The Daily News wasted a great story on a Saturday, so we'll give a little hat tip to reporters Rocco Parascandola and Tom Tracy for a good get. First the story:
According to the News, an FBI agent who claimed he was on a stakeout in Queens roughed up and tried to arrest the uniformed NYPD traffic enforcement agent who tried to ticket him for parking illegally in a bus stop. "I was just doing my job," the traffic agent Dipankar Dipu told the paper. "Why he assaulted me and humiliated me in front of people, I don’t know."
But of course, it's clear what happened: the rage that drivers tend to feel whenever their entitlement is challenged. Indeed, according to the News, FBI agent Kenneth Diu flashed his placard before he allegedly tried to cuff Dipu and assaulted him after the heroic traffic officer refused to void the ticket. We're not shocked that a driver went berserk on someone who called him out. But we are shocked that Queens DA Melinda Katz has still not brought charges against Diu.
In other news:
- Our friend Reuven Blau had a nifty scoop, thanks to persistence and a long-overdue Freedom of Information Law request: It turns out that the scourge of defaced or fake license plates is indeed rising. Blau's story was effective, had great graphics and mentioned Streetsblog — a trifecta. (The City)
- Mayor Adams said he would cut the massive city vehicle fleet by 4 percent, which would very much be a change of course from the previous administration. (NY Post, amNY)
- Speaking of Mayor Adams, cops are gonna cop. (NY Post)
- The MTA is blaming victims of slip and falls for their own slips and falls. (NYDN)
- All aboard the MTA's Interborough Express public hearings! (amNY)
- In case you missed it, Guse of the Newsuh wrote on Friday about the million questions the supposedly supportive federal government asked the MTA about its congestion pricing draft environmental assessment (which the agency quietly sent to Biden and Co. in February). The good news is that it appears the congestion pricing timeline remains in place (next year at the earliest). We'll be following up, of course.
- Oh and here's another ICYMI: Times columnist Paul Krugman reminded the rest of the country what we've long known: Residents of dense cities use much less energy per capita than their suburban counterparts, largely because we drive less. He didn't advocate that "we force Americans to live like New Yorkers," but advocated for "allowing more people to live that way by permitting more density."
- And here's another ICYMI: The Times reported on a Tennessee law that will require drunk drivers to pay for the child support of kids orphaned by the death of their parents in a crash with ... a drunk driver.
