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

Wednesday’s Headlines: This is Your DOT on Drugs Edition

Yes, that's our editor consuming drugs in front of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration office on 10th Avenue to protest the agency's seizure of the bike lane. Plus other news.

I smoked a doobie at the Drug Enforcement Administration … for you!

The other day, we reported that the federal Drug Enforcement Administration had stolen one block of the 10th Avenue bike lane so agents could park their personal cars.

Well, to steal an old line from Nancy Reagan, we just said no to that crap.

Obviously we covered the illegal theft of public space — and we did a follow up on how local officials are demanding that the Department of Transportation do something to push back on the jackbooted thugs of the DEA who are making a great bike lane unsafe.

Then we went further. We pulled out a doobie and went to the DEA office to protest. Here's the result — Cheech and Chong would be proud. For the YouTube link, click here.

In other news:

  • The subway fare will rise to $3 as expected (NYDN, NY Times), but, of course, the Post is pretending that congestion pricing was supposed to permanently solve the need to fund transit (which no one ever said it would).
  • The Trump administration slashed counter-terrorism funding, which Streetsblog reported exclusively (though the Times followed up hours later without any credit to Dave Colon and David Meyer for breaking the story, even though Attorney General Tish James did mention the duo in her lawsuit).
  • Meanwhile, a judge stayed a different Homeland Security grant cut (but who knows if courts even matter anymore?). (amNY)
  • New kermit on the Lower East Side. (Reddit)
  • Intentionally running down kids on bikes is apparently a thing in New Jersey. (PIX11)
  • Open thread Wednesday: Will history remember Eric Adams kindly? Hell Gate reports Randy Mastro's answer on that one.
  • But cut Mastro some slack — perhaps when he was declaring Adams a great mayor, he didn't know that Hizzoner had hired one of his former girlfriends to a newly created (and high-paying) job as city "sports czar." (NYDN)
  • Speaking of our mayoral race, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen certainly knows his stuff (and exactly what to say to Hakeem Jeffries):

At event in DC, Sen. Chris Van Hollen keeps it going with HakeemJeffries over not endorsing @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social: if you can’t back the kind of campaign he ran, “don’t ask those young people to show up for other Democrats across the country — that’s the message that will be sent.”

Isaac Dovere (@isaacdovere.bsky.social) 2025-09-30T19:48:45.941Z
  • Mets owner Steve Cohen's team underperformed on the field, but his casino scheme is doing great — even getting one-time vehement opponent Sen. Jessica Ramos to vote for it. (NY Post, NY Times)
  • We've been covering Instacart's Astro-Turf campaign to avoid regulation. Well, Uber does it, too. (Documented NY)
  • Tribeca Citizen has a nice primer on the upcoming community outreach process for Canal Street. Please make your voice heard.
  • This is what authoritarianism looks like: Journalists were battered and beaten by federal agents in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday. (NY Times, NYDN, amNY, Gothamist)

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Amtrak’s Dithering Means Penn Access Won’t Be Done ‘Til 2030, MTA Says

Boom: The MTA's ambitious Penn Access project is delayed until 2030 at the earliest ... and Amtrak is to blame, says the MTA.

October 28, 2025

From Parking to Park: East Side Lot To Become Public Space

The East Side finally gets back some of its waterfront from cars.

October 28, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: ‘Life After Cars’ With Doug Gordon and Saray Goodyear

Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon of The War on Cars podcast on their new book, opposing views, Turtle Jesus and potential off-ramps towards car-free cities.

October 28, 2025

Vision Zero Cities: How Istanbul Builds Subways Cheap — And What U.S. Cities Can Learn

Istanbul has expanded its subway network by more than 200 miles over the past three decades.

October 28, 2025

Tuesday’s Headines: Amtrak Agonistes Edition

The MTA is blaming the national rail system for delays on the Penn Access project. Plus other news.

October 28, 2025

Ugly Truth: Feds’ Canal Street Raid Pushed Aside NYPD, Safety and Free Speech

President Trump's heavily armed and masked immigration troops are turning American cities into battlegrounds — and eliminating accountability and free speech in the public realm.

October 27, 2025
See all posts