The day was dominated by some pretty big news: Citi Bike will finally (well, over the next five years) expand, doubling its current coverage and adding 28,000 bikes. Everyone covered it, including Streetsblog, the Daily News (which had blamed Mayor de Blasio in 2017 in a memorable post), the Post, amNY, Bklyner, the Wall Street Journal, and even Endgadget, but not the Times (oddly).
Gothamist added one detail: "the majority" of the fleet would be e-bikes, a claim that is almost inconceivable, given that there are just 200 e-Citi Bikes in the 12,000-bike fleet right now.
Here's the rest of the news:
- They said it couldn't be done, but Dave Colon (aka @GoodIdeaDave) broke down all of the incentives that the state and city are giving Amazon. (Gotham Gazette)
- More cities are realizing that — news flash! — minimum parking requirements actually stymie growth and economic development in urban areas, because space wasted on parking could be put to better use. (Governing)
- Did Andrew StatusCuomo just blow up a deal to build new tunnels under the Hudson — or did he just save it by cutting out Amtrak? (WSJ)
- Congestion pricing is going to happen...er, likely will happen. Right? (New York Law Journal)
- Here's an idea: Blow up the Port Authority Bus Terminal! (City & State)
- DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg raced from the Citi Bike press conference to City Hall to be grilled by the Council about that freak November snowstorm that ruined everything. (ABC7)
- Meanwhile, former DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan is trying to help pedestrians in India. Yes, that India. (Times of India, Pune Mirror)
- Is the Staten Island Ferry safe from terrorists? Hmm, probably the city should look into that. (SI Advance)
- In case you missed it (we did because the Daily News website is so incoherent), but Jillian Jorgensen had a good exclusive about how the city will roll out fire trucks with fewer blind spots — because you can't achieve Vision Zero without vision. (NYDN)
Have a great weekend, folks. Don't forget the Santa Ride — a family ride on Sunday in East Elmhurst with Ol' St. Nick and organized by Friend of Streetsblog Claudia Corcino, founder of Ciclistas Latinoamericanos de New York. (Alert: Do not dress as Santa so the kids don't get confused. You can be an elf.)
