It may get overshadowed by another big public event on Tuesday, but no matter: The Streetsblog Carolers will be at Gracie Mansion tonight at 6 p.m., rain or shine, to belt out this year's seasonal street safety shanties, including our big hit, "Will de Blasio Keep Us Safe This Christmas?"
And rain is certainly expected all day tomorrow, but temps will be too high for snow, according to our editor's trick ankle (and that low pressure front coming up the Appalachians).
Rain is good for the singing voice, but not so good for the Department of Transportation, which will show off its new Eighth Avenue pedestrian zone at 11 a.m. Until then, here's today's news roundup:
- The Daily News editorial board is getting nervous that the MTA is going to get in control of its spending before it finalizes its $51-billion capital plan.
- The tabloid also printed an op-ed from Council Member Bob Holden criticizing the DOT — but not for all the usual reasons.
- The New York Times and the Queens Eagle both covered the long lines of undocumented immigrants trying to get their driver's licenses, now legal under a new program. Both Michael Gold and David Brand's stories were solid — but neither connected the dots: more cars equal more death on the roads, more toxins in the air and more unsustainable debt for the city's most-vulnerable. But, hey...CARS! (The Schneps-owned amNY also failed to consider the law's unintended consequences.)
- Looks like the MTA has a new (and possibly overstated) problem: scammers intentionally jamming MetroCard machines so they can sell swipes. (NY Post, amNY)
- The Post wrote up the two Queens pedestrians who were killed hours apart by drivers. We had done our own story on one of the victims to highlight just how rare it is that a killer motorist is charged.
- City Limits did a deep dive on the horrific cyclist death toll this year and concludes ... it's the fault of too many impatient drivers and not enough high-quality bike lanes.
- And, finally, Gothamist provided surprisingly positive coverage of the jerky drivers who blast Phil Collins in the Village. OK, fine, the slow build-up to the satisfying drum fill in "In the Air Tonight" is epic, but still, we're talking about Phil Collins, who once thought he was so great that he was the only musician to play both the London and Philadelphia Live Aid concerts (with help of his ego and the Concorde).
