Thursday’s Headlines: What A Day Edition

What a glorious day it was on the livable street beat yesterday.

Dave Colon covered Riders Alliance’s bus lane painting protest at Gracie Mansion (the cops were called, but it ended up being just fine). Here’s a photo or two in a slideshow:

Then our old man editor biked from Windsor Terrace to practically The Bronx Zoo to cover the big e-scooter share announcement and introduce himself to DOT Commissioner Hank Gutman. Gutman is an affable chap who said some things that we’ll be covering in earnest later today — including his personal belief in helmet mandates (wait, wut?). (Our clip on the scooter share program is here; the Daily News, the WSJ and the Post also covered, with the Tabloid of Record also noting Gutman’s helmet obsession.)

Then we went to the 114th Precinct in Astoria to present the March (Parking) Madness trophy to Capt. Ray Jenkins, who declined to accept it. We’ll write it up later today, but here’s a picture of the Streetsblog team before being turned away:

In other news:

• Remember that whacked out guy with the Wolverine claw who tried to kill Black Lives Matter protesters in Queens last year (our coverage was seminal)? He was just hit with a 39-count indictment. (NY Post)
• The city is experiencing a shortage of bus drivers (NYDN). The Post focused on the MTA being chintzy with the overtime.
• Just when it has become lucidly clear that we need to ban tourist helicopters, Blade says it will make a chopper that is quiet. Also, the company has a bridge it would like to sell you. (NY Post)
• One day after we called out Dermot Shea for his robo-dog, Mayor de Blasio said the whole thing should be reconsidered. (NY Post)