As far as I know, NYC is unique in that pedestrians do not have the right of way. Everywhere else you must legally stop for a pedestrian but in NYC you don't. (edit, since people seem confused: This doesn't mean you can run them over. It just means you don't have to stop if you are going to block their path. Everywhere else, you have to stop if you are going to block a pedestrian's path, no matter where that pedestrian is.)
They have to do this or people would just block all traffic all the time.
So this really is just to stop racial profiling. It's really not going to change much in the day to day goings on in NYC.
The Last Clear Chance Doctrine (in tort law, not criminal law), which is pretty widely accepted, is that regardless of right of way, if you are able to avoid an accident, then you must.
Having the right of way matters less than the ability to avoid an accident. If you plow into a pedestrian that you saw from three blocks away, you will absolutely be considered liable civilly since you had a clear chance to avoid a collision.
The general rule in almost every vehicle code is that having the right of way does not relieve you of the obligation to do everything reasonable to avoid collisions and injuries.
That’s not what that means. It means you’re allowed to block their path. Everywhere else you must stop if you will block the path of a person. In NYC you do not.
There was a law passed in NYC a couple of years ago requiring drivers not to enter a crosswalk if pedestrians are in a crosswalk. I have no clue what you're talking about.
They have to do this or people would just block all traffic all the time.
So this really is just to stop racial profiling. It's really not going to change much in the day to day goings on in NYC.