Wednesday’s Headlines: Carlos Menchaca’s Bike Lane Party Edition

Sure, Sunset Park Council Member Carlos Menchaca is happy. On Wednesday, he’ll be joined by DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg as they announce that the city has fast-tracked a 45-block segment of the delayed Fourth Avenue protected bike lane.

The new portion from 15th Street to 60th Street will be completed by the end of the bike lane season as part of Mayor de Blasio’s “Green Wave” plan (it was originally scheduled to be done in 2020). The Post previewed the work.

We mention Menchaca because he’s a true supporter of bike infrastructure, so putting a bike lane in his district is pretty much the low-hanging fruit. So don’t be surprised if someone — maybe someone with a Streetsblog press pass, who knows? — asks Trottenberg what her strategy will be for building out the bike network in neighborhoods where the lawmakers aren’t named Menchaca or Lander, but Treyger, Yeger, Koslowitz, Eugene, Ulrich, Diaz and Deutsch.

But until then, here’s Tuesday’s news:

• The day was dominated by coverage of the big transit win on 14th Street, as a judge gave the city permission to build a bus- and truck-only route. The Daily News and amNY focused on legal machinations, while Gothamist focused on plaintiffs’ concern about cars ending up on residential streets. The Post keeps calling it a “car ban” (as if that’s a negative thing).
• Friend of Streetsblog Noel Hidalgo — aka “noneck” on Twitter — biked to the World Trade Center and all we got is this epic thread about the Port Authority’s security theater over the supposed terror threat represented by bikes.
• State Senator Andrew Gounardes wants to make express buses cheaper for students. (NYDN)
• The Post took a novel approach to the self-driving car story — “test driving” the vehicle that drives itself. (The Tabloid of Record also played it straight with a news story. So did amNY)
• Assembly Member Felix Ortiz — not the most enlightened member when it comes to pedestrians, to say the least — does want the state DMV to put the “Dutch Reach” in its driver’s manual. (Ben Max via Twitter)