From The New Yorker September 2, 2002

From my time during the course of my traffic studies, when it seemed that traffic really was fundamentally chaotic, I’d go see Sam Schwartz. Also known as Gridlock Sam, Schwartz is the closest thing New York has to a traffic guru. He is unique in the polarized politics of automobiles in New York; he manages to be both pro-car and anti-car, sometimes simultaneously. His support of rush-hour restrictions and East River bridge tolls, in a 1991 News op-ed piece, did not prevent him from conducting a study for the Metropolitan Parking Association which showed that the post-September 11^th restrictions were hurting the city’s economy. This apparent duplicity incensed the anti-car contingent that had considered Schwartz an important ally. But Gridlock Sam has built his career at the crossroads of conflicting points of view.

In his traffic forecast, which appears six times a week in the News, opposite the weather, Schwartz is the voice of every traffic-savvy driver who knows to avoid the Gowanus and the B.Q.E. but cutting through Brooklyn. His followers observe Sam’s traffic calendar, which is an ecumenical mix of the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim holidays during which alternate-side-of-the-street parking is suspended. If Gridlock Sam’s column was you only source of news, you’d have a pretty fair idea of what was going on around the city–the visiting dignitaries, celebrity-studded benefits, parades, political demonstrations, out-of-state lotto jackpots, block parties, and sports events in the area. Gridlock Sam has made traffic his world view.

From The New Yorker

September 2, 2002

By John Seabrook