Deck the halls with car-free jolly! Yes, the Streetsblog Carolers hit Gracie Mansion last week, so before diving into our daily headlines, click here to watch us sing our best anti-car songs, including "Biking Wonderland," "Andrew the Two-Faced Guv'Nor," "Here Comes UPS," and, of course, "The 12 Days of Christmas."
Meanwhile, our December donation drive continues. Please click the icon above to make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our lights on for another year.
And now, the news:
- Opening salvo: A group of Queens pols rallied against congestion pricing on Sunday because it would be too expensive for their constituents who "have no other way of traveling into Manhattan." Assemblyman David Weprin once again ignored the fact that only 4.2 percent of his constituents drive to destinations in Manhattan on a regular basis — and those drivers are Weprin's richest constituents, according to the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. (amNY) And Laura Shepard had the tweet of the day.
- The city will start rolling out electric school buses next year in a pilot program championed by rising star Council Member Rafael Espinal. But the otherwise exciting exclusive from Ben Chapman doesn't point out where thousands of buses are going to come from, given all the problems in the e-bus supply chain. New York is currently testing all of 10 electric buses. (NYDN) [Update: Espinal tells us it will start with four buses next year.]
- The Post ran a story detailing all the outside money our state legislators earn. The one detail missing: Sen. Simcha Felder is a "college teacher"?! Sure enough, he got good ranks from his students when he taught at Brooklyn College — though not necessarily for his classroom skills: "Prof. Felder is one of the best teachers I have had at BC," one student posted on Rate My Professor. "Extremely comedic and very outgoing. Felder makes you feel like your [sic!] in a camp rather than a college." (Grammar isn't everything.)
- Times opinion writer Richard Conniff reported on how pedestrians are striking back in cities all over the world (except New York, which is not mentioned in the story at all because, well, de Blasio). Car owners, Conniff accurately wrote, "have mistaken their century-long domination over pedestrians for a right rather than a privilege." (NY Times)
- The annual "Transit wish list" for 2018 in amNY was a bit anti-climactic. After all, doesn't everyone want "better service"? (amNY)
- Streetsblog NYC is sitting down with Council Speaker Corey Johnson today. Here's another outlet's non-street safety version. No questions about Skillman Avenue? Shame! (Seriously, though, Jeff Coltin did a great job.) (City & State)
- And in some personal good news. (NY Times, Bklyner)
- In case you missed it, Crain's did a deep dive on what fare evasion costs the MTA (hint: not as much as Andy Byford wants to believe).
- And also in case you missed it, finally someone has ranked American cities by two important metrics: Tacos and transit. (Sorry to report that New York is dragged down by its taco quality ... not its transit service.) (City Lab)
