Fresh from yesterday's news that we'd won an award from the New York Cycling Club came new evidence of Streetsblog's indelible import on the life of our city: Our reporter Jesse Coburn's investigation into the NYPD's mishandling of 311 calls has won an Investigative Reporting award from the Silurians Press Club!
Coburn was up against the big guns: The Silurians only awarded two investigative pieces this year: The "medallion" award went to New York Times reporter Amy Julia Harris for her series of pieces collected under the rubric “Profiting Off The Homeless," while Coburn's "Ignored, Dismissed: How the NYPD Neglects 311 Complaints about Driver Misconduct" won the "merit" award. It did more than impress judges: it also led to an ongoing probe by the city Department of Investigation.
And on top of that, the Silurians also honored Simi Horwitz with a merit award in the "People and Profiles" category for her obituary of rail visionary Bob Diamond, "The Unabridged, Warts-and-All Saga of a Brooklyn Trolley King," published in Streetsblog on Sept. 6. (Here's the full list of the honorees.)
We called our old man editor for a quote, and he furnished his standard self-aggrandizement.
"I'm never been prouder of myself than when reporters win awards," he said. "Such moments provide ample evidence that I did not get in the way."
We'll be celebrating with the Silurians (which is Latin for "open bar," right?) on Wednesday, June 15 at the National Arts Club (check in the next day for the party pics). We pre-ordered the chicken, further evidence that we know what we're doing.
In other news:
- Don't dress in heavy clothing on a warm day at a transportation hub if you are near Mayor Adams's sister. (NYDN)
- The Commercial Observer has gotten in on the "public space management" issue, subtly pointing out (as we did more explicitly) that we need more than just BIDs doing it.
- Car tires are also killing us, reports the Guardian (though an expert kinda debunked the paper's scariest claims).
- Lower East Side legend Clayton Patterson got proactive to prevent moped riders from using his sidewalk as a killing field, putting up a metal barrier on Essex Street. (The Village Sun)
- Park Row residents are sick of living in an NYPD prison camp. (The Village Sun)
- There's nothing better than a good reporter with a calendar: Clayton Guse of the Daily Newsuh did a stellar one-year anniversary of that time the bus crashed into the brownstone in Prospect Lefferts Gardens.
- Mayor Adams clearly didn't read our Albany legislative roundup in his press packet on Monday because later in the day, he railed against legislators for failing to pass some of his criminal justice initiatives, but he didn't say a word about all the street safety and reckless driving bills that Albany also failed to pass. (NYDN)
- Our friend Gregg Zuman at Revolution Rickshaws is seeking interest-free loans to expand his business into cargo trike business. The loans (which he's soliciting on Kiva) will "expand the footprint of pedal-powered logistics fleets," he promises.
- Speaking of needing an angel, the Harbor School on Governors Island is seeking an electric van to replace its internal combustion van, which is worn out after 300,000-plus miles (see flier, right). A donation to the public school is fully tax deductible. Contact PTA President Amy Koza or Nan Richardson if you have any leads with charity-minded car dealerships.
- And, finally, sometimes we wish Bay Ridge could be cut off, pushed over to Staten Island, merged into the Rock, and then both could just secede from the city:
