Thursday’s Headlines: Race Against the Machine Edition

So our friends at Transportation Alternatives walked alongside a 14th Street bus yesterday — and the bus won by just five seconds, as Gothamist reported. The goal was to show that 14th Street still needs a dedicated bus lane and car-free conditions that were promised as a mitigation during the now-scrubbed L-train shutdown.

The lousy bus service on 14th Street persists even without the shutdown, so why not solve the problem?

Too bad the activists picked a school vacation week to prove their point. They would have easily beaten the bus in normal traffic.

Here’s the rest of the news:

• Mayor de Blasio will make his loooong-awaited announcement about placard abuse today at 2:30 p.m. Aaron Naparstek offered a possible preview.
• Some of the many public advocate candidates debated on NY1. It’s archived here. Earlier in the day, StreetsPAC endorsed Melissa Mark-Viverito. Check Streetsblog later for the candidates’ responses to our street safety questionnaires!
• The de Blasio administration lied to FEMA in 2014 … to get more city cars! (NYDN, NY Times) Meanwhile, the Post joined Streetsblog in noticing that Mayor Vision Zero has a lot more city cars than his predecessor!
• Why is putting benches for pedestrians so controversial? Park Slope’s community board voted 16-13 in favor of installing “street seats” on the neighborhood’s main shopping strip. Reminder: this program does not rob space from pedestrians — it takes it away from drivers. Oh… (Patch)
• Carnage in Rockland County. (NYDN)
• And, finally, we don’t see Mayor de Blasio on Time magazine’s cover of Dem hopefuls.