Today’s Headlines

  • Misdemeanor Charge for Unlicensed Driver Who Killed Co-Worker in Marine Park (News, Post)
  • What If NYC Addressed the Everyday Threat of Untrained Drivers Piloting Huge Rental Trucks (DNA 1, 2)
  • NYPD Counter-Terrorism Expert Oblivious to What It’s Like to Walk in NYC (Post, AMNY)
  • At Jean Paul Guerrero Presser, Ydanis Again Calls on Albany to Strengthen Hit-and-Run Laws (News, DNA)
  • MTA Expects 200K Riders on 2AS Day One (News); Businesses Elated to Have Sidewalks Back (AMNY, Post)
  • Cuomo Can Be a Huge Help to Straphangers When He Wants to Be (Second Ave Sagas)
  • Related: Someone Send the Governor This AMNY Straphangers Wish List While He’s in a Good Mood
  • Port Authority Foots the Bill for Free Q70 Rides to LaGuardia on Thursday and Friday (NY1, News)
  • Upper East Siders Say DOT Turn Interventions Are a Good Start, But More Traffic-Calming Needed (DNA)
  • Motorist Severely Injures NYPD Officer Directing Traffic in Lower Manhattan; No Charges (CBS)
  • Crash That Killed 4 Prompts Suffolk County DA to Request State Task Force on Limousine Safety (NYT)

More headlines at Streetsblog USA

  • kevd

    Our road fatality rate is about triple Germany’s.
    So, until terrorists kill 6,000 people / year with trucks there, you’ll still be more likely to die from traffic violence in the US.
    But I guess deaths that are the result of bad design and malign neglect count less than intentional, Abrahamic religion extremist deaths.

  • ItsEasyBeingGreen

    So is John Miller the anonymous source for the recent “JSK/Trottenberg are causing traffic on purpose to ruin Real New Yorkers lives” hatchet job?

  • Kevin Love

    My anonymous source is telling me that the hatchet job’s anonymous source is non-existent. The author just made it up out of his own head and invented a fictional anonymous source to try to give his smears a thin veneer of credibility.

  • Kevin Love

    Wow! That “NYPD counter-terrorism expert” really is clueless. I don’t quite know which is the most reality-impaired comment. Is it:

    1. The assertion that a truck terrorist attack “would be difficult to pull off in the Big Apple because of the city’s notorious traffic jams.” Does this person seriously think that 100% of streets are jammed 100% of the time?

    2. And how about his super-effective action in visiting 140 truck-rental companies “around the city.” Because, of course, it is impossible to rent a truck somewhere else and drive it to NYC.

    3. While visiting those 140 truck-rental companies, he told them “how to be on the lookout for suspicious behavior.” I am kind of curious as to just what exactly that behavior might be. Alas, no details were given. I wonder why?

    So, take your pick. Which of the above three is the most deluded, reality-impaired comment from someone who has no clue as to what New York City is really like.

  • AMH

    Definitely #1. All a driver has to do is accelerate into a crosswalk full of people. As we see time and again, it takes very little speed to seriously injure or kill someone.

    As for #2, I think they’re taking the right tack though as you note it is easy for anyone to bring a vehicle into the city with virtually no oversight. A cyclist taking the SI Ferry faces more scrutiny than a motorist driving over a bridge or through a tunnel.

  • Maggie

    Yep. It sounds like NYPD is doing stricter security screening for weekend joggers in Central Park road races than for the taxi and large truck drivers who drive alongside and in the park every day. Can this be real?

    First, there’s the complete callousness towards real New Yorkers who already deal with the tragic impact of traffic deaths; second, I’m worried they will not treat this threat appropriately and have a real strategy towards it until, heaven forbid, a high-profile mass-casualty event actually does happen here in NYC.

    Third, wonder what this means: “The police also looked at commercial driver’s licenses and background checks done on those license holders.” Were these legal? How do they dovetail with helping keep people in NYC safe from being injured or killed by truck drivers since July?

    Hopefully there is a lot more follow up information and energy on this.

  • Joe R.

    While I’m certainly hoping we never have a truck terrorist attack (or a car or truck bomb) such an incident might be a catalyst for us getting a lot of what we want, albeit for all the wrong reasons. I can even see the city getting behind actually banning nonessential traffic (like private cars) from Manhattan altogether on anti-terrorism grounds if a few such attacks occurred. I could also see them inspecting every single truck entering Manhattan. That would effectively discourage through traffic. In the long run, it might shift more deliveries to other modes, like rail.

  • AnoNYC

    For those that don’t know, the 2nd Ave parking protected bicycle lane extension to E 68th St from points north is almost complete. There’s two gaps left along the blocks surrounding E 86th St and E 72nd St, but the delineations are down and drivers for the most part are following through.

  • AnoNYC

    Yup, misplaced priorities.

    Every two hours someone is seriously injured or killed by an automobile in New York City.