The “open road” is a phrase you don’t hear anymore. Then again, New Yorkers also don’t hear anymore about that beloved rite of passage when teenagers get their first taste of freedom; a driver’s license. I got my license before any of my contemporaries. It was amazing to be able to just get behind the wheel and get the lead out, so to speak.
Look, I have never hidden the fact that I was a hellion as a kid. I used to show up to my ridiculous all-boys private school on East 62nd Street and Park, dressed in all black, on the back of a Hell’s Angels Harley. So, you shouldn’t be surprised to hear that I used to drag race on Bruckner Boulevard, the West Side Highway and many other locals around the city. And, yes, I did race for “pinks” in case you were wondering.
A DRIVER’S DESERT
Would I attempt to do any of this today? Hell no. First of all, the city is no longer calibrated for drivers thanks to a series of revenge tactics by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the incompetence of former Mayor Bill de Blasio. Second, there are red light and speed cameras everywhere (very 1984-esque). Lastly, this city is just not safe or fun to drive, or race, in anymore. There are far too many folks who seemingly had their driver’s license issued by Walmart (like half of the Uber and Lyft drivers these days), meaning that they simply have no concept of how to drive properly, anywhere let alone in New York City. You also have a city whose infrastructure has not kept up with modern technology, allowing for smoother, and faster moving, traffic (gee, I wonder why—could it be the MTA and Governor working behind the scenes to finally get their bribes, I mean congestion pricing done?).
LONGING FOR YESTERDAY
Long ago, before Bloombito, this city was fun and safe to drive in. In 2003, my wife’s family was visiting from Perth in Western Australia, so I drove them to see all of the tourist sites in the city, and some very not-so-tourist sites. Having them in the car, being able to pull over and look at details was a convenience and made touring that much more fun. We were also able to stop and take some great photos, even near Saks Fifth Avenue’s holiday windows! I wouldn’t even consider this today given that we lost over one third of our vehicular lanes in Manhattan and added over 80,000 for-hire vehicles thanks to Bloomberg. Of course, that creates more traffic (a manufactured crisis) and makes the city less safe for this kind of activity. To be honest, the transportation policies created and enacted in this city since 2002 have been deplorable in every way.
Back to being a teenager in the Rotting Apple; it is 2024 and fewer teenagers in New York than ever are getting their license.
It seems to be dovetailing with the latest narrative out of Albany and City Hall: automobiles of any kind are evil. Apparently, teenagers in the city, and other parts of our nation, no longer view a driver’s license as that milestone of upbringing we all loved so much. Think about it; in 1988 a movie solely dedicated to the dreams of a teenager being able to drive, let alone with their own car, commanded $22.4M in box office sales with an $8M budget
That movie was License to Drive starring the late Corey Haim, Corey Feldman and Heather Graham. That equates to over $58M in today’s dollars which would dwarf most movies at the box office these days.
I haven’t known a single teenager in my lifetime that didn’t want to get into a car and drive, even just down to Battery Park or up to the Cloisters. Over the last 70 years, it has been the first real taste of freedom many teenagers experience. Seeing this significant shift is disturbing in so many ways.
My point is simple, the vilification of cars in this city has all but eliminated a beloved rite of passage that generations earned and enjoyed. I remember my very first solo drive in the city; from Central Park West and 90th Street to Battery Park City, looped around lower Manhattan to the FDR drive to the Harlem River Drive, cutting across Dyckman Street to the West Side Highway, exiting at 96th street to head back to Central Park West. I looped the island with the windows open, music blasting and loving every single second of it. I cannot imagine a teenager doing that today.
The Final Word: Our so-called elected officials are doing everything they can to ruin this city, all for political gain. Thankfully, the pendulum swings both ways.