We at Streetsblog really do strive to be happy warriors in the fight for livable streets. But every day brings more evidence that we're engaged in a life-and-death struggle with the forces of revanchism and stagnation. Yes, there are good moments (as when Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer subtweeted Council Member Vickie Paladino on our behalf yesterday), but all too often, our hopes of achieving even basic street safety, clean air, livability or freedom from congestion seem Sisyphean.
Yesterday was just such a day. It started when Gov. Hochul turned the red-light camera bill-signing ceremony into a travesty that included her lying about congestion pricing, lying about her past comments about congestion pricing, lying about London's pricing of congestion pricing (again!) and topping it off by taking the name of street safety martyr Sammy Cohen Eckstein in vain.
I wrote a column about it and I hope you'll read it. (Meanwhile, amNY and Gothamist covered the bill signing straight.)
Then, later in the day, we learned that the driver who killed Amanda Servedio had been fleeing cops who suspected him of a house burglary — a crime, certainly, but one that does not meet the NYPD's standards for a high-speed chase. And not only that, the driver had a record of more than 80 camera-issued tickets in about two years — yet the city and state have apparently done nothing to get this guy off the roads. (The Daily News, the NY Post, the Astoria Post also covered the fatal hit-and-run.)
And even after that, we read Hell Gate's coverage of Gov. Hochul's self-hagiography with Axios: "Governor Hochul: Protector of Millionaires, 'Indefinite' Pauser of Congestion Pricing." Such lack of reflection from a top elected official (I mean, we're not talking Vickie Paladino here, but the governor) is cause for distress — especially when it means endless traffic, pollution and kids and seniors getting run over by drivers.
In other news from an otherwise slow day:
- Congrats to Demetrius Crichlow! (NYDN, NY Post, NY Times)
- Uber and Lyft drivers noisily protested in Lower Manhattan (and you could hear it from Chinatown to the Battery!). (amNY)
- Ah, so that earthquake earlier this year was all New York's fault(s). (Gothamist)
- And, finally, get ready for today's New York Liberty championship parade from the Battery to City Hall! And don't even think of driving (even the cops' placard spots are marked as "no parking")! Gothamist previewed the parade.
