Well, our editor is back from New Orleans and he won't shut up about what a great time he had — except for one thing: The Big Easy doesn't live up to its name for cyclists. The Crescent City could be a paradise — it's almost entirely flat and the weather cooperates almost the entire year — but there's a dearth of protected bike lanes, gas is $1.89 a gallon, and drivers speed around like they own the place (which, alas, they do).
On the plus side, the Blue Bike system — a dockless bike share run by Social Bicycles (aka Jump) — is pretty good.
But enough about our editor's weekend. Here's the news:
- Car carnage kills two on Conduit, and one in Bayside. (NYDN)
- We were pleased to see the Post write an editorial based on David Meyer's Streetsblog scoop that Gov. Cuomo's plan to swipe half of the money from the speed camera expansion for the MTA. Also in the Post, Mary Huhn channeled her inner Streetsblog when she condemned how rarely killer drivers get jail time, thanks to lax DAs and incomplete investigations by the NYPD.
- A woman in Bay Ridge is killed by her own car. (NY Post)
- Fair Fares is a joke, argues Josmar Trujillo in an amNY op-ed. The city provides basic services such as sanitation and fire protection to its taxpayers — so why not transportation?
- The Times offers a deep dive on subway pickpockets.
- The L train will be lousy overnight this week and all weekend. (amNY)
- Good get by Gothamist, which interviews an air-traffic controller, who said he called in sick to protest Trump's "racist fantasy."
- Oslo has banned cars from a big portion of its center city, Fast Company reports, and we bring it up here only as a reminder that Mayor de Blasio will not even consider doing that even in a tiny part of Manhattan.
- Has anyone noticed that very-ex-State Senator Marty Golden is still tweeting as @senmartygolden? For the record: Marty Golden is no longer a state senator, having lost in November to Andrew Gounardes.
- And, finally, here's a reminder of how much better cycling is in Holland — and how much further we have to go:
