NYC Self-Driving Car Testing 'Makes No Sense,' De Blasio Says

NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged Thursday that the city will "work vigorously" to stop the state's plan to let General Motors test self-driving cars in Manhattan, which he said "makes no sense."

"We will use all means at our disposal to stop this from happening, unless and until there's a proper process that our public safety officials deems will allow New Yorkers to be safe," de Blasio said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday that GM and its high-tech subsidiary, Cruise Automation, have applied totest autonomous cars in lower Manhattan starting in early 2018. Officials touted Manhattan's complex and unpredictable streets as a proving ground that could help advance self-driving technology.

But de Blasio said there's not enough vetting in place to make the testing safe. He criticized the state for not consulting the NYPD or the city Department of Transportation. State officials have said they first spoke with the DOT two months ago. A DOT spokesman on Tuesday didn't dispute that, but said city officials have received little information and had little notice of Cuomo's announcement.

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"I think we're talking about an entirely new technology that if applied in the biggest city in America with the busiest streets that already has safety problems we're addressing, it makes no sense to start here," de Blasio said at an unrelated news conference Thursday.

De Blasio suggested the state should look to cities that actually want self-driving cars on their streets rather than foist them upon New York.

The mayor's recalcitrant stance continues his feud with Cuomo, who is keen on drawing autonomous vehicle technology to the state. But the city can legally do nothing to stop testing in Manhattan, as state law gives the state motor vehicles commissioner all authority over the self-driving car tests.

"The mayor can do whatever he wants but the city is subject to state jurisdiction — it's government 101," Tiffany Portzer, a spokeswoman for the Department of Motor Vehicles, told Patch in a statement.

The current state budget created a yearlong pilot program allowing firms to test self-driving vehicles on public roads with oversight from the DMV. It's uncertain how many cars GM and Cruise will test in Manhattan, but Cuomo's office has said they'll have an engineer behind the wheel and a second person in the passenger seat — part of a safety scheme that's "stricter than any other state's in the nation," Portzner said.

While the DMV will consult all municipalities that host testing, the decision to allow it ultimately rests with the state, Portzer said.

"We understand that the mayor's taxi industry donors don't like it, but it (self-driving technology) is the future and all states are exploring it," Portzer told Patch.

(Lead image: Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at a news conference Thursday on the Upper West Side.)