MLK Day Headlines: Transit Dignity Edition
Honoring The Dream, plus other news.
12:01 AM EST on January 19, 2026
We’re taking the day off today to honor Martin Luther King Jr., as well as to remember the great civil rights leader as someone committed to helping working people get around with dignity.
As he once said, “Public Transportation — buses, subways, trains, and more — are a genuine civil rights issue.”
If you want a deeper dive on MLK’s support for first-class buses, we recommend this essay from The Ability Center.
We’ll be back on Tuesday with more news, but let’s at least give you some weekend transportation headlines to chew on:
- Gov. Hochul is leaning in on her transit bona-fides. (The City)
- We have a new Parks Commissioner: Tricia Shimamura! (The City)
- Gothamist is the latest outlet to weigh in on the full digital mapping initiative. (The New Yorker’s Adam Gopnik recently used the idea of a true map of New York City as a symbol of whether we really know where we’re going.)
- The New York Times delved into Department of Transportation Commissioner Michael Flynn in all his flynnificence.
- Blue highways? That’s just a start for these delivery planners. (Fast Company)
- Smart move: Mayor Mamdani shared the spotlight with Council Speaker Julie Menin with some toilet humor:
- And it’s worth reminding the public that since Mamdani’s slip last week in supporting Gov. Hochul’s scandalous effort to make drivers pay less for the damage they cause, Hizzoner hasn’t had a stumble, so the Mamdani-O-Meter was back at four as of the end of Sunday:
Tabloid legend Gersh Kuntzman has been with New York newspapers since 1989, including stints at the New York Daily News, the Post, the Brooklyn Paper and even a cup of coffee with the Times. He's also the writer and producer of "Murder at the Food Coop," which was a hit at the NYC Fringe Festival in 2016, and “SUV: The Musical” in 2007. He also writes the Cycle of Rage column, which is archived here.
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