Wednesday’s Headlines: Doug Gordon’s Tactical Urbanism Edition

We were pleased to see that Doug Gordon, who tweets as @BrooklynSpoke, finally went public and confessed to being the “rogue” urbanist who fixed streets in Park Slope last year with a bit of tactical urbanism.

A little duct tape and, voila, daylighted intersections! Take it away, Doug:

Here’s the rest of the news from yesterday:

• Several Queens politicians have written to the Department of Transportation demanding a protected bike lane on Cross Bay Boulevard, two days after Bogdan Darmetko was killed on the roadway (Patch). The letter by Council Member Eric Ulrich, State Sen. Joe Addabbo and Assembly Member Stacy Amato quoted Streetsblog’s story verbatim. (That’s a hat tip to reporter Dave Colon.)
• Politico’s Dana Rubinstein explored the legal underpinning of Uber’s dispute with the city over expanding its Jump bike service across Staten Island. Sticking point? Uber doesn’t want to be sued if riders get injured. Citi Bike also has a contract provision that helps it avoid lawsuits — with the Department of Transportation didn’t seem to know about. (Wow, good story, Dana!)
• We’re kinda torn on the bike repair man who sets up at the corner of Chambers Street and Greenwich Avenue every day. We like having a place for a quick fix, but don’t like that owner Sammy Acevedo operates out of a van that he parks near the corner every day. (Tribeca Citizen)
• Dog gone, hit. (NYDN, NY Post)
• The Post’s David Meyer went to the new LIRR lost and found — and found a chainsaw! (Though, um, there’s a funny story about that…)
• Yes, Arthur Schwartz is still suing over the 14th Street busway — you know, the transit priority route that everyone loves. (WSJ)
• For a second straight day, amNY’s website was down under its new owners. But a PDF version of the gutted print edition was posted online. Yes, it was as sad as we predicted it would be.
• From the assignment desk: Today at noon, the Taxi and Limousine Commission will honor its best drivers: 433 cabbies who have zero traffic or safety violation convictions of any kind on their records over four consecutive years and, of course, no crashes with injuries.
• Money for something: The Transit Innovation Partnership wants you to come up with ways of fixing three not-so-little problems: accessibility, traffic coordination and revenue generation. Applications are being accepted through Nov. 30. (Smart Cities Drive)
• And finally, why is the Times’s Metropolitan Diary always filled with “Aw, aren’t cars cute?” stories? The other day, readers were regaled with a tale of workmen helping a Volkswagen Bug driver out of a jam. Why — just why?