Wednesday’s Headlines: Speeding Jerk in a Car Edition
No wonder so many people in Jackson Heights want their open street turned into a park — because, as this classic Daily News and Post video shows, here’s what happens when speeding jerks in cars are allowed to terrorize a neighborhood.
It’s must-see TV — and, frankly, a very timely reminder of what cars do to people.
We got another reminder of that at yesterday’s meeting between DOT officials and some opponents of street safety, health and open space in Jackson Heights, which turned into about an hour of people yelling at Queens DOT officials Jason Banrey and John O’Neill, both of whom have received death threats (think about that) because the city may give some recreation space to residents of the neighborhood with the lowest per-capita park acreage.
We’ll have full coverage later in the day (after DOT Commissioner Hank Gutman tours 34th Avenue at 1 p.m.), but our “Park Week” continues with today’s opinion piece by urban planner Donovan Finn and Council candidate Shekar Krishnan in support of more greenspace for dense Jackson Heights and Corona.
In the meantime, here’s the rest of the news:
- Mayor de Blasio made some Streets Week! news, which we covered (obvs). The Daily News spun the five short bike boulevards, 30 miles of protected bike lanes and bus lanes on “dozens” of streets as a “massive expansion,” but we’re not so sure (um, wasn’t University Place supposed to be a car-free zone?). And amNY also covered (with suitable Streets Week! exclamation marks).
- And everyone covered the mayor’s Citi Bike ride from Gracie to City Hall. (Streetsblog, NY Post)
- The City Council is going to force the DOT to regulate Revel and Lime mopeds. (NY Post)
- Cops and a tow-truck bribery scandal? What a surprise. (NY Post, NY Times) Oh, and they’re “unabashedly racist,” Gothamist reported.
- An off-duty cop crashed his car and died on his way back home to Long Island. (NY Post)
- Like our own Chris Robbins, The NY Times covered Ray McGuire and Shaun Donovan’s failure to know what an apartment costs.
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