Monday’s Headlines: Déja-Virus All Over Again

Well, our old man editor got Covid over the weekend — again! — so we’ll dispense with the normally self-indulgent top he puts on these headlines and just get to the news from a busy weekend (for those of you who weren’t catching a much-feared disease):

• Speaking of Covid, Gov. Hochul has it, too. Did she go to Frankie Sunswept’s Hootenanny in Ridgewood on Friday night, too? (NYDN)
• The big talker of the weekend was the Times finally deciding to report that late Mayor Ed Koch was gay. The story had a weird tone that suggested a lot of internal hand-wringing at the Gray Lady, and, thankfully Ross Barkan lanced that boil nicely.
• Clayton Guse of the Daily Newsuh finally did the long-awaited DeKalb Interlocking story, which had one major bit of news: The MTA is not going to upgrade it.
• We understand why the MTA would want to deter fare evasion, but not opening the back doors is a prescription for much worse service. David Meyer had the NY Post exclusive.
• Kathy Wylde is always talking about crime as the reason New York workers aren’t going back to the office, but there are many more reasons, including that it’s just much easier to work efficiently from home (NY Post). Our friends at The Hell Gate had a nice pushback on crime hysteria. “Reefer Madness,” anyone?
• Workers say the fast-grocery startup Buyk is stealing wages (NY Focus). And Mayor Adams said he wants to crack down on “dark stores.” (NY Post)
• Good get by amNY’s Kevin Duggan who interviewed Maria Falcone, the fruit vendor whom cops arrested last week in the subway, as part of a longer piece about Mayor Adams and Police Commissioner Sewell’s excessive focus on subway food vendors. Another question worth asking: Why is amNY’s homepage filled almost entirely with sports betting ads and sports stories lately?
• The Post went through all of Mayor Adams’s patronage hires.
• The driver of a stolen dump truck seriously injured a Queens mom in a Mother’s Day outrage (NYDN, NY Post, with horrifying video). That crash was part of a weekend of carnage that included:
  • The killing of a Bronx man by a minivan driver. (NYDN, amNY)
  • The killing of an e-bike rider by a truck driver — a story where the police explanation makes no sense. (WPIX)
  • These and other crashes, neatly rounded up by Gothamist.
• Meanwhile, mayor Adams has missed a deadline for a Council-mandated crash study, though DOT says it’s coming soon. (Gothamist)
• And Council Member Selvena Brooks-Powers has introduced a bill that would create a hit-and-run reward line. The Post had the scoop, but for some reason, made no reference of our earlier scoop on Brooks-Powers’s driving record.
• And, finally, take a ride on real bus rapid transit, San Francisco style. Why can’t we have nice things?