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Wednesday’s Headlines: Making History Edition

You knew Joey Chestnut would do it again. So let's get to the real news of the day.

Main Photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office

Joey Chestnut did it again (as the Post, amNY, Gothamist and even the Times reported). Our old man editor had predicted a Chestnut 68 HDB performance, but then the rains caused a two-hour delay, which easily depressed the numbers by 10 percent, experts estimated. So perhaps the prediction was right on target: Chestnut downed 62 HDBs to win his 15th Nathan's championship. He's the greatest athlete since Secretariat.

But you knew Chestnut would triumph, so let's get to the real news:

  • Apparently, younger New Yorkers think older New Yorkers are less valuable, which, of course, is no surprise if you hear the chatter in our newsroom. (NY Post)
  • Pete Davidson continues to talk about what a bad idea it was for him to buy that defunct Staten Island Ferry without much of a plan. (NYDN)
  • Hell Gate took a different angle on hot dogs.
  • We see that the NYPD did what it always does hours before the fireworks on July 4:

Lydia Polgreen had an issue with it, too:

  • Our house band, Jimmy and the Jaywalkers, dropped a new LP. Check it out here:
  • And, finally, NYPD crash stats are now complete through June 30, which means we are at the midpoint of the year. Here's the grim news:
    • From Jan. 1-June 30, there were 46,176 reported crashes in the five boroughs, or roughly 255 per day.
    • Those crashes injured 23,737 people, or roughly 131 per day. Most of those were motorists, but there were also 2,193 cyclists injured (or about 12 per day) and 4,232 pedestrians injured (or about 23 per day). Injuries are up 2 percent from the same period last year. And the numbers are especially bad in Queens.
    • The number of fatalities is also too high: According to the police, 111 people — including 18 cyclists and 45 pedestrians have been killed so far this year.
The bigger the dot, the more crashes. The bigger and redder the dot, the more deaths. Graphic: Crashmapper.

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