A verdict is expected today in the trial of the bus driver who killed cyclist Dan Hanegby — and Streetsblog will be there to wipe that question mark off the New York Times's headline, "First Fatal Citi Bike Crash: Was the Bus Driver to Blame?" Memo to Metro Desk: Buses have brake pedals, too.
Now, the news:
- I have to say, this is one of the most depressing and biased news reports I've seen in a while. Watch as News12 The Bronx sets up the DOT as a villain for trying to reduce what everyone admits is a dangerous situation on Morris Park Avenue. Then watch as the main opponent in the story complains that the traffic-calming plan would make it more difficult to drive on the street — as he simultaneously complains about a reckless speeder! The entire segment is an object lesson in why local reporters need to spend less time driving around all day and actually consider the needs of all street users.
- A 3-year-old was badly hurt by a driver in Borough Park. Reason? People drive too fast. (NYDN, NY Post)
- Who is getting busted for jumping the turnstile? Well, we don't know because Mayor de Blasio won't give up the data. So now he's being sued. (NY Post, NYDN, NYT)
- The mayor is also going to hear it from Boerum Hill residents at a hearing tonight over his plan to turn the 11-story Brooklyn House of Detention into a 40-story prison skyscraper. (NY Post)
- Staten Island gets a new bus route. (NY1)
- Gov. Cuomo hails his controversial Sheridan Expressway plan as it wins federal approval. (amNY)
- Days after Streetsblog's story on how the MTA and DOT need to run bigger ferry boats during the L-train shutdown, lo and behold, the agencies will do it! (Brooklyn Paper)
- Don't forget to sign the #FixNorthern petition to make the New Boulevard of Death safer. (TransAlt)
- ICYMI: Assemblyman Robert Carroll (D-Park Slope) and Nick Sifuentes, the executive director of Tri-State Transportation Campaign, take full blame for the decline of the subway — and say they have an idea on how to fix it. But first, Andrew #CuomosMTA has to be honest about what it will cost. (Gotham Gazette)
- Like everyone else, I saw the video of the driver apparently unscrewing a city parking sign so he wouldn't get a ticket. I tried and failed to confirm its validity (that didn't look like a real street sign to me...), but Gothamist ran with it anyway.
- And finally, it wouldn't be the last two days of summer if Empire State Development didn't officially declare the start of the fall foliage season.
