We won't speculate on whether she can turn the world on with her smile, but DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg certainly took a nothing day yesterday and suddenly made it all seem worthwhile.
The city's road czar invited the press to a simple ribbon-cutting for two new, worthy and exciting bike lane projects, but the event itself had lots of hidden gems that reporters polished.
Our own Dave Colon asked Trottenberg about whether new cyclists should feel comfortable given that most of her protected lanes don't connect to anything other protected lanes. Her answer surprised us, so we wrote it up. (Guse of the Newsuh played it straight, though pointed out some of the equity issues that we did, too.)
And Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez got laughs (but no headlines) by championing Trottenberg as a the secretary of the federal Department of Transportation if Joe Biden wins the presidency.
And would-be mayor Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams complained about the slow pace of bike lane construction in less-privileged neighborhoods — prompting an immediate backlash on Twitter, given the Beep's continued insistence that he be allowed to park his official cars in a public park. Here's one example:
Two weeks ago, we asked the mayor if he thought that a police force that endorsed Trump could keep the peace in the event of post-election protests. The mayor said they would, but the evidence is mounting that he was wrong. More videos emerged from last night's police misconduct, including from freelance reporter Scott Heins, Wall Street Journal reporter Katie Honan, Gothamist reporter Christopher Robbins (who captured Public Advocate Jumaane Williams getting roughed up), and the Daily News's Brittany Kriegstein. The Daily News did indeed cover it, albeit with eerie detachment. At amNY, Mark Hallum seems to be getting tired of the mayor playing dumb on the issue. Gothamist Jake Offenhartz had a hot take:
Straining to imagine any other person or entity that lies and misleads the public as frequently as Dermot Shea and the NYPD still getting the benefit of the doubt from reporters. I cannot!
Oh, and by the way, the NYPD official in charge of handling racial harassment was unmasked as ... a racist! (NY Times, NYDN, NY Post)
Trash is going to collect on city streets this winter because of budget cuts that we pointed out months ago. (NYDN)
Larry Penner is worried that the MTA won't make good on its promise to electrify the Port Jefferson branch on the LIRR (TRB). And if you're a Penner completist, check out his letter about the glory days of Brooklyn (Brooklyn Daily Eagle).
You know you're doing something right when Macartney Morris is impressed — as he is with the Crescent Street protected bike lane in Queens. But the advocate isn't satisfied because the lane needs more protection for cyclists. So take a minute and follow his link to send a letter to DOT.
Sixty people died in the first three months of the year, 50 percent more than the first quarter of 2018, which was the safest opening three months of any Vision Zero year.
