Tuesday’s Headlines: Shady Driver, Shady Owner, Shady Car Edition

There’s just one month until Election Day, Nov. 6, and if you want a State Senate that is responsive to street safety issues, you need to vote for people who you think care about street safety. We have no opinion on who they are, but StreetsPAC has offered suggestions here.

And now the news…

  • Twenty people are dead because of a speeding driver, but I have to admit, I didn’t see this twist coming: The owner of the upstate limousine involved in the fatal crash was an FBI informant who helped manufacture specious cases against immigrants. (NYDN, NY Post, NYT) And the driver of the car itself had a history of drug busts. (NY Post). Meanwhile, Jim Dwyer found a way to blame the car and not the driver. (NYT)
  • The Daily News’s Ken Lovett broke a big story: State Senator — and street safety pariah — Marty Golden is so worried about retaining his seat that he’s offering to put volunteers in hotels. (NYDN)
  • NYPD detective arrested for drunk driving. The only surprise is that he was arrested. (NYDN)
  • Question: Why can’t losers Tony Avella just go away? Now the Democrat in name only who lost the Sept. 13 primary to John Liu in Eastern Queens says he’ll run as a third-party candidate. (NY Post, WSJ)
  • I’m not sure what the news hook for this story was, but amNY strung together lots of people’s subway horror stories. And that was just Monday!
  • So, New Yorkers, you think you’re so energy-efficient? No, not really, as the indefatigable Aaron Gordon shows in Curbed.
  • The Riverdale Press followed David Meyer’s coverage of how hard it is to be a Manhattan-bound Bronx cyclist these days.
  • And, finally, imagine…if Yoko Ono designed a subway station. (NY1, Gothamist)

Check out our national headlines here.

  • qrt145

    The “car” does share the blame, in a sense. Yeah, I know, cars are inanimate and morally blameless. But the fact that the state allows cars to be chopped up, turned into deathtraps, and keep using the roads, should be an outrage. But of course, the state is too busy banning e-bikes from the roads to worry about such things!

  • Larry Littlefield

    I was in favor of non-partisan elections because there was more likely to be a real choice on Election Day, when everyone shows up.

    But in this case, I’d still be writing in Daffy Duck.

  • AstoriaBlowin

    From a NY Post story not linked above,
    https://nypost.com/2018/10/08/arrest-of-hasidic-man-sparks-protest-in-brooklyn/

    Police attempted to disperse a procession and a scuffle ensued. But these quotes are really the best.

    “The source ripped the crowd, saying they believe “they should be able to walk in the street and do whatever they want and knock the s–t out of cops.

    “Like, ‘How dare the Police Department stop us from walking in the middle of the street.”

    I know, the absolute gall of people to walk in the street instead of giving that space over to cars! Also the mindset of the police, why did you need to disperse the crowd in the first place? Who cares if they are in the street.

  • ortcutt

    Stretch limos are really stupid franken-vehicles that shouldn’t be legal. A Sprinter van with 15 seats is a factory-produced vehicle with proper seating, seatbelts, and a big door in the back to evacuate the van in an emergency. People are going to say that the seating on a Sprinter isn’t the kind of “party bus” atmosphere they want. Why are you “partying” while travelling down the road anyway?

  • Vooch

    I think The new guy is the Cal senate race is a in-law of the most powerful political family in California. Nepotism in action.

  • HamTech87

    The Henry Hudson Bridge (HHB) problems have been discussed before on Streetsblog. There is plenty of room for a pedestrian and bike lanes, but no political will to make it happen. Easy things to do:
    (1) Build a temporary scaffold arch to protect pedestrians and cyclists, much as is done on the streets of Manhattan all the time.
    (2) Since the approach to the HHB lower roadway is only 2 lanes, keep it as 2 lanes on the bridge too. This leaves plenty of room for a two-way cycle track and pedestrian walkway.

  • HamTech87

    That Streetspac list doesn’t really show who is in a competitive race in the general election. Is Gournades the only one? There are some tight races outside the city, where people like Peter Harckham are in fights with entrenched GOPers.

  • Larry Littlefield

    A citizen republic was nice while we had it.

  • LI Party Rides

    let hope this new law set will make driving and transportation safer.

  • J. Geoff Rove

    There seems to be a trend of awarding friendly foreigners with US residence and business establishment. The limo owner has a long history of informing and the Afghani chicken shack owner in NJ whose kid terrorized NY/NJ with bombs last year.

  • J. Geoff Rove

    But Florida and Texas have higher power costs due to air conditioning needs 11 months a year. And the hurricane surcharge for home insurance is ( or should be )
    HIGHER in the confederacy.

  • I know we all like to joke around about the corruption of our local police force. But when you really think about it, this situation, and its implications for civilization on the whole, are actually really, really, really, really not funny.

  • Larry Littlefield

    Perhaps global warming will change this, but air conditioning down there doesn’t use as much power as heating up here.

    We have one room air conditioner we use a few days a year. All our electricity comes from solar panel. Bikes and transit for transportation. Double paned windows, timed thermostat, etc. Limited meat consumption, with a vegetarian in the family.

    But we still use lots of natural gas every year for heat. Even with all the lifestyle changes, I don’t see a way around that one.

  • qrt145

    Thermal underwear and lots of blankets!

    Now more seriously, a common problem I’ve seen in NYC is apartments that get too hot during the winter and the tenant can’t really control, so they end up opening the window! I wonder how much energy gets wasted this way.

  • Joe R.

    No kidding. I’m seeing several trends which all have foreshadowed the decline of empires in the past:

    1) People learn to game the system in their favor, to the detriment of future generations, by buying politicians. Larry Littlefield has written extensively on this.

    2) Infrastructure spending is neglected in favor of tax cuts and/or income transfer schemes to those politically connected.

