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Thursday’s Headlines: Keep on Rocking in the (Car) Free World Edition

Old guys like our editor still like to get out and rock — so tonight, he and other members of the anti-car/pro-guitar crowd will head to Arlene's Grocery on the Lower East Side to hear "War on Cars" co-host Sarah Goodyear's band, Suffragette Kitty. The fun starts at 8. Details here. (Bonus points: The Allen Street bike lane can get you to the club from the north or south — keep a sharp eye out for fellow car-battlers Doug Gordon and Aaron Naparstek on a tandem from Brooklyn.)

And now here's yesterday's news in easy digest form:

    • The Post reported on the arrest of a cop for beating up a cyclist on Tuesday. Streetsblog's Julianne Cuba followed and added some nice details.
    • Gothamist took the exact right angle on the city's non-story of naming the corner of Broadway at 63rd St. "Sesame Street" to honor the long-running kid's show. No wonder the mayor declined to take questions. This is a hot one!
    • Car carnage claims the life of a city cop on Long Island. (NYDN)
    • Here's a great hate read about Uber from the Times's tech columnist Farhad Manjoo.
    • The Wall Street Journal took a look at MTA labor costs — as the MTA itself starts probing all the "excessive" overtime approved by managers. (amNY)
    • A judge upheld the city's minimum wage for Lyft and Uber drivers. (NY Post)
    • People are getting excited about the Wegman's that will open in the Brooklyn Navy Yard this fall (amNY, Gothamist), but no one has explained to us how the almost-completed Flushing Avenue bike lane — a key east-west route — won't turn into a disaster from all those SUV drivers stocking up.
    • And, finally, top players in the livable streets community toasted each other on this year's long-awaited passage of congestion pricing. The Riders Alliance-hosted event drew virtually all of the bold-faced names that played a role in the historic measure, including, but not limited to, "Gridlock" Sam Schwartz, DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, Riders Alliance Executive Director John Raskin and group spokesman Danny Pearlstein, a quorum from Transportation Alternatives, former Streetsblog Editor Ben Fried, StreetsPac leaders Peter Frishauf and Eric McClureClayton Guse of the Daily Newsuh, and so many others. The place got so thick with activists that people started joking that if a bomb went off on Walker Street, there wouldn't be anyone from the livable streets community to actually implement the policy. Our editor snapped the party pics like he was Patrick McMullen or something, so enjoy the happy festivities below:
StreetsPac leaders Peter Frishauf (left) and Eric McClure
StreetsPac leaders Peter Frishauf (left) and Eric McClure played an outsized role in the passage of congestion pricing.
StreetsPac leaders Peter Frishauf (left) and Eric McClure
State Senator Andrew Gounardes
State Senator Andrew Gounardes was part of an insurgent wave that flipped the upper chamber.
State Senator Andrew Gounardes has a bill that would get reckless drivers off the road. Photo: Gersh Kuntzman
The legendary congestion pricing proponent Sam Schwartz talks to Streetfilms auteur Clarence Eckerson Jr.
The legendary congestion pricing proponent Sam Schwartz talked to Streetfilms auteur Clarence Eckerson Jr.
The legendary congestion pricing proponent Sam Schwartz talks to Streetfilms auteur Clarence Eckerson Jr.
(from left) Daily News reporter Clayton Guse, TransAlt spokesman Joe Cutrufo and Brooklyn activist David Herman
(from left) Daily News reporter Clayton Guse, TransAlt spokesman Joe Cutrufo and Brooklyn activist David Herman.
(from left) Daily News reporter Clayton Guse, TransAlt spokesman Joe Cutrufo and Brooklyn activist David Herman
Charles Komanoff and Melodie Bryant
Streetsblog writer (and so much more) Charles Komanoff and Melodie Bryant, a member of the Streetsblog Carolers.
Charles Komanoff and Melodie Bryant
Streetsblog's 2018 Activist of the Year Brian Howald (left) and Streetsblog Editor in Chief 2018-??? Gersh Kuntzman
Streetsblog's Activist of the Year 2018 Brian Howald (left) and Streetsblog Editor in Chief 2018-??? Gersh Kuntzman
Streetsblog's 2018 Activist of the Year Brian Howald (left) and Streetsblog Editor in Chief 2018-??? Gersh Kuntzman

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