Today’s Headlines

  • Quote of the Week: "Transit Funding Is a Political Problem" (NYT)
  • Most NYers Think State and City Should Pay for Student MetroCards (Metro via 2nd Ave Sagas)
  • Pols Perform More MTA Kabuki as NYC Public Hearings Draw to a Close (NYT, News)
  • Costly MTA Bus Routes Spared the Ax Because at Least Someone Is Paying for Them (AMNY)
  • Facing Global Epidemic of Traffic Violence, U.N. Declares "Decade of Action for Road Safety" (CityFix)
  • Remember When Closing the Times Square Bowtie Was a Big Deal? (WSJ)
  • Octogenarian Ed Koch Will Take a Shot at Saving Albany (NYT)
  • Queens Assemblyman and Congestion Pricing Critic Andrew Hevesi Has a Primary Challenger (News)
  • Luis Santiago Named Cop-of-the-Month in the 108th for Tracking Down Hit-and-Run Killer (QGazette)
  • Crosswalk Near Brooklyn Museum in Desperate Need of Safety Fix (Brownstoner)
  • Cessation of Subsidies for Highway Rest Stops Sets Off Uprising in Arizona (NYT)

More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill

  • Zulunova sounds promising – it’s about time we elected a Zulu to the Assembly – but like most candidates, she needs to be brought up to speed on transportation issues. Rather than saying, “Elect me and I’ll restore funding to the Q74,” she blames the MTA.

    Also, Hevesi is in the Assembly, not the Senate. Zulunova’s main political experience is as chief of staff to former Senator John Sabini, who opposed congestion pricing and resigned after pleading guilty to driving while ability impaired.

  • fixed the Hevesi title. thanks Cap’n.

  • I was hoping the rest stop story would be more heartwarming (a la the it’s-hard-to-park-in-Queens stories. But even I acknowledge that people have to pee sometimes.

    Are rest stops around here subsidized? I kind of assumed that they are paid for by the businesses who operate there — they are always overpriced, after all.

  • J. Mork, if you need to pee, you should take the train! Reason number umpty-eleven to support high-speed rail.

  • Precisely why I don’t live in Arizona, Jonathan.

  • ddartley

    From the Queens Gazette article:
    “Several of these thefts were brought on because of keys left in the ignition while the owners went away.”

    Another reason to crack down on idling. Jonathan, bring it!!

  • Re: Queens Gazette. You know, if the 108th had a crackdown on idling, in the same spirit as the one-day crackdowns on distracted driving that the NYPD is known to do, perhaps the Ford Econoline drivers would stop leaving the keys in the car and the motor running.

    I am more intrigued by the story of the homicide victim found under the Queensboro Bridge. “[Deputy Insp.] Kavanagh said it was evident she was from Manhattan.” How?

  • At least the Times’ coverage of the MTA hearings says it all:

    “Although many of those at the hearings directed their anger toward the transportation agency, the cuts are a direct result of lower tax revenues and a decision by state legislators to reduce the agency’s funds.”

    Coat hung on coat rack.

  • Larry Littlefield

    “New Jersey Transit proposed raising fares by 25 percent system-wide and reducing service to help close a $300 million budget deficit…Governor Chris Christie, a Republican who took office Jan. 19, said last month he was cutting NJ Transit’s $296 million annual subsidy by 11 percent, or $33 million, to help close a $2.2 billion deficit in the state budget for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.”

    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aO1ifR3q3kWY&pos=9