Curb Enthusiasm

Southwark’s Council Leader James McAsh joins the podcast to discuss how London’s low traffic neighborhoods are reimagining neighborhood streets and commercial delivery across the borough. Co-hosts Emily Weidenhof & Huma Husain discuss the benefits of Southwark’s street redesigns, and how New York City could learn from their success.

Former Department of Traffic Commissioner and renowned traffic engineer Sam ‘Gridlock Sam’ Schwartz joins the podcast to discuss the history congestion pricing, autonomous vehicles, and on-street parking reform in New York City. Co-hosts Emily Weidenhof & NYC DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn also chat with Schwartz about the city’s first on-street protected bike lane, the origins of his name ‘Gridlock Sam’, and even answers a few questions from our listeners.

Clarence Eckerson Jr. has been filming streets since 2005. As the founder of Streetfilms, he has documented the transformation of cities around the world, from Bogotá's Ciclovía to London's Low Traffic Neighborhoods, Paris's school streets initiative, and Montreal's pedestrianization projects, amassing millions of views and becoming one of the most trusted voices in urban transportation media.

In this episode of Curb Enthusiasm, NYC DOT's Emily Weidenhof and Sal Garro sit down with Eckerson for a wide-ranging conversation about what cities around the world are doing to reclaim street space for people and what New York can learn from them.

Season 2 of Curb Enthusiasm kicks off with NYC’s new DOT Commissioner, Mike Flynn. Commissioner Flynn shares his vision for the agency under Mayor Mamdani. He discusses faster buses, safer streets, saving outdoor dining, and why he thinks this is a defining moment for New York City streets.

Emily Weidenhof and co-host Ryan Lynch sit down with New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. The trio discuss his career in public service, immigrating to the United States at 18 years of age, his proudest accomplishments as DOT commissioner, and advice for the incoming Mamdani Administration.

Emily Weidenhof and co-host Burkina Morgan welcome esteemed sociologist, professor, and award-winning author Eric Klinenberg to the podcast to discuss what social infrastructure is and why it is vital to building strong and resilient cities. The trio talks about how everyday community staples like parks, public plazas, and even the subway can shape the connections we make with others.

Paul Schwartz, Deputy Commissioner of Bridges at the NYC Department of Transportation, joins the podcast to discuss the history behind New York City’s iconic Brooklyn Bridge, and what it takes to oversee and maintain it along with over 800 other bridges across the five boroughs.

Emily Weidenhof is joined by co-host David Breen, director of strategic initiatives at NYC DOT, for a conversation with Andy Wiley-Schwartz about his work leading the pedestrianization of Times Square, shaping the landscape of Manhattan, and how NYC DOT is continuing to reimagine the Broadway corridor. Andy is a manager consultant for Bloomberg Associates and former assistant commissioner for public space at NYC DOT.

Emily Weidenhof and co-host Rochelle Brahalla, director of transit strategy at NYC DOT, welcome Nashville Department of Transportation Director Diana Alarcon to the podcast. The conversation focuses on the Choose How You Move referendum, which raised sales tax 0.5% to fund enhanced public transportation, sidewalk expansions, upgraded traffic signals, and safety projects in Nashville, Tennessee.

Eric Sanderson, vice president for urban conservation strategy at the New York Botanical Garden and the author of the best-selling book, Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City, joins Emily Weidenhof and Kyle Gorman, assistant director of programs and partnerships in NYC DOT’s Public Realm team. They discuss how the city looked before European settlement, the influence of indigenous trails on the city’s first streets, the shift from agriculture to housing as transportation methods expanded, and the effect of climate change on the future of NYC’s streets and public space.

Global Designing Cities Initiative Executive Director Skye Duncan joins Emily Weidenhof and Jason Banrey to discuss her work in cities around the world and the importance of designing streets with children in mind. Duncan is an urban designer with 20 years of experience in architecture, urban design, and planning, who previously served as a senior urban designer at the New York City Department of City Planning.

Eric Beaton and Emily Weidenhof discuss the surprising findings from NYC DOT’s daylighting study, how we determine the placement for speed and red-light cameras, why bike lanes benefit everyone, and the future of Vision Zero.

Eric Beaton, NYC DOT deputy commissioner for transportation planning and management joins Emily Weidenhof to discuss how NYC DOT collects data, why road users’ feelings don’t always match traffic data, how we’re using data to inform transportation planning, and more. This is part one of a two-part episode.

Emily Weidenhof is joined by Diniece Mendes, Assistant Commissioner for Transit Development at NYC DOT, for a conversation with Dr. Anne Goodchild centered on freight systems, the rise of ecommerce, and the role of government in freight policy. Goodchild is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Washington, and founding director of the Urban Freight Lab. She leads the university’s academic research efforts focusing on supply chain, logistics, and freight transportation.

Emily Weidenhof is joined by Nick Carey, traffic engineer and director of school safety at NYC DOT, for a conversation with Wes Marshall, author of Killed by a Traffic Engineer and professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado Denver. The conversation focuses on the critical role of engineering in traffic safety, how planners and engineers react to traffic deaths, and the value of empirical science and research in designing streets.

Emily Weidenhof and Diniece Mendes are joined by Veronica Davis, author of Inclusive Transportation: A Manifesto for Repairing Divided Communities, to discuss the importance of collaboration among planners and engineers, the need to have empathy and curiosity in transportation projects, tips for practical community outreach, and equity in urban planning across neighborhoods.

On this episode, Emily Weidenhof is joined by Shawn Macias, director of the bike unit at NYC DOT, for a conversation with National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) Executive Director Ryan Russo. The conversation focuses on the process of building bike networks in cities across the country, the role equity plays in transportation planning, how streets serve different road users, the impact of public support and outreach on projects, and so much more.

On this episode of Curb Enthusiasm, Emily Weidenhof and Diniece Mendes chat with Midori Valdivia, a board member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and a veteran of major transportation agencies in New York City, including the MTA, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission. The conversation focuses on the importance of buses, how transportation needs evolve at different stages of life, how street safety can be fun and make neighborhoods more livable, how cities can work together on transportation, equity and opportunity in the transportation field, and much more.

On this episode of Curb Enthusiasm, Emily is joined by Diniece Mendes, NYC DOT Director of the Office of Freight Mobility, for a conversation with Donald Shoup, UCLA professor and author of The High Cost of Free Parking. Donald’s research focuses on land economics, public finance, transportation, and parking. Shoup describes how cities can benefit from a change in curb parking rates based on market pricing, how cities can better manage limited curb space, and what the future of urban parking looks like in major cities.

Our guest, United States Deputy Secretary of Transportation Polly Trottenberg, discusses the transportation sector’s role in addressing the climate crisis, reconnecting communities divided by urban highways, reducing traffic fatalities, building the support needed to bring big ideas to fruition, and her proudest accomplishments at U.S. DOT, among other topics. In true Curb Enthusiasm fashion, she also opines on the most annoying breach of subway etiquette. This episode was recorded in July 2024.