Today’s Headlines

  • “It’s been talked about for nearly the last 100 years and it’s always gone over like a lead balloon, it sinks straight to the bottom of the East River,” said Liu.

    And there you have the difference between true leaders and pandering politicians. One addresses the proposal on its merits, the other says its a bad idea because it will make some people upset. True leaders also find workable solutions to the problem.

  • Rhywun

    RE: The one-sided Post article

    Anyone who continues to believe that there isn’t a war on between cars and everything else is deranged. They will fight every deviation from the status quo tooth and nail.

    RE: Scratchiti

    Those ads are meant solely for revenue. Pretending they’re any better at preventing scratchiti than the clear plastic they already have for that purpose is just an attempt to get us to swallow the ads more easily.

  • gary fisher

    Does the word Scratchiti annoy anyone else? It is such a nonsense word. Graffiti already means scratchings! So scratchiti must be like scractscrachingsscratchedings or something, its total none sense. So called “scratchiti” is just graffiti. The word already describes these window scratchings with more accuracy then spray paint graffiti. Also I think those ads are aubsurd and clearly will not prevent GRAFFITI at all. Have they looked at the posters on the platforms. I rarely see one that is graffiti free even if it was put up only a few hours previously.

    SCRATCHITI IS NOT A THING.

  • Memo to SUV owners thinking of relocating to New York City: Have I got a neighborhood for you! It’s called Soho. Sure, you’ve heard that NY’s not an accommodating place for cars, but there is always the happy exception and in this case it is Soho. You can drive your SUV in Soho 24 hours a day: vroom! vroom! vroom! Parking is a snap because Soho is totally unemcumbered by pedestrian zones and what few bike lanes it has we’re working to get rid of. You may have to cruise to find a parking place, but don’t worry, it’ll take only a few seconds. Souped-up SUVs with loud rebuilt engines are especially welcome in this neighborhood of artistes, who are landed gentry with large lofts, our local equivalent of dukes and earls. They find inspiration in the sound. It makes them paint faster and faster. So take your SUV and move to Soho today!

  • Entirely aside from my personal views on the matter, “the East River bridges should be free because they’ve always been free before” is just tremendously poor logic. The logic isn’t any better than saying “schools should be segregated because they’ve always been segregated.”

  • “Anyone who continues to believe that there isn’t a war on between cars and everything else is deranged.”

    They’re bringing the drama, but in real life the Grand Street bicycle lane is working almost boringly. I ride it all the time. I rode it home last night in the snow, grateful for the crosstown lifeline. The Post is writing for people that visit soho a couple of times a year, for street fairs and knockoff handbags—the very people the “alliance” despises from the bottom of its tiny heart—but they make convenient anti-bicycle allies. Post commenters haven’t the faintest idea what is going on daily in soho, and likely haven’t seen the lane at all. Here is how one “Gov watcher” (or, tax crybaby?) describes the scene:

    “Not to mention that cyclist still don’t use them. They still ride wildly throughout the streets and sidewalks running over pedestrians.”

    This is a complete fiction (and uncreative, derivative fiction at that). When I’m on the lane I often have someone in front of or bend me. In nicer weather it will be downright crowded. There are occasional street riding holdouts, I don’t know if they’re “wild” and don’t care. I haven’t seen anyone riding on the famous sidewalk, or running over pedestrians. The fact that Gov’s string of made-up nonsense passes for an opinion on surface transportation, that such baseless invective is motivating certain council members to try to slow down DOT progress, is sad. And fortunately it won’t work. The DOT is acting with the same authority as always, only with aims more in line with the 21st century. As more and better bicycle lanes go in, the whining increases in pitch but not in volume; it’s a frustrated few that is against them, not enough of a constituency to do political damage. That shouldn’t be a surprise: everyone knows you don’t drive a car in the middle of this city, the only strange thing is that it’s taken so long for that fact to be paid heed.

  • Cars run over pedestrians too; can we take away their lanes?

  • Chrysler will stop making cars for a month — not just the usual year-end break of two weeks. I could have written this quote from a dealer (car, not drug) myself: “People just don’t want to buy cars.” On his fellow dealers (car, not drug): “They don’t know what to do, they’re just running wild…. They’re getting scared.” As Kunstler would put it, time for them to begin making other arrangements.