Today’s Headlines

  • News Looks at DOT and NYPD Attempts to Cut Down on Dangerous Driving on the Upper West Side
  • Subway Had 1.7 Billion Rides in 2013, Most Since 1949; Weekends Hit Record (Gothamist, WNYC)
  • Gelinas: Josbel Rivera’s Death Shows How Hard It Can Be to Crack Down on Hit-and-Run Drivers (Post)
  • Little Dylan Perry, 11, Dies From Injuries After His Stepfather Crashes While Drunk (News, NYT)
  • Post Plays Fordham Road Hit-and-Run for Laughs
  • Cuomo Touts Staten Island Road Widenings as Great for the Economy and the Environment (Advance)
  • Vacca Bill Would Legalize Parking in Front of Your Own Driveway (Bx Times)
  • South Bronx Unite Protesters Arrested After Staging Sit-In at FreshDirect Site (NY1)
  • Bicycle Mechanic Skills Academy Graduates Its First Class at Henry Street Settlement (DNA)
  • Nearing Completion, 2nd Avenue Subway Driving Up UES Residential Prices (Real Deal)
  • Brooklyn Spoke Makes the Case for Subsidizing NYC Bike-Share

More headlines at Streetsblog USA

  • Bolwerk

    After endless struggle against the onslaught of congestion, there will be a point where traffic congestion just stops because there will finally be enough road capacity to meet demand. Sort of like how if we invade enough other countries, world peace will ensue.

    Cuomo seriously has neo-conservative-like fantasies. And given that he thinks his congestion-promoting policies are good for the economy and environment, he seems to promote the same Todestrieb for our species.

  • ws

    Vacca’s argument would be bolstered if there was an annual fee for curb cuts.

  • Guest

    Nicole Gelinas’ piece makes a few good points. I can’t imagine the anguish of families of those killed by hit-and-run drivers. Eight years ago, my own sister was hurt in a hit-and-run that wasn’t investigated by NYPD. It drives me crazy to this day that she’s still suffering chronic pain, when the lowlife who hit her at high speed, in a crosswalk, while running a red light, was never brought to justice. Not even a ticket, not even an attempt to track him/her down. Because my sister miraculously survived and avoided critical injuries as she flew over the car and fell behind it, NYPD didn’t even try investigating, didn’t even check security cameras in the area.

    If she’d been scraped by a bullet, they’d have moved heaven and earth to find the perp and gun. Because, you know, thugs and everything, but a hit-and-run on a red light is an “accident” that can happen to any god-fearing person. That poor thing didn’t see the pedestrian. Didn’t see the red light. Move along, nothing to see here.

    All these stories fill me with anger and I thank Streetsblog and other journalists for pushing the serious problems of vehicular violence into New Yorkers’ consciousness.

  • Nicole Gelinas

    Thank you. Williams pleaded guilty yesterday and will be sentenced next month. Here is a news update on the case.

    http://bronx.news12.com/news/mitchum-williams-pleads-guilty-to-deadly-hit-and-run-that-killed-josbel-rivera-on-the-mosholu-parkway-in-2012-1.7487122

  • Cold Shoaler

    “With friends like these…”, said the Environment. Amiright?

  • Andrew

    From the Vacca article:

    Vacca said that the bill would also help people who live in residential neighborhoods who sometimes also get ticketed for parking in their own driveways.

    One person such a bill would have helped was Rich Velez, 40, who owned Mona Mias Pizzeria at 1588 Williambridge Road, from November 2011 to October 2012.

    During that time, Velez said he racked up $3,500 worth of tickets for parking in front of his own driveway, which was necessary because of his pizza delivery business.

    “When I bought the business was just when they put in the Muni-Meters,” he said. “Before, the previous owner would park in front of the driveway and he wouldn’t get tickets.”

    Using the parking space in front of the pizzeria was vital, he said.

    “Being a pizza delivery business, there was no other parking there as it is, and it was very critical that we had access to that parking space,” he said. “We had to go into and out of that space all the time to make deliveries.”

    He added. “The ticketing was detrimental to my business.”

    He said that if Vacca’s bill were to become law, it would have helped him out for sure, adding that “Councilman Vacca even said he had the same experience in front of his own office.”

    Let me see if I understand this. If my business has a critical need, I can demand that the city provide it to me for free?

  • lop

    Well you can demand anything you want. Fortune favors the bold.

    That said, for a fee, it would be nice if a pizzeria could reserve say two spots out front, one for their driver, one for people coming to pick up a pie? Maybe a fee of $200 a spot to take care of paperwork, install a sign, another $200 a month to rent the spot. Assuming the alternative is free or munimeter parking, not a traffic lane, bike lane, bus lane/stop etc…

  • Andrew

    Not a bad concept. The price should vary by location, of course. And the city should reserve the right to revoke the reservation, for construction or maybe for a new bike lane or pedestrian plaza or bus lane.

  • J_12

    If you own a business or a home, why wouldn’t you also want to to own the street space in front of your business or home? Of course you would!
    The only question is how much it should cost.

  • lop

    The city should be able to revoke it, but if there are no plans to make street changes, contracts, maybe for up to 12 months, should be made available.

  • Andrew

    Fair enough, barring emergencies. Then it will be plainly clear, I hope, that at all other locations, the city is free to repurpose space currently used for parking at will.