Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Carnage

Wednesday’s Headlines: ‘Got Him’ Edition

The big story yesterday was the arrest on criminally negligent homicide and other charges of Tariq Witherspoon, the 30-year-old EMT who allegedly struck and killed beloved schoolteacher Matthew Jensen with a Rolls Royce in a hit-and-run crash last May on McGuinness Boulevard in Brooklyn.

The Daily News kept the focus on Jensen, offering encomia to the life of the deceased in a sidebar. Streetsblog's account had rich details on the suspect's priors and on the dangers of the street, a known speedway. Brooklyn Paper highlighted the charges.

In other news:

    • Outreach workers offered help to 100 individuals in the first day of the MTA's crackdown on sleeping in the subway. (NYDN, Brooklyn Eagle)
    • Mayor Adams is "tech washing" the NYPD's pervasive surveillance of citizens, a City Limits op-ed argues.
    • The MTA brought back a retired honcho to run the subway. (NYDN)
    • Following other outlets, the Times and amNY took a look at the NYPD on a subway "safety" sweep.
    • A DOT employee and a horse-drawn carriage collided in Central Park. (West Side Rag)
    • Here's another reason to stay out of SUVs. (NYDN, NYPost)
    • A Brooklyn motorist is facing charges after killing his female passenger in a drunken East Flatbush crash. (NYDN)
    • Moms don't want to fold kids' strollers on the bus. (amNY)
    • ICYMI: The Department of Environmental Protection has a pilot program to ticket loud cars. (Road and Track)
    • In addition to the Witherspoon arrest, Streetsblog's old man had a busy day:
      • He covered the confirmation that the DOT will build a plaza where a 3-month-old girl died last year.
      • And he wrote up a presser with Ydanis Rodriguez at a notorious Queens intersection.
    • The New Yorker magazine indulged in some anti-car wish fulfillment:
    • Love him or hate him (and Mets fans obviously hate him), it’s nice to see Bryce Harper on a bike (click on the picture to see the full magnitude of Harper's thigh, which is its own taunt of Met fans):

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Council Members Put Everything But Riders First at ‘Bus Oversight’ Hearing

The Council spent its last bus oversight hearing of its term asking the MTA and city to pull back on bus lane enforcement.

November 14, 2025

Community Board Defies Parents in Vote to Reopen Forest Park to Cars

The Parks Department appears to have given in to a vocal group of Queens drivers. Paging Mayor Mamdani!

November 14, 2025

Opinion: Daylighting Isn’t Anti-Driver — It’s Pro-Common Sense

Listen to a Republican: "The Department of Transportation's negative report on daylighting is like judging the effectiveness of lifeboats on the Titanic by studying the ones that never left the ship."

November 14, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: More Agenda Items Edition

Transportation Alternatives laid out, in 85 chunky bullet points, what the next major should do. Plus other news.

November 14, 2025

SHAMEFUL: Pro-Parking DOT ‘Forced’ Lawmakers To Scale Back Daylighting Bill, Says Queens Pol

A parking-first City Hall has thrown up road blocks against pedestrian safety.

November 13, 2025

House T&I Chair Vows ‘No Money for Bikes or Walking’ in Fed Transportation Bill

The outlook for active transportation won't be good if advocates don't stand up.

November 13, 2025
See all posts