Monday’s Headlines: Labor Day Edition

We decided we were going to eschew labor for the entire Labor Day weekend, but then news happened:

On Sunday, a band of Queens residents marched on Assembly Member Jenifer Rajkumar’s office to protest her plan — revealed last week in Streetsblog — to create more parking spaces out of “vacant park space at the corner of 98th Street and Park Lane South, as well as the extended median striping on the Woodhaven Boulevard Service Road.”

Here are the protesters at Rajkumar’s office:

Later, they marched to the portion of Forest Park that Rajkumar apparently wants to turn into parking:

Rajkumar’s chief of staff Vjola Isufaj put out a statement before the rally saying that protesters have misinterpreted Rajkumar’s plan.

“Assemblywoman Rajkumar never at any time proposed a parking lot inside Forest Park,” said Isufaj (though that’s exactly what her original press release said.

“What the Assemblywoman is doing is working on a long-term problem important to her constituents: opening up parking spaces,” she continued. “The Assemblywoman proposed creating angled parking on 98th Street to open up spaces. She also proposed turning unnecessary median striping on the Woodhaven Blvd Service Rd into parking space. She also proposed a few more parking spaces on a vacant plot of gravel at 98th Street and Park Lane South that is privately owned by a co-op building.”

So we suppose protesters did get the story right: The Assembly Member indeed wants to create more parking, which will lead to more driving — and increased global warming, congestion, pollution and road violence.

In other news:

• President Biden will be in Queens on Tuesday, visiting the city’s storm-ravaged epicenter. (NY Times, NY Post)
• Maybe the president can tell Mayor de Blasio that his new “storm evacuation” plan isn’t that good. (NY Times)
• And, finally, here’s a reminder why Friend of Streetsblog Brian Howald is a local treasure: