Tuesday’s Headlines: All the Junk We Buy Edition

Admit it, you buy too much crap.

Well, just in time for the holidays, the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board has published a list of organizations that are accepting your no-longer-wanted items or helping you repair it.

The Department of Sanitation also has a DonateNYC program, which you can visit here.

The point is, if it works, donate it. If it doesn’t work, fix it and then donate it.

“Many Zero Waste strategies do not include an all-important element; that of reduction of new materials generated,” said advisory board Chairman Matt Civello. “Keeping things in circulation longer can have a big effect on New York City’s huge trash problem. It helps our environment by trucking less and emitting fewer greenhouse gasses, wasting less, and helps people’s budgets by making needed goods available at lower prices.”

So just like with driving, if you have a car, drive less, drive small, don’t drive.

Now to the day’s headlines:

• It’s Ydanis! Post reporter David Meyer broke the story that Eric Adams had selected Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez to be Department of Transportation commissioner, but we followed really quickly, with a definitive react piece. The Daily News followed with the full statement from Adams, calling Rodriguez one of the “proven leaders who are ready to roll up their sleeves on Day One and address these issues, with a focus on making transit more equitable and efficient for all New Yorkers.” PoliticsNY also covered.
• And Clarence Eckerson Jr. strung together his favorite Rodriguez Streetfilms appearances over the years:

• The de Blasio pre-post-mortems continue, this time with Gothamist weighing in on the mayor’s Vision Zero record, which, as you might expect, is mixed.
• Now, sit right back and you’ll hear a tale … a tale of some MTA clowns, a secretly purchased boat with just the perfect name, and a bit of tabloid gold from the inspector general. (NYDN, NY Post, amNY)
• Channelling her inner Cuomo, Gov. Hochul said she wants the Port Authority to explore widening the Outerbridge Crossing, which any traffic planner will tell you will only make traffic worse. (amNY)
• On Inside City Hall last night, Mayor de Blasio continued to claim he won’t own a car after he moves back to his Park Slope home next month. But under questioning from NY1’s Errol Louis, de Blasio did seem to leave a loophole for borrowing someone else’s car for those Costco runs. (Sally Goldenberg via Twitter)
• Crain’s did a deep dive on the freight industry. The takeaway (because it’s paywalled): Package deliveries are up to 2.3 million a day, up from 1.8 million before the pandemic, and the city’s 111 neighborhood loading zones is just not enough. The de Blasio administration seeks to create another 700 or so … by 2026.
• The Times put its stamp on the death of urban planner Alexander Garvin.
• And, finally, we would be remiss if we did not honor yesterday’s contributors to our annual December Donation Drive, which included some pretty hefty Hamiltons and bountiful Benjamins: Thanks, Charles! Thanks, Park Slope Day Camp! Thanks, Jake!