Friday’s Headlines: The Many Car-Centric Faces of Governor Cuomo Edition

I’m heading back from the National Association of City Transportation Officials convention in L.A., so here are today’s headlines while I’m in transit (which is near Barstow, right?):

  • The big news yesterday was Gov. Andrew #StatusCuomo. The Times did a broad overview of the governor’s $13-billion plan for JFK Airport, but the story quickly shifted to how little vision Cuomo actually has. Politico’s Dana Rubinstein (she shows up here a lot, doesn’t she?) picked apart the plan, which is linked to a major Cuomo donor. The NY Post said it’s too expensive and doesn’t even include more airplane capacity. The Daily News quoted Cuomo complaining of the “spaghetti bowl” of roads inside the airport (as if that matters). Vin Barone at amNY also indulged the governor’s car-centric view of life in the city. And @2AvSagas suggested Cuomo has an edifice complex.

  • In other Cuomo news, the governor once again touted congestion pricing as the way forward for easing city traffic and fixing the subway — though he still thinks the city needs to pay for half of Andy Byford’s $40-billion plan. (Crain’s). Dan Rivoli in the Daily News pointed out that Mayor de Blasio has been lukewarm on congestion pricing, citing “fairness” issues (which the governor mocked).
  • NJ Transit was a hot mess yesterday due to a derailment. (NYDN, NY1)
  • I was very disappointed to see NY1 fall for the lie that bike lanes impede emergency vehicles when blocked roadways are always the fault of illegally parked cars.
  • Several outlets pointed out that the NYPD is still violating city law by releasing some — but not all — of the demographic information on fare beaters. (amNY, WNYC, Aaron Gordon)
  • NextCity followed coverage of the killing of Dan Hanegby with a broader look at the slow pace of positive change in the Vision Zero era.
  • Failed State Senate candidate Ross Barkan went back to his journalistic roots with an op-ed in City and State about how de Blasio should fix the buses. I, for one, would like to see Barkan get back to his true gift — insightful reporting — rather than just giving his opinion.
  • The Forest Hills Post followed our story about delays in implementing vital street-safety improvements on Queens Boulevard.
  • I was happy to see that so many outlets were interested in the story of Paul Steely White’s departure from TransAlt. Here’s how Crain’s, Curbed and Metro covered it.
  • And, finally, here’s a chance to really nerd out about why grid plans are better than other street configurations. (Public Square)