Wednesday’s Headlines: Blow Canada Edition

Wow, something is really putrid in the air over New York City, and it’s not the hometown ball clubs. Smoke from Canadian wildfires has been floating into the metro area on and off for weeks as trees around the Hudson Bay have been consumed, but conditions were especially bad yesterday.

Who knows, the smoke might have even played a role in the death of a carriage horse (NYDN, Gothamist).

Per ABC7 and the Daily News, the Great New York Smokeout will continue through Thursday. So there’s a very convenient excuse to not cut work today to go to the Mets-Guardians game in Queens.

But before gagging on today’s air, gag on the news:

• The NYPD reported last week that an e-bike rider was killed by a driver on the very quiet Hollis Court Boulevard in far Eastern Queens. The mainstream press barely covered the killing of Zhao Feng Zhen (amNY rewrote the NYPD’s substance-free press release), but even we were struggling to find an angle because so few details were provided on the crash. Fortunately, our friends at Eastern Queens Greenway broke it down completely: The road is terribly designed because it encourages speeding and distracted driving. And the post calls out who’s to blame: the cops (for not enforcing speeding), the community board (for opposing bike lanes), the local pols (see above), the Department of Transportation (for not building protected bike lanes and the Parks Department (for not building the long-awaited Eastern Queens Greenway). That’s some good blogging!
• Finally, a mayoral candidate who is asking the NYPD to do less! (NYDN)
• Let’s unleash drones all over our airways. What could possibly go wrong. (U.S. DOT press release)
• Speaking of DOT Secretary Sean Duffy, obviously, there’s a well-reasoned debate over nuclear power, but here’s one thing most residents of Planet Earth can probably agree won’t make a damn bit of difference to their daily lives: Nukes on the Moon! (Politico)
• President Trump’s tariffs are going to lead to a fare hike and dirtier air, obvs. (Smart Cities Dive)
• Reckless, careless drivers on Staten Island are, again, blaming everyone but themselves. (amNY)
• A 69-year-old MTA bus driver seriously injured a teenager on a moped in a crash in the middle of the night. Did loss of night vision play a role? (amNY)
• The 4/5/6 will be messed up for two weekends in August. (amNY)
• Meet the new greenest block in Brooklyn. (NY Times)
• The New York Post is always finding ways to nitpick my lifestyle.
• More truck parking is coming to JFK. (Gothamist)
• And, finally, don’t miss this classic only-in-New-York event on Thursday: human against crosstown bus: