Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Traffic Enforcement

Friday’s Headlines: A Great Day for the City Coffers Edition

File photo: Gersh Kuntzman

Today is famously the day when so many New York drivers forget that it's a holiday even though it's a regular weekday and forget to pay for parking in commercial zones. As such, it's known as Black Friday because it's the day when city coffers are filled with vital revenue from thousands of parking tickets that otherwise would never have happened.

For some reason, Council Member Justin Brannan, whose Bay Ridge neighborhood is a car-filled, cyclist death zone where every good bike lane idea goes to die, tried to ruin all the fun:

Now, to the news from a very slow news day:

    • We had a great Thanksgiving. Thanks for asking.
    • StreetridersNYC donated 400 turkeys to needy families. (via Twitter)
    • We really need to do something about these out-of-control cars that are racing at reckless speeds and killing people and injuring their own innocent drivers! (NY Post)
    • A car is a great Thanksgiving feast ... for a sinkhole! (NY Post)
    • Will Manhattan Borough President succeed in her fight against tourist helicopters? (Gotham Gazette)
    • And, finally, we're not lawyers, but Justice Neil Gorsuch's reasoning in his concurrence in the Supreme Court's rejection of Gov. Cuomo's ban on religious gatherings was egregiously privileged. Ruling in favor of church services, Gorsuch took aim at bike shops. "While the pandemic poses many grave challenges, there is no world in which the Constitution tolerates color-coded executive edicts that reopen liquor stores and bike shops but shutter churches, synagogues and mosques,” Justice Gorsuch wrote, according to the NY Times story. Gorsuch's contempt for "bike shops" reflects the standard windshield view of American commuting — where if you're not in a car, you must simply be using a bike because you're a 10-year-old or a Spandex bro out for a weekend ride. In fact, millions of Americans either chose to use bikes to get around — or don't have Gorsuch's wealth to afford more expensive transportation. Shame.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Sean Duffy’s ‘Great America Road Trip’ Wants You to Drive to Central Park

Sean Duffy's "Great American Road Trip" encourages Americans to drive to sites in the most transit-rich and car-choked parts of the country.

July 3, 2025

Ex-DOT Official Warns NYC’s ‘Counterproductive’ E-bike Speed Limit Will Curb Biking, Safety

The mayor is working overtime to undo the decade of gains for cycling in the Big Apple, a former de Blasio administration official told Streetsblog.

July 3, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines: Just the News Edition

Things are slowing down for summer, but not entirely. Here's the news.

July 3, 2025

DOT Boss Defends Adams’s ‘Vision Zero’ Record As Agency Fights A Bike Lane in Court

Traffic fatalities are down and the DOT is taking a victory lap — even as it argues against a protected bike lane in court.

July 2, 2025

Cyclist Arrested After Crash with Electric ‘One-wheel’-Style Unicycle

Carolyn Backus is charged with fleeing the scene of a crash causing serious injury, but the details are murky.

Wednesday’s Headlines: Return of Summer Streets Edition

Summer Streets is back and bigger than ever. Plus more news.

July 2, 2025
See all posts