"Jaywalking" is the ultra-American crime of crossing a road on foot. In principle a safety measure, it was fact a gift to the car industry and in practice functions as a device for criminalizing normal behavior: in busy cities "jaywalking" is hard to avoid if you want to get around on foot, but those penalized for doing it tend not to reflect local pedestrian demography. In New York City the enforcement disparity got so blatantly racist—90% of enforcement directed at people who are Black or Latino—that repeal of the law became inevitable despite the prospect of increased carnage on the streets.
Legislation passed by the city council last month officially became law over the weekend after the city's mayor, Eric Adams, declined to take action – either by signing or vetoing it – after 30 days.
Council member Mercedes Narcisse, a Brooklyn Democrat who sponsored the legislation, said on Tuesday that the new law ends racial disparities in enforcement, noting that more than 90% of the jaywalking tickets issued last year went to Black and Latino people.
"Let's be real, every New Yorker jaywalks. People are simply trying to get where they need to go," she said in an emailed statement. "Laws that penalize common behaviors for everyday movement shouldn't exist, especially when they unfairly impact communities of color."
Stay safe, pedestrians. Slipstream the cyclists!
