts, and per‑borough maintenance schedules; DOT and Parks agreed to follow up with lists of locations and to coordinate on potential legislative refinements.
