Thursday’s Headlines: Train Daddy in Exile Edition

We thought we could quit Andy Byford. But then the beloved former NYC Transit president (and how many times have the word “beloved” and “NYC Transit president” been in the same clause?) goes and appears on a Progressive Action TV Facebook webcast today — wearing a t-shirt from Sunny’s Bar in Red Hook!

Some guys just don’t give you a chance to, you know, move on.

In other news:

• Transit workers are dying at a rate three times that of first responders (NYDN, NY Times). The MTA blamed everyone else (NY Post).
• Mayor de Blasio admitted that communities of color are being disproportionately decimated by coronavirus. (NY Post)
• Streetsblog had a decade-long feud with former Westchester Assembly Member Richard Brodsky over his failure to support congestion pricing (and his demagoguing of the issue), but we were very sad to hear that he had died of coronavirus. Even though we disagreed, we appreciated that Brodsky fought for what he believed in. (NY Post, LoHud)
• It’s a groundswell! WNYC was the latest outlet to follow our weeks-long investigation into the other COVID epidemic: speeding.
• Look, we’re all going to be voting by mail (and it’s fine … despite what the president says), so here’s how to do it. (amNY)
• The Upper West Side’s community board is still leading on bike lanes. (West Side RagWest Side Rag)
• George, we love you, but what the hell is this Bridge of Gowanus story? (Red Hook Star Review)
• And, finally, Gothamist’s Christopher Robbins couldn’t get a sandwich at Katz’s yesterday. (Takeout-only at the fabled corned beef palace raises the question of whether you can pick your favorite slicer anymore.)