A languid summer day burst into a frenzy late on Tuesday when a riot (a murder? A bevy?) of rich Upper West Siders sued the city to stop its plans for a live-saving protected bike lane on Central Park West.
Streetsblog was first out of the gate with the court papers, but everyone got on the story quickly. Clayton Guse and Stephen Rex Brown — two genuine stars of the Daily News — pounded out a quick hit (though whose idea was it to call the plaintiffs a "community group" when, in fact, they are rich condo owners at 25 Central Park West?). The Post's David Meyer pointed out that it was indeed, a condo board that sued.
City lawyers will be at 60 Centre Street today to hopefully convince a judge not to halt the plans. We'll be there, too.
For now, though, here's your news:
- Many top-quality outlets covered the vigil for Em Samolewicz, the artist who became the 18th cyclist to die this year when she was run over by a truck driver on dangerous Third Avenue on Monday. Streetsblog played up the tears and the jeers, the Daily News stuck to the overarching sadness and waste, amNY had a nice detail: Why is the speed limit on Third Avenue 30 miles per hour instead of the citywide 25 mph?
- You gotta keep handing it to scoop machine Dana Rubinstein at Politico. Her latest story revealed the secret reason why Joe Lhota resigned from running the MTA last year: conflicts of interest. No wonder his resignation letter was never released ... until now. The Post also covered.
- The Post picked up on the should-be-viral video of two bozo cops claiming that adult cyclists are required to wear helmets (they're not). Watch the video to get the cops' full inane swagger.
- Corey Johnson keeps speaking truth to power, er, in this case, the New York Post, which keeps trying — and keeps failing — to undermine his argument that we have too many cars in this city. (NY Post)
- The Times's ever-deliberate Emma Fitzsimmons offers a look at the new (well, not so new) OMNY fare system. One carp: Is the MetroCard really that bad?
- Someone is mugging cyclists on the West Side! (NY Post)
- Big Byford is watching you — but mostly to figure out how subway are moving through the system (NYDN). Vin Barone at amNY had a broader look at the MTA's use of new tech.
- Aaron Gordon of Jalopnik weighs on in the merits of tearing down I-81 in downtown Syracuse, which Streetsblog has covered.
