Today's Headlines

Tuesday’s Headlines: The Non-News Monday Edition

Not much news ... except what we published yesterday. But still, here's a roundup.

By Gersh Kuntzman

12:00 AM EDT on October 17, 2023

Tuesday’s Headlines: The Non-News Monday Edition

Less news than, like, ever.

This week’s headlines are sponsored by City & State’s upcoming transportation innovation symposium on Oct. 25. Click the icon to get more info.

There was like no news at all on the livable streets beat, except what Streetsblog published:

A woman got arrested because she wanted to save a parking space from the forces of street safety.
Another cop has been caught driving a ghost car — with the help of the Department of Motor Vehicles!

Beyond that, all was quiet, except for these drips and drabs:

The best story of the day was our friend John Surico’s piece in Curbed about how much competition there is for very little space in city bike lanes.
Look out for fentanyl containers in Fort Greene Park! (Gothamist)
Friend of Streetsblog Joel Epstein wrote about the quiet danger of cops who park willy nilly everywhere. (Cities and Transportation)
Our friend Charles Komanoff pointed out that the famous “Arab oil embargo” started 50 years ago today, so he referred us to his summer 1994 remembrance (see page 90). (The Workbook)
And before we get to our own gratuitous selfies, a deeply red Republican Council Member, who was just arrested on a gun charge got a visit from the mayor’s closest aide. What do you make of that?

Some quiet tea time with @ingridBKNY this am. Talked about the genocidal war in Israel, atrocities committed against the Jewish people, & the fear our communities here in NYC are experiencing. I can say with unequivocal certainty that we have true friends in this administration. pic.twitter.com/sjx8xf78fL
— Councilwoman Inna Vernikov (@InnaVernikov) October 16, 2023

Well, at least City Hall responded as the tweet went viral:

From @NYCMayor:

“Running city govt requires our team to work with & meet with different elected officials. But as elected officials, we should be leading by example. We were clear last week that Councilmember Vernikov’s decision to bring a gun to a protest was unacceptable. 1/2 https://t.co/P8amqeCqTu
— Fabien Levy (@Fabien_Levy) October 16, 2023

In that spirit, I’m going to run my own selfies — these from last night’s party celebrating the work of the Riders Alliance in improving transit, which is a lot more important than rejecting street safety projects or posing with gun suspects:

With (from left) New York City Transit President Richard Davey and MTA Chairman Janno Lieber.

Of course, other people were there!

We are live at the @RidersAlliance gala where champions of transit are being feted: @ZohranKMamdani @jessicaramos @votejgr @AmyPaulin @Sen_Gounardes @SenGianaris pic.twitter.com/vIcam6jZbn
— Streetsblog New York City (@StreetsblogNYC) October 16, 2023

And there were honorees — aka transit champions state Senators Jessica Ramos and Mike Gianaris of Queens and Andrew Gounardes of Brooklyn; Assembly Members Zohran Mamdani and Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas of Queens and Amy Paulin of upstate:

A huge Gala 2023 shoutout to our members that make all that we do possible and the elected Frequency Fighters making big moves for riders in Albany!

Here’s to another year of winning better transit for all New Yorkers! pic.twitter.com/DdVHndjZbA
— 🚇 Riders Alliance (@RidersAlliance) October 16, 2023

Gersh Kuntzman

Tabloid legend Gersh Kuntzman has been with New York newspapers since 1989, including stints at the New York Daily News, the Post, the Brooklyn Paper and even a cup of coffee with the Times. He's also the writer and producer of "Murder at the Food Coop," which was a hit at the NYC Fringe Festival in 2016, and “SUV: The Musical” in 2007. He also writes the Cycle of Rage column, which is archived here.

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