Wednesday’s Headlines: Pedestrian Fatalities Mount Edition

Motorists have killed three more pedestrians so far this year than they did by the end of January last year, the Department of Transportation reported yesterday.

That deadly year-over-year total seems on pace to rise: Yesterday morning, in Brooklyn, the driver of a Chevy SUV who was making a right turn plowed right into a 64-year-old woman in a crosswalk, killing her. This, after 2021 was the deadliest year since the institution of Vision Zero in 2014.

Streetsblog ran an exclusive video of the crash, which the Daily News picked up. amNY went with a short write up of the police "sheet" and an original photo.

In other news:

• The city's Planning Commission withheld approval of Gov. Hochul's plan for Penn Station because, among other reasons, it doesn't have enough space for biking, sitting, and public gatherings. (NY Post, Crain's)
• Speaking of Penn Station, an urban planner argued in a Daily News op-ed that it would be better for transit and the area if Madison Square Garden moved off the train station and across the street.
• "Sammy's Law," the bill to let the city lower speed limits without Albany's say-so, passed a crucial legislative hurdle. (1010Wins)
• Helicopter wars: Council Member Gale Brewer takes aim at the dangerous, cacophonous flying machines that keep the city sounding like a battlefield. (Via Twitter)

• Hey, cops, it could cost you thousands if you shove a protester. (The City)
• Upper East Side Council Member Julie Menin lost no time in demanding that the DOT fix her district's deadly intersections. (Patch)
• U.S. road deaths rose at the fastest pace in the first nine months of last year since the feds began keeping records in 1975. (AP, WSJ)
• Propublica investigated a police disciplinary case involving a vehicle crash that the NYPD swept under the rug.
• Citizens Union ED Betsy Gotbaum gave advice to our new deputy mayor for public safety.
• The Guardian covered the U.K.'s e-bike delivery boom.
• Uber and Lyft drivers, along with other app workers, rallied for unionization. (Gothamist)
• Here's a crash complication that few likely have considered: monkey illness. (NYT)
• A certain retired federal transportation official argues that, for the new DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez to be effective, Mayor Adams must appoint him to the MTA and its Capital Program Review boards.
• Driverless taxis come to San Francisco. (The Verge)
• Branching out from killing pedestrians, Florida motorists mow down two endangered panthers. (The Hill)
• Man, is the Brooklyn Greenway having a bad week or what? After Streetsblog noted on Tuesday how it took forever to plow it after the storm, the BGI Twitter feed showed how DOT workers are using it as a parking lot:

• Finally, Streetsblog readers are the best! Commenters on yesterday's column advocating for subway railings posted some dandy historical photos of earlier such MTA arrangements, such as this one: