Sure, we like to raise a glass or two now and again and again, but it's not the booze talking when we say that the New York Times's recent coverage of alcohol's role in cancer prevention was a vindication for those of us who see the paper as blind to the deleterious effect that cars have on our society.
The paper's coverage of a new study by the American Association for Cancer Research ran under the headline, "Deep Links Between Alcohol and Cancer Are Described in New Report."
But something didn't smell right — and it wasn't my Negroni. The report estimated that 40 percent of all cancer cases are associated with "modifiable risk factors," but the Times only really focused on alcohol, not the other ones: "making lifestyle changes such as avoiding tobacco, maintaining a healthy diet and weight, exercising ... and minimizing exposure to pollutants."
So, in other words, lots of bad lifestyle choices and environmental factors are causing cancer. Not trusting the Times, I searched up the report itself and learned that car culture is far and away the biggest villain here.
At the very least, the chart that accompanied the report made it clear that alcohol is hardly the toxin worthy of singular mention in the Times headline:
Worse, pollution and the unequal toll it takes in our society was not even mentioned in the Times piece, yet it is front and center in the AACR report:
"Racial or ethnic minorities are more likely to live in areas that may have high levels of air pollution, no green spaces for physical activity, and/or little to no availability of healthy food options such as fresh fruits and vegetables," the report said. "It is important that all stakeholders in public health work together to increase education and access to cancer prevention resources and eliminate the disproportionate burden of cancer risk factors in these populations."
It's important for the Paper of Record to do so, too. But this time, at least, it did not.
In other news:
- There's literally no end to the revanchism among anti-bike people, who seem to want to turn every minuscule effort to make roads safer into a culture war. The latest example comes from the industrial part of Long Island City, where the NY Post fanned the flames, quoting people who literally don't know — sorry, don't care — about road safety. Funny thing: As bike lane opponent Matthew Dienstag is speaking in the Post video, there's a double-parked car right there making the road unsafe for everyone. And that car that Michael Diamond is standing in front of? It has 20 tickets on it (including five for reckless driving since last April)! So what's the real danger in Long Island City? We obviously covered it in a more-balanced fashion.
- Meanwhile, an Upper Manhattan community board voted for universal daylighting. (The Uptowner)
- I was on Inside Edition talking about ghost cars.
- No one covered it, but late on Friday, the NYPD said a pedestrian struck by a moped rider earlier this month has died. The victim, Edwin Martinez, was 64. His killer's name was not released, nor were there any charges in the Grand Concourse crash.
- The best story of the weekend was the Twitter account NYC Bike Lanes breaking the news that Interim Police Commissioner Tom Donlon's residence had been raided by the feds. Jessie Singer had the perfect take:
- On a personal level, I was upset to see my own community board — which had supported Mayor Adams's City of Yes zoning initiative — reject a completely reasonable housing proposal in Windsor Terrace (Gothamist). Meanwhile, The City looked at the larger issue of whether the mayor's zoning change will get through the Council.
- Let's celebrate car-free day every day. (Mass Transit)
- A cyclist was hit by a car driver in Brooklyn, but all the Daily News could think to do was blame the victim.
- On the plus side, Sen. Chuck Schumer lined up some greenway bucks. (NYDN)
- And Citi Bike fans held a Grand Prix over the Williamsburg Bridge. (Gothamist)
- And, of course, those Citi Bikes are the best way to get around town during the UN General Assembly. (Crain's)
- A police chase that started in Queens ended in a hail of bullets in Long Island. (ABC7, NYDN, NY Post)
- Yes, we love that the Mets took three of four from the first-place Phillies, but team owner Steve Cohen is really trying to seduce the livable streets crowd with his casino plan ... which would turn the Citi Field parking lot into, well, a pretty damn good looking park. (amNY)
- Kids are really making bank on their student OMNY cards. (NY Post)
- The Post spent much of the weekend reporting that "there's nothing to see here" regarding the two cops who shot a suspected fare evader on the subway last week, but the body worn camera footage released by the NYPD does indeed show the officers putting themselves in a crossfire as they shot a man who was not rushing towards them with a knife. (NYPD via YouTube, NY Times, Hell Gate)
- We really really appreciated "Gridlock" Sam Schwartz's latest report on crippling effect that traffic has on the city, which he and Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal turned into a Daily News op-ed and stories in the Daily News, NY Post.
- Speaking of which, we trolled the governor pretty hard on Sunday:
