Friday’s Headlines: From Hero to Zero Edition
This one stings.
On Tuesday, Mayor Mamdani spoke out on behalf of cyclists who break minor traffic codes when the city’s infrastructure offers them no safe alternative. But only a few hours after he made those comments and helped fixed the horrible ramp off the Williamsburg Bridge bike path, his NYPD stationed cops at that very location to ticket cyclists while driver after driver ran the same red light.
The “gotcha” ticketing sting has little logical basis: The spot has a stop light, but no intersecting car traffic — so cyclists typically treat it like a stop sign. Judging by his comments on Tuesday, Mamdani, a cyclist himself, seems to understand that. But Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch — whom Mamdani retained from his predecessor’s scandal-scarred administration under fire to have some “adults” in the room — apparently did not get the memo.
But the buck stops at Hizzoner, and for that reason, we have to reset our Mamdani-O-Meter (above right) to zero.
The reset is not to say that Zohran Mamdani hasn’t done good things in his single week as mayor, but simply that on this one thing, he “disappointed” the livable streets movement. He intentionally fixed something for cyclists, but then didn’t explicitly tell his police commissioner to call off the dogs.
So the mayor goes from hero to zero. But today’s another day.
Read Sophia Lebowitz’s story here and check out our video below on the unfortunate and unfair enforcement sting:
In other news:
- Speaking of Mambummers, will the mayor reinstall the three blocks of the Bedford Avenue protected bike lane that Mayor Adams ripped up? (WNYC/Gothamist)
- Gov. Hochul put her weight behind Mayor Mamdani’s call for universal childcare, but isn’t keen to pay for free buses this year:
- Cops found two dead bodies in a car in Bedford-Stuyvesant. (Williamsburg 365)
- The man who allegedly assaulted a Malba homeowner during last month’s drag racing riot there was charged with unlicensed driving, among other alleged violations. (QNS)
- A 6-year-old girl was killed in a crash in Staten Island. (S.I. Advance)
- One-way Metro-North and LIRR tickets are no longer refundable. (The LIRR Today)
- The MTA wants to use AI to monitor its extensive security camera network. (The City)
- City Planning Commissioner Dan Garodnick is resigning … (Daily News)
- … as is Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber. (The City)
- Prepare yourselves: there’s a lot of construction-related subway service changes this weekend. (amNY)
Read More:
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