Friday’s Headlines: ‘Apres Moi le Deluge’ Edition

A wall of water descends into the subway at 28th Street and Seventh Avenue. Photo: Via Twitter
A wall of water descends into the subway at 28th Street and Seventh Avenue. Photo: Via Twitter

So after the dregs of Hurricane Ida turned the subway into a swimming pool for the second time in just weeks, our new gov declared that “Kathy is on the case,” saying that she would “intensely” investigate the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s response to the flooding.

“We remediate, to protect life and property, which is going on right now. … We deal with the immediate situation, then I start asking the questions,” Gov. Hochul said during a presser yesterday on Long Island, per The Post, which rated the MTA’s response as “poor.” (The Post, in full tabloid mode, “flooded the zone,” with a reaction story,  a hero story, a transit-status story, and a wider regional story about Amtrak’s canceled Albany service.)

Gothamist played the Hochul angle straight, without putting its thumb on the scale. amNY, disappointingly, quoted a number of local pols grousing on Twitter about our lack of climate-change preparedness. (OK, we know you’re against climate change; can we get some real action, like real restrictions on cars?)

The City put the blame for the city’s lack of preparation more broadly, and added some macabre details about the flooding’s deadly toll (12 New Yorkers lost their lives): “One man was also found dead inside his car on the Grand Central Parkway on Thursday morning, according to the police department, and another man was found floating, fully clothed, in the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.”

The Daily News, for its part, was already out with a scoop at midnight yesterday that quoted an MTA Inspector General report revealing that it takes the agency 15 years to clean its clogged drains systemwide. New York’s “picture newspaper” also obtained some great snaps, like this one of a “geyser” of water in the 28th Street station.

We drowned in so much water yesterday that it’s almost tempting to think that Big Dog Excelsior Car Guy (remember him?) darkly muttered Louis XV’s famous retort as he drove away from the governor’s mansion. Wasn’t he in charge for a decade?

  • Streetsblog and other outlets covered the story of the woman who was killed by a truck driver while crossing the street pushing a stroller in Brooklyn. (NYDN, amNY)
  • Citylab published an explainer on why the subway keeps flooding.
  • The MTA’s acting CEO, Janno Lieber, is trying to entice suburbanites back onto the LIRR. (Newsday)
  • Governing magazine, using New York’s congestion-pricing plan as “Exhibit A,” asks whether all infrastructure progress has become hostage to the upper class because of “community engagement.”
  • The propensity for density is an overlooked climate strategy. (Globe and Mail)
  • Our own Jesse Coburn will discuss his insurance story on WNYC on Saturday’s weekend show between 8 and 10 a.m.
  • Our friends at Streetopia UWS pointed out yet another reason why cars are a liability in New York City. (Via Twitter)

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG