Wow, what a day. We got to watch the mayor get chauffeured from the Upper East Side to his Park Slope gym, then watch him walk two blocks to the subway (while someone else drove his car to City Hall), then watch him pitch his congestion pricing-MTA restructuring plan to straphangers, then be asked a softball question that only ended up revealing how rarely the mayor rides the subway, and then receive kudos from Streetsblog for finally getting on board with tolling drivers. Good times!
Here's how that story played out, plus the other news:
- First, regarding that softball. (Streetsblog and @2AvSagas via Twitter)
- The Daily News's Jillian Jorgensen hammered the mayor for not riding the subway enough.
- The Post's Julia Marsh also mocked the mayor. (Point of fact: Streetsblog was standing next to Marsh when she told a bystander that the mayor was about to ride the subway — and the guy's face immediately contorted into a gesture of surprise typically reserved for discovering a winning Powerball ticket in your pocket.)
- De Blasio wrote an op-ed in the Daily News under the headline, "My congestion pricing conversion." (It's well argued. Good for him.) Riders Alliance Executive Director John Raskin also lent support in the same paper. And the Daily News editorial board also cheered Hizzoner.
- The Post played up the Senate Democrats from Long Island who oppose congestion pricing.
- Oh, and lost in the confusion: the subway fare is going up. (NY Times, WSJ, amNY)
- And, in case you missed it, Friend of Streetsblog Charlie Komanoff made another righteous yawp in support of congestion pricing. (NYDN)
In other news:
- Mourners gathered in Queens to remember Sherena Hundalani, who was killed by a hit-and-run cabbie on Sunday. Dan Rivoli and Molly Crane-Newman's story reminded all that the driver has not been charged yet. (NYDN)
- Justice is weird sometimes. The guy who drove on the sidewalk in Borough Park and didn't hit anyone got arrested (NY Post), yet the drivers who killed Chaim Joseph, Sherena Hundalani, a pedestrian in the Bronx, and so many others remain free.
- Why do drivers get more lanes on the Van Wyck? How about a bike lane? (Patch)
- And unlicensed driver nearly killed a kid in Sunset Park. But the mayor is still worried about scooters. (NYDN)
- Um, did Chirlane McCray just say it's not the right time for a President de Blasio? (NY Post)
