Crazy story yesterday: Late on Sunday night, a driver mowed down seven people in Herald Square (the Daily News and Post covered).
Interesting footnote: The driver got from the foot of Macy's through the Midtown Tunnel and all the way to the 188th Street exit on the Long Island Expressway — 11 miles away! — before hitting two more cars and disabling her own vehicle, leading to her capture.
Given how excitedly the NYPD brags about its live surveillance cameras — the better to thwart terrorists, you understand — it's mind-boggling that a killer could drive from a busy Midtown intersection to eastern Queens before finally being apprehended.
Another footnote: It was nice to see the Times covering the breaking story about road violence early in the day — but it was weird that the story was written by a London bureau reporter. The other outlets (including Gothamist and NBC4) employed locals.
In other news:
- The Queens racist with the Wolverine obsession who attacked Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020 was convicted, Gothamist and QNS reported. For a reminder, here was our contemporaneous coverage.
- In case you missed it, we sued the city to get information about the failed Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program.
- They broke it; we fixed it. The West Side Rag broke the news about a crackdown on illegal mopeds, but we got more details.
- Speaking of mopeds, illegal or not, their riders get killed by drivers fairly regularly, which offers yet another reminder of the real danger out there (NYDN). The coverage in amNY wrongly referred to the device as a "scooter."
- Complaints against cops are surging. (NYDN)
- Driverless taxi cabs. What could go wrong? (NY Times)
- Crain's followed our coverage of locals' opposition to the city's "car- and truck-centric" BQE plan.
- Friend of Streetsblog (well, sometimes!) Charles Komanoff penned a touching tribute to his mom — and wind power. (Newsday)
- Gov. Hochul came to The Bronx to cheer a minor highway fix that will help keep trucks out of the residential part of Hunts Point (amNY). We had covered the initial Cuomo-era controversy. And our own David Meyer reminded the world of it:
I feel it is my journalistic obligation to point out that the $1.7B investment Gov. Hochul touted in the Bronx today was *not* what community groups wanted: https://t.co/1E5xhryjcC
— David J. Meyer (@dahvnyc) August 21, 2023
- Not that they mentioned it, but the Daily News offered yet another reason to make McGuinness safe — a hit-and-run driver fatally struck a pedestrian in the neighborhood. Gothamist also covered.
- Gothamist covered the Cornell tree map — and you'll lose your whole day if you click on it.
