We all know that cars are killing our city, but reasonable minds may differ on exactly how.
Enter, the Car Harms Tournament — the Twitter brainchild of our parent company, Open Plans (you know it from its innovative proposal to create an Office of Public Space Management that tout le monde is talking about).
In this March Madness-style contest, the "top" 32 car harms are seeded from worst (the way cars kill) to only-slightly-less-worst (the way cars cause congestion that wastes everyone's time).
So click on the tweet below (or click here), and vote! (For more detailed matchups, visit the Open Plans Instagram page.) Polls are open until tomorrow:
Let the CARnage begin! 🚗🚙 Though there are innumerable harms, we've whittled it down to a manageable ROUND OF 32 to start. Check out our instagram @ OpenPlansNYC for more detailed descriptions of the harms. Vote now and spread the word! pic.twitter.com/0akKBY3QDC
— Open Plans (@OpenPlans) November 17, 2021
In other news:
- From the assignment desk: Mayor-elect Eric Adams will join Oonee CEO Shabazz Stuart in Domino Park at 9:30 a.m. today to toast the company's Mini unit, "the first secure bike parking facility that is designed for the curb." If this catches on, many curbside spaces currently set aside for one car can be transformed into locked parking for several bikes.
- Outrage of the day: Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. dropped his case against former Assembly Member (and powerful county Democratic Party chief) Keith Wright for dooring a cyclist on the grounds that Wright wasn't "operating" the car when he opened his door into a bike rider. Besides, "dooring" is only subject to a traffic ticket, not a criminal offense, but still... (NYDN, NY Post)
- The business section of amNY continued its multi-part series on grocery delivery services, this time focusing on the plight of workers.
- The MTA is still pushing the narrative that customers have not returned to the subway because of crime (NYDN). Meanwhile, the agency said it would put more cops on buses to stop fare beating (amNY).
- But at least fare hikes are off the table until after the June primary election (NYDN, NY Post). That said, the agency is far from flush — so deluded drivers should put aside all that talk that "We don't need congestion pricing because the Biden infrastructure bill is so generous" (amNY). As always, Aaron Gordon had the seminal tweet thread:
- And in other MTA news, the agency's board approved the purchase of 60 electric buses, at $1 million each. (NYDN)
- And Access-a-Ride is still under fire for bad service. (The City)
- Get ready for those wide turnstiles you see in other cities, as the MTA finally moves ahead with a basic improvement for people using wheelchairs. (NY Post)
- Rest in peace: A worker on the Manhattan Bridge fell to his death. (NY Post, Gothamist)
