Thursday’s Headlines: How the Tabloids Tell It

The violent death of a cop will always bring out full-court press — even when the killer is wielding an automobile, as was the case on Tuesday morning when an allegedly drunken driver, 32-year-old Jessica Beauvais, plowed into Officer Anastasios Tsakos with such force that it blew off his boots.

The wanton episode, which happened as Tsakos was directing traffic on the Long Island Expressway after another early morning crash, brought out the best in the city’s tabloids, which competed yesterday on day-two stories providing the kind of human detail at which they excel. Yes, as our grizzled editor noted yesterday, the tabloids are short on the analysis which reminds us that “police don’t charge the vast majority of drivers who kill and injure people on New York streets,” but maybe someday they will, if other reporters keep reading Streetsblog.

But what details!

The Post interviewed a passing motorist who saw the carnage. “Someone is going to die,” the stunned man told the tabloid of record, recounting his reaction in an exclusive report. The Daily News, which wooded with the story, provided more color, noting that the officer “ran for his life” as he tried to evade the rampaging driver. The News also videoed her perp walk and, in its role as the unions’ tribune, sought to draw out information from the brass about the officer’s funeral, but there’s not much yet, so it repeated a second-hand version of the killer’s rant upon her capture. Gore made an appearance, but we’ll spare you that.

It’s why we read these papers — and why some of us, at least, used to write for them. (Readers of the Times, meanwhile, had to settle for a bloodless day-one account written off of the Queens DA’s press release, with the officer’s name misspelled in the subhead.)

Would that every instance of traffic violence drew such press attention (because then maybe we’d focus on the public-health emergency that it is). But the deceased is a cop, which is a different story. Not for Families for Safe Streets, however: “Our hearts ache for the Tsakos family, who are experiencing a tragedy we know all too well,” Rita Barravecchio, a steering-committee member of the stalwart group, said in a statement. “Nobody should die from traffic violence on our streets, including hardworking NYPD officers, many of whom are members of my extended family, who focus on keeping fellow New Yorkers safe.”

In other news:

• As jabs spread, subway ridership is rebounding, but don’t expect it to attain pre-pandemic heights. (NYDN)
• The Post showcased the bid of moped-firm Revel to put electric taxis on city streets, as did Streetsblog.
• The city is coming down like a ton of bricks on unlicensed Citi Bike rival Joco. (NYPost)
• Pod save America: Oonee will provide a secure bike-parking garage for residents and deliveristas in a planned development in Sunset Park, in a harbinger of more facilities. (Gothamist)
• As did Streetsblog, WSJ curtain-raised the City Council’s open-streets legislation, which is to be introduced today.
• amNY covered the Riders Alliance rally demanding 30 more miles of bus lanes before the mayor leaves office.
• Best news of the day: We’ll be belly up to the bar and partying till we drop in mid-May. (NYDN, NYPost, Gothamist)
• Finally, we’ll leave you with a tweet about the president’s maiden speech to Congress, which went big on his infrastructure plan: