The New York City Council's recent legislation allows pedestrians to legally cross streets anywhere, adjusting outdated laws that unfairly penalized marginalized communities over jaywalking.
Brooklyn Councilmember Mercedes Narcisse highlighted that jaywalking has been a part of life in New York and the previous enforcement led to racial bias in penalties.
Mayor Eric Adams did not oppose the bill, allowing it to become law without his signature, emphasizing that the new law still discourages unsafe pedestrian behavior.
Lawmakers argue that decriminalizing jaywalking enables police to concentrate on significant public safety matters, rather than enforcing an outdated and unevenly applied law.
Collection
[
|
...
]