Happy New Year and welcome back. Here is a whole pile of stories you may have missed if you were out of town or, like us, taking a break for the holidays. Lots of these items are worthy of their own blog post, so enjoy and get ready for a big year:
Parking:
- Taxpayer Funded Yankee Stadium Parking, a "Startling Revelation" to the (News)
- ...And Don't Expect the Builder to Repay $237M in City-Backed Bonds (News)
- But What's Going to Really Tee Off the Press? Parking is Pricey (NY1, News)
- Amanda Burden, Wake Up!: Stop Requiring Developers to Build Parking (NYT)
- City Schedules a Second Round of Neighborhood Parking Workshops (DOT)
- City Considers $15/Hour Curbside Parking Rate (Post)
- Bayonne Meter Maid Arrested for Ticketing Undercover Cops (NYPD Rant)
- 2008 NYPD Parking Placard Crackdown May be Underway (NYPD Rant)
Congestion Pricing:
- Weprin Spins IBO: Pricing "Discriminates Against People From Queens" (News)
- ...And This is Why We Could Care Less (Flickr)
- This Too: The American Middle Class is "Causing Global Warming" (Planetizen)
- And This: Heroes Chase Down Hit-and-Run Killer Driver in Brooklyn (Newsday)
- Sheldon Silver Seems to be "More Open" To Congestion Pricing (News)
- Bad Ideas: Make Pricing More Complex and Use the Money for Roads (Sun)
- Good Idea: It's Time for East River Tolls (Observer)
- Driving Over East River Bridges? Arguments for Tolls Are Growing (Bklyn Eagle)
- ...Unless You Are Marty Markowitz (Bklyn Paper)
- British Motorists Are Burning Traffic Enforcement Cams (Wired)
- State Senate Pitches New Pricing Bill Ahead of 12/31 Federal Deadline (AMNY)
Alternative Modes:
- Congressman's "Obsession With Bicycling Borders on the Interesting" (WSJ)
- NY Water Taxi Shuts Down for the Winter (Cap'n Transit)
- Walkability = Livability = Billions (Neal Peirce)
If He Had Died in a Car Crash, No Problem:
- Man Dies on NJ Transit, 3 Lose Their Job and Feds Levy a $27K Fine (NYT)
International:
- Oil War Isn't Leaving Enough Money for NY State Road Building (Planetizen)
- Hello Kitty! Bangkok Solves Its Police Parking Placard Abuse Problem (BBC)
- Beijing Air Pollution: "This is as Bad as it Can Get" (AFP)
- Jared Diamond: What's Your Consumption Factor? (NYT)
Clever Product Placement?:
- Car Crashes Into Chicago Channel 7 Studio During Evening Newscast (Reppublica)
Miscellaneous:
- Amanda Burden, Wake Up!: Look at Bklyn's Future "Park Ave" (Gowanus Lounge)
- Subway Riders Give the G Line a D+ (MTA)
- Jim Leyritz, Ex-Yankee, Kills a Woman With His SUV (Smoking Gun)
Obit:
- George Warrington, 55, Forward-Thinking Leader of Amtrak and NJ Transit (NYT)
