Our top story of the day was that the Port Authority — which was in charge of building the "wrong way" LaGuardia AirTrain — had followed the advice of advocates and brought in the MTA for a rethink.
According to stories in the Daily News, amNY and Bloomberg, the car-loving PANYNJ has commissioned a panel of "transit experts" to reexamine how to connect LaGuardia Airport to the rest of the city.
The panel includes former city DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.
"Officials from the MTA will also be on the panel to contribute 'analysis of mass transit options, specifically the subway and bus alternatives,'" Clayton Guse of the Daily Newsuh reported, quoting the Port Authority press release.
There's nothing better and easier than setting aside four north-south streets in Jackson Heights as car-free busways, so why not start there?
In other news from a pretty slow day:
- Mayor-elect Eric Adams has an infrastructure wish list that includes greening the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, extending the Second Avenue Subway and building public housing (NY Post). MTA boss Janno Lieber has his own list (amNY). The feds already sent over the first $2 million for a study of capping the Cross Bronx Expressway (NYDN).
- Speaking of our nightlife czar-in-chief, Adams was a huge hit on the Colbert "Late Show" on CBS last night. Clips were here and here. Suffice it to say, this guy wants to be the mayor of Fun City, Jimmy Walker style.
- Bay Ridge Council Member Justin Brannan pulled out a squeaker, thanks to absentee and mail-in ballots (NY Post, Brooklyn Paper), but could a guy who barely beat an unknown Republican in Brooklyn still be elected speaker? Well, maybe ... if Adams gets his way in torpedoing Council Member Carlina Rivera's bid, as the Post reported.
- Hat tip to Lincoln Anderson for updating us that the DOT had delayed its bike boulevard plans for University Place. But wag of the finger to Anderson for continuing to whip up neighborhood fears that are actually contradictory. Per his report in the Village Sun: "Residents feared the bike boulevard would make the street noisier, especially at night, if it included tables and seating for people to hang out. 'The street is already noisy at 2 to 3 a.m. with NYU students and people coming from Washington Square Park,' one Ninth Street resident complained." The same resident said the bike boulevard would become a heroin "highway."
