The big story yesterday was the hiring of Bostonian Richard Davey as the first permanent president of New York City Transit since disgraced former Gov. Cuomo ran Andy Byford out of town.
The story-behind-the-story was good, too:
At 8:21 a.m., the Times printed the exclusive news that Davey, a transit consultant and a one-time Transportation Secretary in Massachusetts, had been hired to replace a series of interim commanders.
Sixteen minutes later, the MTA confirmed the news with its own press release.
One minute later, Streetsblog asked to interview Davey as part of a one-on-one or group conference call, now that the Times had been gifted the exclusive. The MTA declined to make Davey available to reporters, as it had for the Times's fast-typing Michael Gold.
A few hours later, the agency put out a second release, "Business, Government and Community Leaders Along with Rider's [sic] Advocates React to Appointment of Richard Davey as President of New York City Transit." We sarcastically told the MTA press shop that it's hard to imagine that so many people could say such nice things about Davey before the NYCT president could have a full airing of his views in the press, but our snark was met with crickets. (And one person definitely not quoted in the MTA release was former federal transit man, Larry Penner, who wrote us immediately and said MTA CEO Janno Lieber should have promoted from within, perhaps by tapping interim president Craig Cipriano.) The Post, the News, amNY CityandState, and Gothamist also covered.
In any event, maybe we'll get the car-shunning Bostonian on the phone today? Maybe?
In other news:
- Speaking of exclusives, only The Village Sun seems to have covered a huge ruling in the city's attempt to make Open Restaurants permanent, with a judge demanding a full environmental review. Though we've long questioned Lincoln Anderson's antipathy towards the outdoor dining program, we offer a hat tip for his great tabloid lede.
- The DOT is expanding its shared-scooter pilot in The Bronx this summer, it announced in a tweet, soliciting suggestions for parking corrals: (Via Twitter)
NYC DOT’s shared e-scooter pilot will expand its service area later this summer! Where else would you like to see e-scooter parking corrals in the East Bronx? Corrals help keep sidewalks clear & organized.
— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) March 11, 2022
Feedback: https://t.co/sdICaDFWSJ
Info: https://t.co/lCSolGvp05 pic.twitter.com/swazu238UZ
- SEE IT: The Daily News obtained exclusive video of the unlicensed truck driver who mowed down a wheel-chair bound senior in Queens on Saturday.
- The donut-doing driver who ran over a spectator at an illegal racing event in Soho over the weekend surrendered to police. (NY Post)
- Meanwhile, the cops charged the 22-year-old who rammed a car into a senior in Kensington last month, killing her. (NYDN)
- Mayor Adams is returning the NYPD to "broken windows" tactics. (amNY, NY Post) If the force wants to crack down on petty offenses that affect the city's quality of life, maybe it should look at its own parking? (Streetsblog)
- The News advanced the homeless-in the-subway story, uncovering that the MTA is looking for a contractor in order to give people free rides to shelters.
- Nobody called it the Gov. Malcolm Wilson Bridge, and nobody calls it the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. (Curbed)
- Gothamist visited Van Cortlandt Park for a train-buff trip down Memory Lane.
- An SUV driver crashed into a bus shelter in East Harlem, totaling it. (Citizen App)
- Finally, opera and dancing will come to the city's streets this summer. (Patch)
