We were up late watching the NBA Finals last night, and in between marveling at Andrew Wiggins, we were gobsmacked by (as an announcer might say) an 8-0 run of some of the worst car commercials we've ever seen.
All the most offensive ads were here: The Toyota Capstone ad featuring the stylish man driving a gargantuan assault truck to have coffee with his bike-riding pals, who remark that he has upped his "game." The chap's response? "Game? Over." (This was the ad former ad man Tom Flood recently took down in Streetsblog.)
That was followed by one of the two Kia ads where people do good for the environment or their neighbors (even though their cars are ruining the environment and making us all less neighborly).
And that was followed by the Nissan ad, featuring Brie Larson which says, “I can't wait for what tomorrow will bring, but in the meantime, let’s enjoy the ride” (never mind that her enjoyment is making the exciting future less likely to ever happen).
When are we going to ban car ads from TV like we once banned cigarette ads?
In other news:
- The Bronx Times had a great story about an NYPD cop who lied about having his car stolen to cover his tracks after he rear-ended another driver on the Major Deegan. With cops, the low-level corruption always starts with cars.
- Welcome to the war on cars, NY Post: The tabloid of record finally noticed that delivery trucks double-park everywhere. But was there a word in the story about why delivery workers are forced to park in the street? Of course not — the New York Post never met a car occupying virtually all of the curbside space on every city in town that it couldn't like.
- OK, if it wasn't over already, the honeymoon is really over now: Mayor Adams wants Gov. Hochul to veto a bill that would put a moratorium on crypto mining, which is a complete waste of energy on a planet that is suffocating because of waste of fuel. (NY Post)
- More support for a faster congestion pricing timeline came in the form of an amNY op-ed by Eddie Bautista and Alex Matthiessen.
- The Times finally covered the crumbling Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Winnie Hu's story added little to the existing historical record, though it did make it even more clear that nothing will get done in time and we'll likely have a disaster on our hands. The Post's David Meyer followed and got to the point faster.
- Upper East Site had more on the bizarre conflict over the ultimate MTA improvement: an elevator at the beleaguered 68th Street station.
- OK, this is finally your last chance to get a ticket to the annual Open Plans FUNdraiser, which is set for Thursday. All the info you need is here.
