Wednesday’s Headlines: Bollard Boondoggle Edition

Streetsblog did its own coverage of how the NYPD’s bollard-buying spree has made the Brooklyn Bridge even worse, but here’s a hat tip to transportation reporter Aaron Gordon for choosing the right words in his Tuesday article for Gothamist for the big cement blocks: “expensive, clumsy, and sometimes nonsensical.”

Here’s the rest of the headlines from a slow news day:

• Everyone jumped on the MTA/DOT announcement that the L train shutdown will begin on (drumroll, please) Saturday, April 27, 2019, but no one added anything we didn’t already know. (Gothamist, NYDN, NY Post, amNY). That said, skilled reporter Caroline Spivack revealed a tiny bit of news: That the MTA will monitor air quality during the shutdown. (Patch)
• Doug Gordon, who tweets as BrooklynSpoke and co-hosts the “War on Cars” podcast, pointed out that not enough streets are closed down to drivers on Halloween, when crashes spike. Kids should be safe to scream “Trick or Treat” without having their parents yell, “Trick and Retreat.”
• Second City leads the Capital of the World? Chicago is going to use some climate change grant money to expand its bike-share system to the entire city, leaving New York Citi Bike riders in the dust. (WTTW)
• Turns out the MTA won’t get rid of 75 station agents. (NYDN)
• Perennial Bay Ridge candidate Sal Albanese complains about traffic rather than admit he made his own bad choice by getting in a car in the first place. (Albanese via Twitter)
• Also on Twitter, @Fresh_Kermit gives us all a laugh about bad bike lane design. Meanwhile, a single tweet from the Department of Transportation reminded us anew why we need to get rid of cars.
• And finally, check out this spooky Halloween parking garage in Bethesda, Md. But beware: It could … drive you insane. Muwahahaha! (DCist)