Thursday’s Headlines: Snow Nice To Meet You

The arrival of the winter’s first nor’easter yesterday brought to the streets the kind of quiet we saw early in the pandemic. Citi Bike temporarily ceased operations. Mayor de Blasio and the Sanitation Department busied themselves with pre-snow operations, including the salting of sidewalks. (We saw a sidewalk salted in a pretty blue and purple. Is DSNY getting jazzy?) The threat of snow meant closed school buildings today, but who’s in school buildings much anyway? A virus rules our lives.

Back in the day, when we used to hustle on transit for an hour and a half every morning to get to a job in Queens, blankets of snow provided a respite. But now? When a trip to the office means moving from morning coffee on the couch to face a computer in an unused bedroom, every day is “Groundhog Day,” and a blessed snow day is, well, not so much.

In other news on a slow news day:

• The MTA banks on a $4.5-billion federal infusion to forestall “doomsday” cuts. (NY Post, NYDN, NYT)
• In other federal news, the rescue bill taking shape in Washington lacks aid for states and municipalities and so will be terrible for New York. (Gothamist)
• Gov. Cuomo’s fixation on gleaming subways continues apace, despite the tenuous connection to COVID mitigation. (NY Post)
• Expect delays: Transit workers are sickening at three times the rate of a month ago, affecting service. (NYDN)
• Lower East Siders can’t stop grumbling about the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, despite all the blandishments their electeds extracted from the city. (City and State)
• Dollar vans, once a transit-desert mainstay, are facing bust times in the pandemic. (The City)
• Readers may be following Streetsblog’s epic series polling 10 mayoral candidates on street-safety issues, but so far only two of those candidates have campaigns established enough to secure city matching funds. (Gotham Gazette)
• The snow wasn’t even a glimmer on the horizon, but a motorist having a “medical episode” slammed into an outdoor eatery in our part of the Boogie Down Tuesday night. (WABC)
• Something to look forward to: Bike New York’s Holiday Lights and Sights ride, which visits the city’s most iconic Christmas displays, adds another session on the 20th. (Via Bike New York)
• Speaking of the spirit of the season, see that yellow button on the top, pitching our annual donation drive? We’d love it if you could help us keep the lights on for another year. And we’d like to thank yesterday’s donors: Thanks, Daniel! Thanks, Randy! Thanks, Travis! Thanks, Grace! Thanks, Theodore! Thanks, Alan! Thanks, Susan! Thanks, Mark! Thanks, Patrick!