Updated | We spent the entire weekend riveted by all the details that emerged from Wednesday's failed coup in Washington, D.C., including new videos, solid post- (or is that pre-?) mortems by Timothy Snyder and Brent Staples, and the increasing likelihood that some of the participants were off-duty NYPD officers.
Already, FDNY staffers have turned up in the crowd the hoped to overthrow the government and possibly kill elected officials, Gothamist reported. And there were reportedly cops from Seattle in the mob, too. We don't know if authorities will discover any NYPD link to the insurrection [Update: they seem like they will], but the police unions' endorsement of President Trump before the election suggest that a majority of cops support the president. And, indeed, Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch was still defending Trump (though not the violence carried out in his name) late last week. (amNY)
Last year, before the election, we asked the mayor if he was concerned about the split loyalties among the NYPD's rank-and-file, and he said he was not worried because "overwhelmingly, officers leave their politics at home and they go and do what has to be done to keep people safe." (The mayor did add that if any officer "can't or won't do that, we have to discipline, but I don't get an indication that that is a widespread challenge." We'll see, won't we?)
In a related story, the NYPD will send 200 cops to help at the inauguration of President Biden on Jan. 20, (NY Post), which seemed odd to Friend of Streetsblog Peter Beadle:
In other news from over the weekend:
- Several outlets covered Comptroller Scott Stringer's climate change policy paper. The Daily News focused on the candidate's call for a new public utility to be greener than ConEd or National Grid. Meanwhile, Huffpost focused on the effort to wean the city off fossil fuels. And amNY's Mark Hallum actually covered the Zoom press conference for a few more details. Streetsblog offered the definitive version (and by definitive, we mean on the essential street safety and livable communities angles).
- Did pressure from the Cuomo administration lead Moynihan Train Hall development president Michael Evans to take his own life last year? (NY Post)
- A subway fare hike is likely coming to a vote this month (WSJ), even as Mayor de Blasio sees no need for 24/7 service to resume (even as he hopes to inoculate people 24/7), Streetsblog reported.
- A driver struck and critically injured a woman in Queens. (NY Post)
- College campuses are designed to be livable, car-free spaces. So why not design cities that way, too? (Strong Towns)
- Like our own Kea Wilson before him, Ben Kabak at Second Avenue Sagas is no fan of billion-dollar train waiting rooms with no places to sit.
- Our old man editor was the headliner on the Outspoken Cyclist podcast this week. Listen here.
- Two Albany lawmakers are hoping to give the city the permission to lower speed limits below 25 miles per hour. (Dick Gottfried via Twitter)
- Meanwhile, Mayor de Blasio should call his old friend Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who has announced that she's turning the Champs-Élysées into an "extraordinary garden," reducing vehicle space by half. (The Guardian)
- And, finally, what's with the Parks Department? As small businesses are collapsing, thanks to a global pandemic, the agency created a plan to squeeze some businesses on the Rockaway boardwalk. Why? To make a few more bucks. Now, Caracas Arepa Bar, Low Tide Bar and Rippers are facing the ax for no good reason. A last-chance meeting is to be held today. Supporters of the businesses are urging concerned New Yorkers to email gregg.alleyne@mocs.nyc.gov. (Gothamist)
