Wow, what a busy day it's going to be on the livable streets front today!
The action will start sometime between 6:45 and 8:45 a.m. when our own Deputy Editor David Meyer will be on NPR's "Morning Edition" with host Michael J. Hill to talk about his big scoop last week about the NYPD's apparent abandonment of enforcing idling rules.
Then, at 10 a.m., Kevin Duggaan will head to City Hall, where the Council's Sanitation Committee will take up a number of bills, including a bill by Shaun Abreu (D-Bronx) that might (operative word is might) make it easier for the Department of Sanitation and the Police Department to tow away abandoned cars.
We'll get a bit of a breather before the noon rally in City Hall Park by members of Riders Alliance who are calling for transportation equity in the form of better bus service.
Then at 1 p.m., Julianne Cuba will head into the Council chambers to hear a proposal by Selvena Brooks-Powers (D-Queens) to "require the Department of Transportation to promote equity in infrastructure investment as part of its Master Plan," something the DOT not only says it does, but publishes in its existing Master Plan. (We reached out to Brooks-Powers to find out what's lacking in the DOT effort — and for comment on why she has rejected some of DOT's efforts to invest with street safety infrastructure in her very district — but she hasn't returned an email from us in many months, so I guess we'll have to wait until the hearing.)
And then at 4 p.m., we'll send Duggan over to the rally to make sure McGuinness Boulevard remains as deadly as it has been for decades, a march being held by Keep McGuinness Moving, the well-funded, politically connected effort that has successfully gotten Mayor Adams to throw his own DOT experts under the bus and water down what all the local electeds approved of back in May.
After that, Duggan will stay in the neighborhood for a Community Board 1 meeting that may dive into the whole issue again.
And if that isn't enough, we'll end our night at an info session for the mayor's "City of Yes" zoning package. This session is mostly about small business, but it's a nice appetizer for an upcoming session on parking minimums. Maybe Dave Colon will tune in.
All these items are on the Streetsblog events calendar, by the way. We hope you're enjoying it.
But before all that, here's the news digest to get you going:
- Aaron Gordon is the latest supporter of congestion pricing who believes the city is going to miss a bit opportunity to ensure its success. (Vice)
- The MTA's inspector general slapped two workers for buying stolen goods, drinking on the job and threatening someone with a knife. (NYDN, NY Post, Gothamist)
- And you thought Staten Island wouldn't roll out the welcome mat for asylum seekers! (NY Post)
- Gov. Hochul wants to create something akin to a Streets Master Plan for the state. But it all starts with a survey of your commuting and travel patterns.
- Looks like Fireman Ed was wrong. (Get well soon, Aaron Rodgers.) (NY Times)
- And finally, help this woman who posted of a Citi Bike emergency on Facebook:
