Thursday’s Headlines: Duggan Gets the Story Edition

Well, I guess we now know why the Department of Transportation didn’t invite Streetsblog to its background briefing on its efforts to improve the streetscape around several stretches of the Brookyn-Queens Expressway in Brooklyn.

Of the many outlets that were allowed to attend the invite-only confab, only two published stories — and neither questioned the DOT spin.

Both Gothamist and amNY sat upright in their front row seats at the dog-and-pony show, yet none appeared to ask agency officials or activists on the ground a simple question: “Um, whatever happened to your plans to improve the streetscape on Third Avenue?”

Well, Streetsblog’s Kevin Duggan did, even though he was working at a handicap because he didn’t get the gilded invite to a briefing overseen by the 32-person DOT press and communications office. As a result, Duggan’s story on the DOT announcement is the full picture: Yes, the agency has awesome Champagne wishes and caviar dreams for the long-suffering neighborhoods along the BQE, but it has also delayed a road diet for Third Avenue in Sunset Park.

The bottom line: It’s easy to hold a party to talk about spending $5.6 million in federal rendering money, but it’s hard to get street safety projects done when business interests complain that they need their cars.

In other news:

• On the plus side with DOT, the agency began using Sammy’s Law to reduce speed limits to 20 miles per hour on a small number of streets — part of a push announced earlier this year to lower speeds on 250 roadway segments by the end of next year. We covered it in our own inimitable way (by letting the victims of road violence be heard above the back-patting of politicians), but the Daily News also covered.
• The Post got around to covering what we and Hell Gate have been saying for months: The Adams administration and the City Council killed outdoor dining.
• Speaking of the Adams administration, it’s now the subject of an entirely new corruption probe. (NY Times)
• Get ready for the magnetic storm from hell — or more accurately, from the sun — on Thursday. (Gothamist)
• Miser has been banned from Reddit, which means his awesome r/Microbility sub needs a new moderator — and there’s already an effort by the backlash crowd to co-opt it. We’ll keep you posted. (Reddit)
• You can’t improve on this headline: Giant trucks are causing mayhem in Brooklyn Heights. (Brooklyn Eagle)
• So much for hockey at the new Lasker rink and pool, not that the Times cares.
• Want to avoid the Penn Station stampede? There’s an app for that. (NY Post)
• Don’t invite Ross Barkan to this Robert Caro party. (Hell Gate)
• So what are all those ballot questions at the polls this November? Thankfully, The City breaks it all down.
• Billionaire-loving faux populist Kathy Hochul wants to help Mets owner Steve Cohen revive his flailing casino project. (NY Post)
• Speaking of baseball, why should I care if Rudy Giuliani’s World Series rings are seized as part of his defamation judgment? Is it because he pitched a one-hitter in Game 4? Or was it that grand slam in that decisive Game 7? How could I forget?! (NY Post)
• In case you missed it, I was on NY1 talking to Pat and Jamie about my recent anointment as a fake chaplain. I also mentioned the Mets, showing off the handmade Mets bike helmet that my wife made me, but that got edited out of the video on the news giant’s website, alas. Fortunately, Pat Kiernan sent me this photo: