Monday’s Headlines: More Weird Coverage from the Times Edition

Another day, another chance to point out flaws in the Times's coverage of congestion pricing.

On Sunday, the Metro section printed yet another story with a false premise, in this case that "Congestion Pricing Ignites an Old Rift: Drivers vs. Transit Riders."

Setting aside for a second that congestion pricing will, in fact, help transit riders (who will get better service) and car drivers (who will get faster trips), but the story itself was a bizarre amalgam of the same old complaints from drivers, some of whom can't even wrap their heads around their own hypocrisy:

"Driving in New York is a status symbol for someone who grows up in low-income neighborhoods because you don’t have to rely on the train,” one driver told the paper. Had Streetsblog been reporting this story, we clearly would have asked, "Well if driving is a symbol of prosperity, the toll is a small price to pay, isn't it?" The Times didn't even bother.

Another odd editorial decision: Leading the story with a guy who drives every day to Bayside, even though Bayside is outside the congestion zone.

Bottom line: We simply don't understand why the Times continues to give aid and comfort to a minority of New Yorkers who are holding the rest of us hostage to the congestion, pollution, noise and danger they create.

Or, as the Times put it in the paper's notorious passive voice: "The gridlocked traffic that lasts most of the day [makes] the city is a notoriously hard place for motorists." For motorists? How about because of motorists?

In other news:

• Talk about a hit piece: Assembly Member Emily Gallagher got the full Post treatment, with the paper describing her has "anti-car" because she fights for safe streets. But what is inexcusable is a flat out error: City records show that Gallagher's car has never been slapped with a moving violation (just parking tickets), so we're not sure why the Post printed that it "was caught on camera blowing through a red light in the Bronx in November 2022" or why the paper said she has parked at fire hydrants six times (it's only one).
• Gallagher's constituents have a more important topic on their mind: The coming G-train shutdown. (amNY, NY1)
• ICYMI: Truck drivers are the latest group to sue over congestion pricing, though the logic in this suit eludes us (truckers already pay tolls on bridges). (NYDN)
• Carnage: A cyclist in Washington Heights was killed because a truck driver was double-parked with his liftgate down. He's the 10th cyclist killed this year. (amNY)
• Speaking of congestion pricing, the Post continues its Cassandra imitation, reporting that some businesses that incur congestion pricing fees will pass along those costs to their customers. Left unsaid: part of the $15 toll will be recouped in the form of speedier trips in and through the Central Business District.
• We generally don't write about the getaway vehicle involved in non-vehicular crimes like bank robberies, but the "Citi Bike Bandit" is worth bending that rule for. (NYDN)
• But when we do write about vehicular crime, it's always worth pointing out how much damage an idiot with a car can cause. (NY Post)
• More electeds are demanding more daylighting:

• The city finished its weekend repairs to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway a day early. (Gothamist)
• But a different city agency has once again failed to restore adult lap swimming at city pools. (Hell Gate)
• Headline contest: The RV completely decked out in Trump paraphernalia crashed in Staten Island. We'll start: "Trump Train Runs Aground on the Rock." (Meh.) (NY Post)
• Former federal transit man Larry Penner weighed in on the departure of NYC Transit President Richard Davey with a big "Meh." (Mass Transit)
• Paging Samuel Jackson: It's time for "Snakes on a Plane 2: The Mamba in the Moving Van." (NY Post)
• From the Assignment Desk: If you haven't read Streetsblog's exclusive earlier this morning about the Department of Sanitation's latest effort to rein in rogue carters, you aren't ready for today's City Council Sanitation and Solid Waste Management Committee hearing at 10 a.m. at City Hall. Click here for more info.