Today’s Headlines

  • Dean Skelos Indicted as State Senate Majority Leader; Republicans Close Ranks (Capital, C&S)
  • De Blasio Boosts City Contribution to MTA; Prendergast Wants More (NYT, Capital, News, WNYC)
  • Elected Officials Look Everywhere But Albany for MTA Funding Solution (Capital)
  • Driver Dies After Careening Across Bruckner Expressway and Flipping Car (WNBC)
  • Off-Duty NYPD Officer on Motorcycle Killed in Crash With SUV in Canarsie (Post)
  • Private Trash Hauler Backtracks, Tells Whistleblower Employees They’re Not Fired (Gothamist)
  • $1 Million Will Go to Studying New Highway Ramp at Hutchinson Metro Center (News 12)
  • DSNY Goes After West Village Businesses for Putting Benches on the Sidewalk (DNA)
  • DNA Maps Tickets to Businesses for Violating Delivery Cyclist Rules
  • De Blasio Snared by Subway Delay (NYT)
  • The Bicycle Lobby Almost Ruined the Met Gala (Us Weekly)

More headlines at Streetsblog USA

  • vnm

    Meanwhile, in the suburbs, school bus driver arrested not even for killing anyone, just for being too close to the train tracks.

    http://patch.com/new-york/chappaqua/school-bus-trapped-metro-north-crossing-driver-arrested-new-castle-police

  • Larry Littlefield

    Capone on tax evasion.

    The accusation is that the conduct of Skelos (and Silver and Bruno) is illegal. The defense will be that everyone does it, and that it is merely unethical and not illegal.

    Regardless, it is irrelevant. Every single member of the NY State legislature deserves to be removed from office. Including former members now in other jobs. For selling our common future, now the present, to pay for deals with the interest groups buzzing around Albany like flies around you know what in the present, which is now the past.

    And lying about it. If it were businesses we were talking about, it would be considered consumer fraud, and the pro-consumer anti-corporation lobby (or what is left of it) would be looking at the deal we get going forward and suing the pants off them.

    Just look at the MTA’s situation and the state transportation trust fund to see why the conclusion is “yes, Skelos is guilty. Very guilty. About this? So what?”

  • Ian Turner

    We are a nation of laws, you can’t just condemn people without specific allegations and evidence of illegality .

  • joe shabadoo

    Re: the capital plan. We can cut a few billion by axing the installation of help points, train and bus arrival clocks, (I think the text service to find out when a bus is coming is good enough for now,) MNR to Penn Station, and investments into new fare payment, metrocard works well enough for now and dropping a few billion to modernize it won’t make the trains run any better, and new ramp from RFK to FDR. Now there’s only a $10 billion gap, woo hoo.
    Expanding, while trying to play catchup on signals and maintenance is a bad idea.

  • Larry Littlefield

    You can’t arrest them and convict them.

    However, you can condemn their decisions, non-decisions and deals and the consequences thereof. And deceptive statements and silences about what those consequences would be.

    As I said, every single member of the NY State legislature deserves to be removed from office. Including former members now in other jobs. The only people who ought to feel otherwise are those who were in on the deals and don’t care about those consequences, because they fall on others in a future they don’t care about.

  • Larry Littlefield

    The bike maps says that the route south from the center of Midtown is Broadway, but forget it.

    The Manhattan Mall has completely blocked the bike lane at 34th Street, and there is no way through. They have effectively privatized the space by putting seating and planters next to the iron fence, where the bike lane once was.

    Whether this was done in the deal with the administration I don’t know, but if they are going to allow it the responsible thing to do is to remove the bike lane on Broadway so as not to lure bicycles into a dangerous situation.

    I’ll go back to dodging the black cars beeping for curb pickups and cutting to and from the left and lane on 5th Avenue on the way home.

  • BrandonWC
  • stairbob

    Ah. I saw this on Monday, also. Made it through on the ped side. If it’s like that again today, I will definitely report to 311.

  • Jesse

    I had pretty much given up on Broadway a long time ago because of all the people who walk in the bike lane there.

    It’s almost as if there is some huge latent demand for more places to walk and ride bikes in NYC but there just isn’t enough room for them and there is literally nothing the city can do to free up space. There is just absolutely no wasted space in the city. They could possibly do is knock down some buildings I guess but short of that there’s nothing else they can do…

  • Nemo

    They could remove some more car lanes, is what they can do.

  • Kevin Love

    I think that is what Jesse was hinting at. Yes, subtlety does not work too well on the internet.

  • Maggie

    Oh barf. This US Weekly coverage reminds me of the day a couple years ago when a negligent driver maimed several schoolkids who were walking on the sidewalk in Maspeth, the same day a paparazzo on a bike caused Nicole Kidman to stumble off her 4-inch stilettos in the Upper East Side. Guess which one was hauled in for booking.

  • ohnonononono

    Wow, de Blasio was stranded with a subway delay and no security detail in sight? How did he manage? Having to commute like a commoner, shackled to the whims of the MTA!

  • HamTech87

    Hutchinson Metro Center is getting even more subsidies? What a mistake this was, doubling down on the suburban sprawl failures. Now a new highway ramp? If this thing can’t fly on its own, then maybe it should be replaced with a traditional grid and block layout and let the parcels be sold and developed.

  • urbanresidue

    Meanwhile, they’ve done absolutely nothing to try to use the Bx12 SBS, when they could have their own stop on Pelham Parkway!

  • Larry Littlefield

    Unfortunately at that location removing more car lanes is not a solution. The already took the southbound space and handed it to a plaza and a bike lane to be shared. Now the plaza wiped out the bike lane.

  • sbauman

    The next time the Mayor needs to get from City Hall to Penn Station, he should consider taking a Citibike. It will take about 25 minutes for the journey. That time is far more reliable than the subway or his city SUV.

  • stairbob

    It was back to normal this evening.

  • stairbob

    I am not a lawyer, but, if the bike lane is “unsafe” because of pedestrians or other cyclists you can take the regular lane, which is usually fine because there aren’t many cars now.

  • Cold Shoaler

    It is legal to take the lane as you describe. However, that doesn’t mean NYPD won’t ticket you for it.

  • stairbob

    True that. They haven’t so far. But they might tomorrow.

  • BrandonWC

    Huzzah!