Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Today's Headlines

Tuesday’s Headlines: Torres! Torres! Torres! Edition

A member of Congress reads Streetsblog — and learns important things from it. Plus more news.

Ritchie Torres is on the right side of history on this one.

The big news of the day is not that Rep. Ritchie Torres is lampshading a run for governor against Kathy Hochul. No. The big news of the day is that Torres reads Streetsblog, and learns important things from it.

It's time for our year-end appeal. Click the banner or the credit line to donate (please!).Angel Mendoza

Speaking at a rally to oppose a pair of possible Cross Bronx Expressway widenings on Monday morning, Torres said that he wasn't aware of one of the plans until Streetsblog brought to light the state's plan for a "connector road" in his district.

"When state DOT briefed me, I was not even aware of the connector road in my district," the South Bronx Democrat told the assembled press. "The first time I found out about it was in Streetsblog."

Torres didn't show up in Starlight Park to merely share his reading habits. The member of Congress gathered with a host of neighborhood activists who have spent months sounding the alarm on the state's plan $900-million plan to add a hulking service road next to the Cross Bronx, and called for New York State (and Gov. Hochul) to scrap the plan.

"It's a billion-dollar project. We should be spending a billion dollars on initiatives that reduce air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, asthma hospitalizations. The Columbia University public health school did a study and found that capping the cross fronts cost somewhere in the range of $700 million," Torres told Streetsblog's Dave Colon. "If those cost estimates are accurate, capping the Cross Bronx is less expensive than expanding as the state is contemplating."

The state has attempted to greenwash the enormous project by claiming a bus lane to nowhere and a shared bike-pedestrian path make up for adding what amounts to a highway expansion in the last place the state should be expanding a highway. But local environmental advocates just aren't buying it.

"The Bronx is the unhealthiest county in New York State, and a project like this will ensure that we remain the unhealthiest," said Nilka Martell, the activist who started Loving the Bronx. "The years of devastation from the creation of the Cross Bronx Expressway are felt by thousands of Bronxites, and this project will only magnify these existing issues."

Of course, Torres was also happy to take some off-topic questions about his recent pointed criticism of Gov. Hochul and the possibility that he's looking to replace her. Torres didn't say he was running, but he did say he'd be spending the first half of 2025 on a statewide "listening tour," to meet residents of the red part of New York. Just remember that when the inevitable gubernatorial run happens, it started at an anti-highway widening event where Streetsblog's FOIL skills were praised by multiple speakers.

You're welcome, New York.

Reporting by Dave Colon

In other news:

  • Jessica Tisch officially took the reins as Mayor Adams's fourth NYPD Commissioner on Monday. (NY Times, Gothamist, NY Post)
  • DOT's temporary concrete recycling plant is blowing toxic dust all over Brooklyn's waterfront neighborhoods. (Hell Gate)
  • A 47-year-old pedestrian in Queens died after being struck by a hit-and-run driver on North Conduit Avenue early Saturday morning. (NY Daily News)
  • Bloomberg dug into the "cautious optimism" the congestion pricing will meet its goals.
  • NYPD used Apple AirTags to track and chase car thieves. Inevitably, the pursuit ended in a crash. (NY Post)
  • A drunk driving Long Island school superintendent struck and critically injured a motorcycle rider in Suffolk County over the weekend. (NY Post)
  • Finally, we launched our "year-end appeal" yesterday, and the support we received was, frankly, humbling. So as we'll do for the rest of the year, let us honor yesterday's donors: Thanks, Choresh! Thanks, Shane! Thanks, Kinh! Thanks, Christine! Thanks, Jehiah! Thanks, Alex! Thanks, Hindy! Thanks, Juan! Thanks, Camille! Thanks, Maury! Thanks, Jonathan! Thanks, Tom! Thanks, Ben! Thanks, Reed (keep up that singing)! Thanks, Oliver! Thanks, Jeff! Thanks, Chris! Thanks, Julia! Thanks, Sam! Thanks, Andrew (and thanks for the note)! Thanks, Katherine! Thanks, Joanna! Thanks, Philipp! Thanks, Anne! Want to join this illustrious crowd? Click the link at the top of this page.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Why No BRT For NYC? Two New Reports Tackle Why Your Bus Service Sucks

Years of bus priority projects barely made a dent in speeds because Big Apple leaders won't install real bus rapid transit, two recent reports argue.

July 11, 2025

Citi Bike Riders Are Pissed About Eric Adams’s 15 MPH Speed Limit

Citi Bike's new 15 mph max speed limit is a bad deal for riders and a potential threat to safety, riders said.

July 11, 2025

Friday Video: Cyclists, Check Out Your Next City

Streetfilms' Clarence Eckerson visited London earlier this summer to check in on the Big Smoke's cycling revolution.

July 11, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Just the News Edition

We've got one more workday before we can hit the beach. Plus the news.

July 11, 2025

Council To Close Instacart Loophole, Pass Delivery Industry Regulation Bills

The City Council will vote on Monday the "Instacart loophole" and force all app companies to pay workers a minimum wage.

July 10, 2025

‘Blood On His Hands’: Cyclists Slam Eric Adams After Judge Lets Him Remove Brooklyn Bike Lane

Mayor Adams will have “blood on his hands” for his decision to rip up three blocks of the popular protected bike lane.

July 10, 2025
See all posts