Thursday’s Headlines: Paris is a Lot Cooler than NYC Edition
The City of Light has figured out how to reduce the heat island effect. Plus other news in today's daily digest.
12:02 AM EDT on July 18, 2024
It’s too hot for a long, newsy lead-in to today’s headlines, so let’s just embed a great Streetfilms video about how Paris is eating our lunch when it comes to reducing the “urban heat effect” through the main levels available to cities: adding greenery and reducing car use.
Enjoy:
Now here’s the news you need to start your day:
- After the amazing, stupendous success of the NYPD’s Shotspotter, Mayor Adams announced that weapons detectors would soon be deployed at some subway stations. What could possibly go wrong? (NYDN, Gothamist)
- Can we have nice things … like a 100-minute train ride to Boston? Apparently not, for all the reasons Nolan Hicks posted on Twitter about this Gothamist piece:
- Oh and while we’re on the topic of bad priorities, David Zipper pointed out this one, following up on our scoop about the Citi Bike price increase:
- Hat tip to Council Member Chi Ossé for a great video on the importance of protected bike lanes — and holding Mayor Adams accountable — that mentioned Streetsblog. (Ossé via Twitter)
- And a hat tip to our friends at the Micromobility NYC sub-Reddit for finding a great way to shame the NYPD for its failure to rein in illegal parking along the Queensbridge baby greenway:
- Could congestion pricing still happen in Boston, despite Gov. Hochul’s flameout? Stay tuned. (MSN)
- Speaking of congestion pricing (aren’t we always?), transit workers sued the MTA yesterday claiming that the governor’s “pause” caused the MTA to cut day-to-day service, which may not be accurate (at least yet). (The City)
- And Crain’s has officially called it: We’re in the latest Summer of Hell (thanks, governor!).
- In other congestion pricing lawsuit news, both Streetsblog and amNY somehow got exclusives on the same story about Comptroller Brad Lander’s potential legal action. (Ours was the real exclusive, we swear!)
- Hell Gate followed Streetsblog’s seminal coverage of the ongoing shitshow that is Mayor Adams and the City Council’s abject failure on outdoor dining.
- Find out what happened in one Maine town when a homeowner wanted to protect her kids from reckless drivers (guess what? Her neighbors supported the drivers!). (NY Times)
- The mayor’s signature housing initiative, City of Yes, is going down in the Bronx, where housing is desperately needed. Oh well. (Bronx Times)
- Additionally, Council Member Shaun Abreu picked an odd way to show his support for the mayor’s City of Yes zoning change that would eliminate parking mandates, liking the scourge of parking to yesterday’s incident involving his colleague Susan Zhuang allegedly biting a cop during a protest:
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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