Tuesday’s Headlines: Heastie Says Can’t to Gantt Edition

By Streetsblog | | 5 Comments

SB Donation NYC header 2Our anti-car Christmas carols were the toast of New York yesterday, so click here if you missed them. Even Council Speaker Corey Johnson said he couldn’t wait to check them out.

National treasure Roger Clark of NY1 liked them. And Jon Orcutt of TransitCenter pronounced “Here Comes UPS” as “the best one.” We say, enjoy them all.

And now the news:

  • The greatest news that you won’t read in any New York City paper: Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has removed ailing, no show, anti-New York, anti-safety Transportation Committee Chairman David Gantt from his post. (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)
  • Here’s a zen koan for NYC: What if the city created Fair Fares but then didn’t tell anyone how to apply? (Gothamist)
  • Reminder: the issue with congestion and bad public transit is that the cost of driving is too low, therefore encouraging transportation choices that hurt the majority of residents. (Bloomberg)
  • Uber fans are already complaining about more-expensive rides, even before a congestion fee kicks in. (Bloomberg)
  • The short-staffed Daily News followed its first-day story of a man run over by a driver with a very similar second-day story that didn’t add much and failed to mention the driver’s summons record that includes a speed camera violation and 10 other infractions. (NYDN)
  • Andy Byford really stayed on message in this Bloomberg interview.
  • Sorry, but the pea soup that the MTA is pulling out of the L tunnel looks like a tempest in a Dumpster. (Gothamist)
  • We haven’t covered the silly “outrage” over the Christmas decorations at the Holland Tunnel because only drivers seem to be upset, but apparently their long nightmare is about to end. How, wouldn’t it be nice if the Times, which covered the decorations, would devote itself to covering important things like Citi Bike’s expansion and repair crisis? (Gothamist, NYDN, NY Post)
  • And, finally, our editor had the tweet of the day, as he went after Council Member Barry Grodenchik, who insists on opposing congestion pricing because, he claims, it’s “elitist.”

SB Donation NYC header 2It’s our December Donation Drive! Please give.

Monday’s Headlines: Living in a Biking Wonderland Edition

By Streetsblog | | 9 Comments

SB Donation NYC header 2

Deck the halls with car-free jolly! Yes, the Streetsblog Carolers hit Gracie Mansion last week, so before diving into our daily headlines, click here to watch us sing our best anti-car songs, including “Biking Wonderland,” “Andrew the Two-Faced Guv’Nor,” “Here Comes UPS,” and, of course, “The 12 Days of Christmas.”

Meanwhile, our December donation drive continues. Please click the icon above to make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our lights on for another year.

And now, the news:

  • Opening salvo: A group of Queens pols rallied against congestion pricing on Sunday because it would be too expensive for their constituents who “have no other way of traveling into Manhattan.” Assemblyman David Weprin once again ignored the fact that only 4.2 percent of his constituents drive to destinations in Manhattan on a regular basis — and those drivers are Weprin’s richest constituents, according to the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. (amNY) And Laura Shepard had the tweet of the day.
  • The city will start rolling out electric school buses next year in a pilot program championed by rising star Council Member Rafael Espinal. But the otherwise exciting exclusive from Ben Chapman doesn’t point out where thousands of buses are going to come from, given all the problems in the e-bus supply chain. New York is currently testing all of 10 electric buses. (NYDN) [Update: Espinal tells us it will start with four buses next year.]
  • The Post ran a story detailing all the outside money our state legislators earn. The one detail missing: Sen. Simcha Felder is a “college teacher”?! Sure enough, he got good ranks from his students when he taught at Brooklyn College — though not necessarily for his classroom skills: “Prof. Felder is one of the best teachers I have had at BC,” one student posted on Rate My Professor. “Extremely comedic and very outgoing. Felder makes you feel like your [sic!] in a camp rather than a college.” (Grammar isn’t everything.)
  • Times opinion writer Richard Conniff reported on how pedestrians are striking back in cities all over the world (except New York, which is not mentioned in the story at all because, well, de Blasio). Car owners, Conniff accurately wrote, “have mistaken their century-long domination over pedestrians for a right rather than a privilege.” (NY Times)
  • The annual “Transit wish list” for 2018 in amNY was a bit anti-climactic. After all, doesn’t everyone want “better service”? (amNY)
  • Streetsblog NYC is sitting down with Council Speaker Corey Johnson today. Here’s another outlet’s non-street safety version. No questions about Skillman Avenue? Shame! (Seriously, though, Jeff Coltin did a great job.) (City & State)
  • And in some personal good news. (NY Times, Bklyner)
  • In case you missed it, Crain’s did a deep dive on what fare evasion costs the MTA (hint: not as much as Andy Byford wants to believe).
  • And also in case you missed it, finally someone has ranked American cities by two important metrics: Tacos and transit. (Sorry to report that New York is dragged down by its taco quality … not its transit service.) (City Lab)

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