Welcome back to the grind! First off, we start our second week of State Senate primary coverage with a Brooklyn-Staten Island battle pitting Jasmine Robinson vs. Diane Savino. Savino was a member of the much-hated Independent Democratic Conference, which gave the Republicans control of the Senate...yet StreetsPAC declined to endorse Robinson. Kinda tells you something, right? So will her answers to our questionnaire.
In any event, all of our prior coverage is archived here, so if you missed our stories last week, this is a good time to bone up before the Thursday, Sept. 13 primary.
Now, the news:
- In case you missed Friday's outrage: The city quietly announced it would eliminate a protected bike lane, an apparent first in the Vision Zero era. Streetsblog's David Meyer had the full story and anticipated what would happen now that a precedent had been set. Indeed, opponents of protected bike lanes are already mobilizing to get the city to undermine safety in their neighborhoods, too!
A little more than a day after Steve Cuozzo decided once again to lambaste cyclists as the root cause of every ill in the city, the newspaper reminded its longtime scold, longtime grouch and longtime anti-bike crusader to slow the F down in the form of a Monday wood (right) that screamed, "WHEEL MENACE: Half of NYers speed while on cellphone." (One quibble: It should have said half of New York drivers speed, given that virtually no one else exceeds the city's stated 25 mph limit. But at least the front page put Cuozzo in his place for a day.) (NYP). And the Post also offered this tale of a man run over four times — by car drivers, Steve, not cyclists. (The Daily News had the story, too.)
- The Post and the Daily News also reported that a cyclist who was run down by mob of assailants on all-terrain vehicles last week died over the weekend. Died, Steve. Died. (NYP, NYDN)
- And the Post even showed how bad driving could kill a beloved police dog, too. (NYP)
- The 7 train was delayed on Sunday because of a cormorant — not that the NYPD could properly identify it. (NYP)
- The Times offered a green-cab-driver's eye view of the Uber and Lyft explosion.
- It was a rough holiday weekend for New Jersey Transit, but the future looks good for Amtrak users at Penn Station starting today. (NYT). Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal offers one reason why NJT service is so bad (insert fake cough here).
- People really should not beat up bus drivers, amNY reminds us.
- Legal heavyweight Stephen L. Carter gets a parking ticket and realizes what I just pointed out last week on Streetsblog: The parking is too damn low! (Bloomberg)
- Oh, and in case you missed it, the Village Voice is really dead this time. (Gothamist)
- And another ICYMI: The mayor lied on Friday's WNYC radio show, saying, "the NYPD is intensely committed to Vision Zero, both in terms of enforcement and investigation," which we all know isn't true. Well, maybe the mayor is just preparing his sketch for the Inner Circle comedy show because that line always kills!
Stay cool, today, New York! Or read our national headlines here.
