It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so we'll be taking the day off to honor the great leader's legacy (which, unfortunately, has not always been upheld by subsequent, lesser leaders).
So we'll only post in the event of breaking news. See you Tuesday. Until then, here are some of the headlines and stories you might have missed over the weekend:
- Our editor's appearance on Gary Axelbank's BronxNet show was posted to YouTube. He didn't think he did a good job, but he did get inveterate car lover Axelbank to admit that cars are unsustainable, so there is that. (We've embedded the video at the bottom of this post.)
- Speaking of the Bronx, Council Member Mark Gjonaj opposed the road diet for Morris Park Avenue, which slows down drivers. And he opposed speed cameras because they slow down drivers. So is it any surprise that the Post found that Gjonaj's personal car has nine speeding tickets on it?
- Take a moment to watch this horrific video of a van driver running over a kid in Crown Heights. This is the kind of daily carnage that doesn't even register with the city-wide media because the NYPD doesn't even put out bulletins about such injuries — but they happen roughly 60,000 times per year. (Crown Heights Info)
- The subway was deluged by yet another water main break, but we're sure the Times will find some damaged luxury cars to bemoan. (NYDN, amNY)
- The Post tried hard to claim that Revel scooters are dangerous in a story that trotted out several old lawsuits (including one covered last year by Streetsblog), yet the Aaron Feis story never points out that cars killed 217 last year and injured 60,000 — and there were way more than one lawsuit a month involving reckless car drivers. Perspective, people, perspective!
- Our editor was very proud of his Brooklyn neighbor Darren Goldner for shoveling out the Prospect Park West bike lane on Saturday when the DOT failed to do so. It's pretty embarrassing that private citizens have to plow vital infrastructure — indeed, in Salt Lake City, officials there have the right equipment for the job.
- Stolen car mayhem in Brooklyn. (Post)
- A cop crashed his car in Queens, but the Daily News didn't bother referring to our months-long investigation last year revealing how badly police officers drive.
- Gov. Cuomo said his L-train fix saved $75 million (not that we can examine the data). (Gothamist)
- Staten Island Borough President James Oddo wants to experiment with free express bus service on the Rock. He's partly right: "Ultimately, if you are going to ‘break the car culture,’ you’re going to have to reach into your pocket as a government and underwrite mass transit service," he told the SI Advance. Of course, he's not entirely accurate, because owning a car is also highly subsidized (in terms of free parking, gas taxes that are way too low, and the environmental and safety costs that are never borne by the drivers).
