Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Today's Headlines

Wednesday’s Headlines: Who Watches the Watchmen Edition

The NYPD's top risk management official is out after criticizing cops' use of vehicular pursuits. Plus more news.

Wikimedia Commons|

A crossing guard has died in Queens.

A moped rider nearly killed on a Brooklyn greenway. Ten pedestrians in Midtown and another on the Lower East Side all injured on the same day. A woman injured while biking on Houston Street. Two wrecked homes on Staten Island.

All of these happened during (or at the tail end of) NYPD car chases, which are up 600 percent compared to last year. The increased use of the tactic, whatever its merits, is not without its risks, as the sample body count above shows.

Don't tell that to new Police Commissioner Edward Caban — who last week fired the NYPD's top risk management official for criticizing the use of vehicular pursuits, The City reported on Tuesday.

Among Chief Matthew Pontillo's sins was to flag 20 officers involved in chases for "additional training or supervision," according to the report — which seems like a fairly gentle response to the risk associated with a tactic that has had deadly consequences on city streets.

It's unclear how many of this year's NYPD chases have led to crashes, injuries, or deaths. Streetsblog has asked the department several times, but we've yet to receive an answer.

In other news:

  • UNFIT TO DRIVE: The woman who ran injured seven pedestrian in Midtown on Sunday — only to flee before having another crash 11 miles away — likely had a mental health episode before she plowed through a red light and into her victims, aged 24 to 60. (Gothamist, NY Post, amNY)
  • An 87-year-old Brooklyn woman was hospitalized late Monday when a driver struck her while attempted to reverse into a paring spot on Leonard Street in Williamsburg. (NY Post)
  • A car carrying Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, a pro-congestion pricing 2025 gubernatorial contender, was "rear-ended"... while running a red light with its emergency lights on. (Hudson County View)
  • Additional N and R train service starts next Monday. (Daily News)
  • Syracuse debates who'll control the land opened up by the removal of I-81. (Syracuse.com)
  • Outlets that joined Streetsblog in covering charges against the truck driver who killed Brooklyn cyclist Adam Uster included the Daily News and Patch.
  • Finally, City Hall ordered all the agencies to get on message about migrants ... and all complied:

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Public Demands Safer West Side Highway at Packed Workshop

Seemingly all in attendance agreed that the existing bike and pedestrian path isn't cutting it and ought to be expanded.

May 22, 2025

‘The Biggest Complaint’? The Real Stories Behind NYPD Commissioner Tisch’s Bike Crackdown

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch has said cops are only targeting reckless e-bike use in six offenses along 14 key corridors. This is simply not true. Here are some stories from the front lines.

May 22, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines: Car-First Fifth Avenue Edition

The city's much-compromised redesign of Fifth Avenue is going to cost $550 million for some reason. Plus more news.

May 22, 2025

‘Cart Before Horse’: Upper West Siders Demand NYPD Halt Bike Crackdown

Here's a different kind of community feedback for Commissioner Tisch.

May 21, 2025

Proudly Anti-Safety: Brooklyn Pol Boasts of Getting DOT To ‘Pause’ Long Promised Bike Lanes

Even painted bike lanes are too "woke" for the MAGA warrior of Southern Brooklyn, Council Member Inna Vernikov.

May 21, 2025

‘Stop Super Speeders’ Bill Advances in Senate Committee

A bill that would prevent the most-reckless drivers from speeding easily moved forward on Tuesday. But that doesn't mean its passage is assured.

May 21, 2025
See all posts