Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Car Culture

Tuesday’s Headlines: But They NEED Their Cars Edition

The Jersey license plate is the chef’s kiss on this ossified Altima spotted on Monday on the Upper West Side. Photo: Lisa Orman

A really big snowstorm affords us a great chance to push back on the inaccurate (and, frankly, anti-progressive) notion that many New Yorkers need their cars to get to work.

Look around your neighborhood at all the fossilized Fords, ossified Audis and sedimented Subarus that haven't moved since the big blizzard more than eight days ago. If their owners had to drive, presumably, they would have dug them out and driven.

And enjoy our slideshow of all the car owners who need their cars:

And, lest we forget the sneckdowns!

https://twitter.com/marctorrence/status/1358931172689137666?s=20

In other news:

    • Despite multiple requests from Streetsblog, new Department of Transportation Commissioner and intellectual property lawyer Hank Gutman gave his first sit-down to the Times, which was pretty skeptical frankly. "The [mayor's] ambitious agenda would be challenging even for a seasoned transportation professional, which Mr. Gutman, 70, a retired lawyer and a donor to Mr. de Blasio and other Democrats, is not." Ouch.
    • A delivery cyclist was seriously injured by a hit-run-and-return driver on the Lower East Side. (NYDN)
    • Some details emerged about Mayor de Blasio's "open culture" program, which we wrote about yesterday, and Gov. Cuomo's "pop-up" performance version (NY Times, Brooklyn Paper, Gothamist). The NY Post story about Cuomo's proposal had a weird detail: "The events will not be publicly announced beforehand and will last only about 20 minutes to try to keep down crowd size." ("Hey, honey, you want to go see the — oops, I don't know where it'll be and, wait a second, we missed it.")
    • The Times took a look at the cruel process of evicting homeless people from the subway and not giving them anywhere else to go.
    • Brooklyn Borough President candidate Robert Cornegy has locked up the non-Brooklyn vote, apparently. (NYDN)
    • Good news: maybe our old man editor can finally stop teaching eighth grade! (Gothamist)
    • And, finally, US DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the magic words in an interview yesterday, "Roads aren't just for vehicles — they are for people."

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Here’s Everything Wrong With the Judge’s Order to Rip Up the 31st Street Protected Bike Lane

A Queens judge overstepped her jurisdiction when she ordered the city to rip up a protected bike lane in Astoria, experts said.

December 9, 2025

MTA Still Won’t Embrace Open Gangway Subway Cars

The see-through cars have been standard across the globe for a generation, but to the MTA, it's still untested technology.

December 9, 2025

How Much Will New Yorkers Pay For Trump’s Penn Station Redevelopment Scheme?

New Yorkers could wind up paying twice for the new Penn Station: once when Amtrak comes asking for money and then when a private developer makes their money back from the project.

December 9, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines: Clearing the Air Edition

We've been clear that congestion pricing is working. Turns out, congestion pricing was, too! Plus other news.

December 9, 2025

NYPD Finds Mysterious Corpse in Car With Illegal Tints Parked at a Hydrant Near Stationhouse

The discovery is a gruesome demonstration of the NYPD's systemic failure to enforce parking rules around its own station houses.

December 8, 2025

Who Rides on the Sidewalk? To NYPD, Just Blacks and Hispanics

The NYPD has ramped up its enforcement against cyclists for squeezing pedestrians, but in a very suspect manner.

December 8, 2025
See all posts