Monday’s Headlines: Joint Session Edition

The big news over the weekend was the apparent deal in Albany to legalize marijuana. The story was covered by pretty much everyone (NY Post, NY Times, amNY, Gothamist), but our own Dave Colon found some interesting fine print in the preliminary bill, prompting him to come up with a great business idea:

In other news from the wild, wet weekend:

• While you were in shut-down mode, the MTA and Gov. Cuomo created an entire underpaid, non-union, exploited workforce. (NY Times)
• Great minds think alike — the Wall Street Journal and Streetsblog published stories this weekend about the scourge of Amazon-style distribution centers in residential areas.
• The MTA’s retreat from “rightsizing” is official today. (NYDN)
• New Jersey has started throwing good money after bad, beginning its $24 billion widening of several highways that will only make everything worse. (NJ.com)
• And you thought only the New York Times was obsessed with how difficult it is for rich people to park. (New Yorker).
• Meanwhile, a maker of shoes for rich people also thinks it deserves parking more than Queens deserves decent affordable housing. (NY Post)
• Well, a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds — and Tom Wrobleski proved that this weekend. First, the SI Advance columnist railed against all the other drivers getting in his way. Then, he opined against a VMT tax (which would reduce traffic, by the way) on predictable knee-jerk car-loving grounds (SI Advance).
• The West Side Rag had an interview with the other person who was injured in the 2019 crash that killed doorman Alfred Pocari.
• Gothamist wrote up the millions in unpaid parking tickets that the city isn’t bothering to collect, an uncited follow-up to our story last year about the same thing.
• Noise pollution does serious damage to your heart (BBC) — yet the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene refuses to protect New Yorkers by mandating pedestrianized zones.
• A man was killed by a hit-and-run driver as he walked on the Cross Bronx Expressway. (NYDN)
• The slate of NYPD reform bills passed by the Council last week don’t go far enough, critics say. (Gothamist)
• You have to tip your hat to Arthur Schwartz — the man has fought lawsuits to block much-needed transit, but then gets to hold a presser with Chuck Schumer (on 14th Street, no less!) because he also supports improvements for disabled subway riders. (Village Sun, amNY)
• The MTA has no reason for a fare hike or for underfunding its capital plan, says Larry Penner. (Mass Transit)
• And, finally, we’ve all heard of the dog-bites-man story, but did the New York Post really run a story about a heron eating a fish? Yes. Yes it did.