The big story of Monday was the fact that thousands of city workers called in sick rather than accept the city mandate that they get vaccinated, which is really not that much to ask if you want to continue, you know, serving the public.
There was wall-to-wall coverage:
- The Daily News focused on the 2,000 firefighters who called in with the vaccine flu. The paper also looked at cops who have suddenly found God ... to avoid the jab.
- The Post provided a broad overview of the 10,000-plus workers who have not gotten vaccinated, but also let the NYPD spin its way out of the fact that 15 percent of the force still hasn't gotten vaccinated.
- The Times and Gothamist put the number at closer to 9,000.
In other news:
- The must-click story of the day was from the Times, which ran photos of Soviet-era subway stations that will make every New Yorker drool (which we can do because our platforms are such a mess). Why can't we have nice things and the Evil Empire can?
- The Daily News and the Post had a great story about a Mustang owner who left his car idling in a driveway only to have it swiped. The muscle car owner was so desperate to get his wheels back that he told told cops there was a 7-year-old boy with Down syndrome in the back seat. Cops did indeed find the car thief quickly — but it's unclear if the lie about the back-seat hostage speeded the police effort. That's worth a follow up: How quickly does the NYPD solve car thefts normally vs. when they believe a kid is in the back seat?
- The Times has finally started covering the cabbie hunger strike.
- Our friend John Massengale had a great op-ed in the Daily News about the future of city streets (better without cars!) that featured a nice mention of a plan by our parent company, Open Plans, to create an Office of Public Space Management.
- Hey, Chuck Schumer — get us off fossil fuels. (amNY)
- And, finally, maybe restaurants will spark a bike-parking revolution (because we know the city certainly isn't):
