In The News Press coverage and updates from NYC Common Sense.

NYC Common Sense released the following statement regarding the “Next Stop: Fast Buses, Better Service” plan: “Faster buses would be a genuine win for the 2.75 million New Yorkers who ride them every day, and expanding Fair Fares to put more money back in the pockets of eligible riders is exactly the kind of targeted, affordable […]

NYC Common Sense released the following statement regarding the 2026 NYC Primary Elections:   “The 17 percent turnout in this past Tuesday’s primaries underscores a grim reality: A vast majority of city residents are either tuned out or shut out from participating in the democratic process by a closed primary system. As a result, a small minority […]

NYC COMMON SENSE, FRANK MORANO, CRASH VICTIMS, VULNERABLE PEDESTRIANS, ELECTED OFFICIALS & ADVOCATES ANNOUNCE LEGAL CHALLENGE TO CITY HALL’S DANGEROUS END TO E-VEHICLE ENFORCEMENT Suit Seeks the Restoration of Protection, Safety & Sanity to City Streets & Sidewalks, Highlights How Absence of Battery Powered Personal Transportation Device Regulation Puts Pedestrians at Risk New York, NY […]

“The rent freeze fix was in from the get-go; tonight’s vote was merely a formality, as confirmed by outgoing board member Christina Smyth, who resigned this morning. In her resignation letter, Smyth made clear that the RGB was ‘required to deliver a rent freeze,’ adding that ‘the hearings, the reports, the public comment, the data – none of it was ever going to change the result.’ “The board […]

NYC Common Sense released the following statement regarding a horse collapsing and passing away in Central Park:   “After the horrific incident on West Drive and 72nd Street, New Yorkers deserve a firm timeline and details about how and when City Hall intends to make good on then-candidate Mamdani’s 2025 promise to abolish horse carriages from Central Park.   “This problem […]

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE* NYC Common Sense released the following statement on Juneteenth: “As we honor and recognize the long fight for Black freedom and dignity, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who call NYCHA home are still being denied basic needs – like reliable heat and hot water, working elevators, and apartments free of mold […]

NYC Common Sense released the following statement regarding the first public hearing of the Commission on Government Efficiency (COGE):   “Rejecting open primaries out of hand is a deliberate effort to disenfranchise more than one million New Yorkers who are already shut out of the elections that determine who represents them. Already under consideration by the previous Charter Revision Commission, dismissing it without debate would be anti-democratic and the antithesis of efficient.  “New […]

New York City is a one-party town. Apart from the Giuliani and Bloomberg years, the Democratic primary victor usually wins the general election by a significant margin. So, in practice, the real election is the closed Democratic primary, in which only enrolled Democrats can vote. As a result, more than one million independent New Yorkers are shut […]

Thank you, Chairman Mastro and members of the Charter Revision Commission for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Jim Walden. I am a former Board Member of Citizens Union—New York’s oldest good-government group—and the current Chairman of NYC Common Sense, a newly created City Hall watchdog group. As a lawyer who has litigated […]