    3) Those charged with enforcing laws increasingly do the bidding of the wealthy instead.

    4) Those charged with enforcing laws increasingly harass marginal groups. In the past it was certain ethnic/religious minorities and/or those with non-mainstream sexual preferences. Today it’s cyclists, certain classes of protesters, and the poor.

    5) Those strongly following various religions increase. Even worse, the percentage of religious radicals and/or ultra orthodox sects increases.

    6) Because of #5, laws are passed which ban certain practices because they’re not allowed by the more influential religious groups.

    7) Parts of religions increasingly find their way into school curricula, at the expense of instruction which is more beneficial to students.

    8) There is an increase in protective tariffs and general isolationism in a bid to save an economy which is failing.

    9) Certain groups are blamed for the failing economy when the real cause is failing infrastructure and a failing education system.

    The current state of things is untenable. Sooner or later civilizations self-correct, usually violently. I think we’ll probably see exactly that in our lifetimes.

  • Joe R.

    Your house must naturally keep out the heat and/or you have very high heat tolerance. We have to use A/C heavily from June through September. Without it the house would easily hit 100°F or more during a typical summer day. We use it on and off in May and October. Occasionally there are a few days in April when we need it. Just an example, outside right now it’s 73°F. I had my bedroom window open but the room is now a very uncomfortable 82°F. If I wasn’t trying to see how little electricity I could use this month the A/C would have went on around noon. I find anything much over the mid 70s uncomfortable. 80s is intolerable for more than a few hours. That’s if I’m sedentary. If I’m active knock at least 10 degrees off those temperatures. The humidity in Queens doesn’t help, either. And my body doesn’t acclimate to heat, either. We had no A/C at all until I was teenager (and none in my bedroom until my late 20s). I never got used to temperatures much over the high 70s. Good thing summers were cooler back then. Today’s summers with no A/C would be absolutely intolerable, life-threatening even.

    The good part about the house holding heat well is I don’t really need active heating until the temperatures stay below 50.

    Solar power is the long term answer for both heat and A/C. I don’t want to contribute to global warming but at the same time I need to remain functional and comfortable. In the winter especially it’s not an option to keep the house too cold with my mother living there. If you’re only heating one or two rooms electric heat is less expensive than oil. Anyway, I’m thinking of buying the panels on eBay and putting them on the garage roof. This may not be optimal but it’s the cheapest way. I’ll need to learn about tying into the grid, and will need a new electric meter from ConEd so I can sell the power back to them when I’m generating more than I’m using. I might also supplement the solar with a small wind turbine.

    Unfortunately, I recently learned the solar tax credits are nonrefundable. My mother, who owns the house, doesn’t have enough tax liability to benefit significantly from the tax credits over the 5 year period when we’re allowed to tax them. At most she would get $5K or $6K. She won’t benefit from the NYS tax credit as she has no NYS/NYC tax liability.

  • In other words it’s all over.

  • Joe R.

    We had that problem in the housing project we lived in during the 1960s and 1970s. My mom had to keep the windows open to keep us from passing out from the heat. And this was despite the single-pane, metal frame windows which leaked heat like a sieve. I hate to think how much energy went down the drain.

  • Joe R.

    Yep. People being as they are, not taking action until there’s literally a fire under their behinds, I’m not seeing that we’re getting out of this. The only good news is unless I live to something like 120, I won’t be around to see the worst of it, which I’d say is going to start late in the 21st century. As much as I wish for a bright “Star Trek” future, short of some game-changing inventions I’m not seeing it happening. It’s going to be more like Mad Max.

  • Larry Littlefield

    People. Can’t live with em, can’t live without em.

  • Larry Littlefield

    It may change when you are older, but until they your body acclimates — or doesn’t. Down in the Sunbelt, people don’t go outside in the summer.

    We also have ceiling fans. They are worth 10 degrees if blowing right on you, so even 85 feels like 75.

    There have been summers when a few days we got out the air mattresses, and everyone (except me) slept in the one room with AC. But it has been years since one of those killer summers. Otherwise, however, since we are not used to sleeping with AC, we don’t like it.

  • Larry Littlefield

    Got my own house, and my own thermostat, for that reason. I need it cool to sleep at night.

  • Joe R.

    If anything my heat tolerance has gone down as I’ve gotten older. That may be a product of being overweight, or just a change in my physiology. I know I never liked hot weather even as a child. On the flip side, I’ll be outside shoveling snow in 15°F blizzard with just a sweater. I tolerate cold way better than most people, except I like to be fairly warm when I sleep.

    Ceiling fans burn a good amount of energy. Most of them use 75 to 100 watts. A small, efficient A/C cycling on and off probably only uses about 100 watts more on average, but you’re a lot more comfortable. Fans only work well if the humidity is fairly low. In Queens it’s almost always very high. And then there’s the energy from needing to take more showers if you’re constantly sweating. Without A/C I would need to shower 2 or 3 times daily on a typical summer day. With A/C I shower every other day. Figure how much energy 1.5 to 2.5 additional showers a day uses, even if the water isn’t really hot. And figure the energy costs of processing the waste water. I think A/C is energy neutral when you account for that.

    Down in the Sunbelt, people don’t go outside in the summer.

    Neither do I, except after the sun goes down. It’s not just the heat. The air quality during summer days is horrible due to car exhaust. Despite supposedly cleaner cars, things got worse once there were lots of SUVs on the road.

  • Joe R.
  • fdtutf

    This past winter I ran my AC in Brooklyn for much of the time for this very reason. (I don’t like opening unscreened windows because of insects.)

  • J. Geoff Rove

    In the Victorious Union North, one can get the AC to cool down to 72F at night and then shut it off until morning, Alot of southern states need full overnight AC.