Something was obviously bothering our old man editor yesterday — and it wasn't just the tooth that got pulled out of his head like a spark plug from a 1960 Chevy (photo right).
It was that some reporters in this town don't think it's relevant to ask if New Yorkers should be worried that the Police Benevolent Association — the union that represents roughly 24,000 NYPD cops — endorsed President Trump weeks before an election that the president has suggested won't be legitimate and will be marred by violence.
Streetsblog asked Mayor de Blasio about that on Tuesday, and got predictable blowback from the union. But we also got some Twitter pushback from Post reporter Julia Marsh, whose own paper's story didn't mentioned the police union's endorsement of Trump, and focused almost entirely on polling places, not any post-election disruptions. (Same with the Wall Street Journal's piece.)
But other reporters have their antennae up to the possible conflict of interest buried in any post-election conflict. The Daily News's coverage featured our interchange with the mayor, and the Associated Press had a similar spin. And City Limits offered a long analysis on why the NYPD can't be trusted.
For now, let's put a pin on this until Nov. 4, the day that all the election smoke clears (and, possibly, other smoke wafts in).
In other news from a slow day:
- We mentioned the MTA's new live subway map in our headlines yesterday, thanks to Curbed's scoop, but multiple outlets followed up: NYDN, NY Post, amNY, Gothamist.
- Too many city intersections are not safe for the blind, a judge ruled. (NYDN, NY Post)
- Heroes indeed: One in four transit workers got COVID-19. (NY Post)
- A drunk driver slammed into a moped rider early this morning, injuring him severely. (NYDN, with a gratuitous bit of victim-blaming)
