Wednesday’s Headlines: Back to Normal Edition

And we’re back! Andrew Cuomo’s third term as governor officially began, so we at Streetsblog decided we’d return to our job, too (though, truth be told, we kinda worked all weekend). Let’s start today’s headlines with a few ICYMIs:

• In case you missed it, 2018 ended in bloody fashion for pedestrians and 2019 started in gruesome fashion for a cyclist in Brooklyn.
• ICYMI, the last days of 2018 were characterized by unsafe conditions for pedestrians in multiple locations, part of what Streetsblog has hashtagged #deblasioschaos. The Post and Times (and all of Twitter) reported that the Brooklyn Bridge was a walking and biking parking lot (while the six lanes of traffic remained available to cars, as Second Avenue Sagas pointed out); Times Square was overwhelmed by pedestrians; and the area around the Rockefeller Center tree was also gridlocked by people wanting only to enjoy America’s greatest walkable city on foot. Mayor de Blasio: Do something.

Now, the current (albeit thin) news:

• There’s a new East Coast-West Coast beef: urban transportation. And the West Coast is owning us right now. (NY Times)
• The final numbers are in: “Only” 200 people died on New York City roads this year, down from 222 last year — but the 114 pedestrians who died were seven more than last year. Um, are we supposed to be happy with these numbers? (NY Times)
• Nicole Gelinas opines in favor of Gov. Cuomo’s transit work group, which has presented him with many useful proposals for funding improvements. (NY Post)
• The Associated Press offered an update on the delayed East Side Access project.