In case you missed it, On Friday, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — who less than two weeks ago called the subway system a "shithole" — rode the subway (two stops!) to spew more lies about both the subway and about congestion pricing alongside a compliant Mayor Adams.
We got our coverage up quick — we had full team coverage, natch — but others quickly followed:
- The Times corrected Duffy's lies about subway crime and congestion pricing.
- The City quoted Duffy as saying he was holding the DOGE bag.
- Of course, the Post played up the DOGE angle.
- Gothamist emphasized that Duffy proved himself as an Unserious Person by not bothering to talk to the MTA when he was here.
- Streetsblog also spoke to subway riders who agreed with Gov. Hochul that Duffy "has no idea" what he's talking about. (For the record, the U.S. DOT did not respond to requests for comment.)
- Like us, Hell Gate played cat-and-mouse with the Duff Man.
- The next day, I marched all around Midtown with a sign reading, "Hands off congestion relief," a reference to Duffy's plan to kill congestion pricing. I also mocked his claim that "big strong men" are afraid to ride the subway.
Duffy's fact-grinding tour has a nice local counterpoint, at least. Later this morning, Manhattan Borough President candidate Keith Powers will do the opposite of running away from the press on a form of subway and, instead, vow to ride every bus route in Manhattan before the June 24 primary.
In addition to riding the ride, Powers will stride the stride: He'll also roll out a seven-point plan for boosting Manhattan buses. The plan includes:
- A 34th Street busway (long overdue!).
- More transit signal priority (which the DOT has been installing, but too slow for Powers).
- More enforcement cameras (Only six of Manhattan's 40 bus routes have automated enforcement).
- A free bus to LaGuardia.
- Speed up the electrification of the bus fleet (um, he'll need some help from Duffy there!).
- OMNY cards for students.
- Fixing the four-fifths of bus countdown clocks that are reportedly broken — and fit them with solar cells.
We look forward to hopping a bus with the Council member soon. Until then, here's the rest of the news from the weekend:
- The MTA would probably have wanted to tell Duffy about its big plans for the Delancey Street station. (amNY)
- The Chelsea News did a curtain-raiser on the April 21 hearing on Council Member Julie Won's universal daylighting bill.
- The Post totally misrepresented a DOT rule change to allow businesses on open streets to use public space. Council Member Joanne Ariola couldn't quite figure out what's going judging from a quote that was all over the place: "The Bicycle Bolsheviks at DOT reclaimed the streets for The People, in order to turn them over to … capitalists?!” It's unclear what she's upset about — that businesses might be able to make money or that her prejudice about the DOT turned out to be false.
- Speaking of more awful reporting by the Tabloid of Wreckage: The Post reported on a swank vegan restaurant that claims it has to close because of congestion pricing. Interesting how no restaurant in the city ever closed before congestion pricing showed up. (Meanwhile, a panel of MIT smarties says congestion pricing is working, but you have to read a different outlet to hear that.)
- And the paper also claimed that Chinatown is now a "shitshow" because of open streets.
- A car just happened to catch fire inside the Lincoln Tunnel? The Daily News offered a bare-bones sketch.
- Hell Gate looked at the new subway map.
- A pedestrian was killed in Hells Kitchen, W42St reported. That was just one of the crashes we heard about on Friday. The others included:
- A 4-year-old seriously injured by a hit-and-run driver in Brooklyn.
- An unlicensed driver (sound familiar?) hit three people, including two children, in Astoria. (CBS2)
- Also in Queens, a driver jumped a curb and struck four women who were standing at a bus shelter. (CBS2)
- A driver overturned his car in the Bronx. (Citizen)
- A Bronx man was killed by a van driver. (NYDN)
