Give Espada and Monserrate the “Oil Slick” Award

It would be nice to shame every member of the Fare Hike Four, but we'll settle for the two on the right.

Thanks to the folks at the Tri-State Transportation Campaign for pointing us to this excellent survey from EPL/Environment Advocates. State Senators Pedro Espada and Hiram Monserrate are finalists for the "Oil Slick" award, given to the "public figure who has done the most to put New York’s environmental health at risk."

While we'd really like to see Carl Kruger and Ruben Diaz, Sr. share the honors too, we can hardly think of two more deserving recipients than these Albany clowns, who scuttled a golden opportunity to properly fund our transit system when they killed bridge tolls back in the spring. We'll never say this again: Vote Espada and Monserrate.

A few other points of interest heading in to the weekend:

• ClimateRide 2009 kicks off tomorrow, as hundreds of people begin bicycling from New York to DC, where they will personally ask their senators to support critical climate legislation. Organizers tell us that you are more than welcome to cheer the riders on as they start. In fact, you can ride the first leg of the trip with them down to Pier 11 at Wall Street. Show up at Fifth Ave and 58th Street by 8:45 a.m. to check it out.
• Streetsblog will be offline on Monday, observing Yom Kippur and recuperating from a vicious streetfight with the Westboro Baptist Church. So we'll post a reminder now: There's a big vote coming up on Tuesday, with the offices of comptroller and public advocate up for grabs. Turnout is expected to be extremely low -- make your vote count!