Monday’s Headlines: Do The Right Thing Edition

do the right thing with stars

We don’t usually do movie reviews in Streetsblog (exception: Kea Wilson’s recent takedown of the latest “Fast and Furious” picture), but we nearly bugged out when we heard that Film Forum would show a restored print of Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” later this month.

Gothamist had the story, and rightly pointed out that Lee’s initially snubbed masterpiece has “endured as a damning and prescient portrait of racism.” But that praise is simply too muted for our taste. We recently re-watched the 1989 film and lost count of how many moments ring just as true today as then (right down to the cops who fatally choke an innocent Black man). Plus, it has an all-star cast. And it’s fucking hilarious in parts (such as every minute with Giancarlo Esposito).

Streetsblog gives “Do the Right Thing” 14 thumbs up. So check it out in all its big screen glory from Aug. 27 to Sept 2.

In other news:

  • Kudos to Clayton Guse of the Daily Newsuh for reading Streetsblog very closely. The tabloid’s indefatiguable transportation reporter followed our big July 14 scoop on how the MTA’s overstated the cost of restoring the Rockaway Beach Line in Queens. No need to credit us, but Guse owes Dave Colon a beer. (NYDN)
  • In case you missed it, the MTA announced that everyone’s favorite bus division leader, Craig Cipriano, had been named interim president of New York City Transit, replacing Sarah Feinberg, who resigned pending her next move. (amNY, plus an op-ed from the outgoing Feinberg)
  • Nicole Gelinas made a good point over the weekend in the Post that the NYPD shouldn’t just seize illegal mopeds and e-scooters, but also seize the cars of reckless drivers. But, in fairness to Gelinas’s many detractors, her demand for more cops on the subway blew up in her face spectacularly with the release of a video of a plainclothes officer abusing and harshly hand-cuffing a woman who allegedly did not pay her subway fare, which was caught on camera and posted to Reddit. The cop has been identified, though Mayor de Blasio will likely say he hasn’t seen the video when he’s asked about it later today:

  • Speaking of bad cops, the Post had a great scoop about three NYPD officials who are drawing salaries and their pensions at the same time.
  • On the other hand… We’re usually the first to complain when NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea fails to show up for press conferences to answer our legitimate questions. So it’s fair that the Post called out Mayor de Blasio for not showing up at a Shea presser after a police lieutenant was shot in the line of duty. The officer was treated and released. Earlier in the day, de Blasio was trying out for the “Gillian’s Island” reboot (NY Post).
  • We’re all for repurposing curbside space for street dining, but the skyscraper streetery is a bit absurd. (NY Post)
  • The weekend carnage
    • One dead on the Van Wyck Expressway. (NYDN)
    • Motorcycle carnage in separate crashes in Brooklyn. (NYDN, NY Post)
    • And a pedicab driver was killed by a car driver. But don’t believe the Daily News story (unless someone updated it after we mentioned it to the editors over there); cops did indeed arrest the hit-and-run driver and charged him with vehicular manslaughter, leaving the scene and reckless driving. The Post and amNY had that not-so-small detail.
  • Our old man editor worked with Post media columnist Keith Kelly for years, so he appreciated this heaping dose of tabloid love. But who knew Keith Kelly biked to the office (one he shared with Cuozzo) all these years? (NY Times)

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