Friday’s Headlines: Too Cold To Joke Edition

It’s going to be so f’ing cold today, so we won’t waste your time with self-indulgent tributes to how awesome we are. Let’s just get to the news, which was again dominated by weather-related stories:

• Let’s all welcome the New York Times to the discovery that pedestrians are second-class citizens in New York City after a snowfall — which we pointed out right as the flakes ended. I don’t want to quibble, but I preferred our headline (“NYC Is A HELLSCAPE For Pedestrians”) to the Gray Lady’s (“Why There Are Snow Mountains at New York’s Intersections and Bus Stops”).
• How cold is it outside? The NYPD and the Sanitation Department have been ordered to stop demolishing homeless encampments, which the Post naturally blamed on our “democratic socialist” mayor.
• Meanwhile, the Guardian thinks Hizzoner is doing just fine.
• The hot-tub melters are deployed. (Gothamist, NY Post)
• Rail problem: Platform of shame on the Staten Island Railroad. (SI Advance)
• Former TLC Commissioner Matt Daus says that taxis should be completely exempted from congestion pricing. “Taxis, FHVs [Ubers], and buses are among the most space-efficient vehicles on Manhattan streets,” Daus wrote. Well, he got one out of three right. (amNY)
• Yesterday, we scooped that the MTA may soon have to shut down the Second Avenue Subway because of President Trump, and amNY followed it (with credit!).
• More and more outlets are noticing Instacart’s “regulatory response fee” that it’s passing onto customers because the company doesn’t want to be on the hook for paying the full minimum wage. (Gothamist)
• StreetsPAC endorsed Assembly candidate Diana Moreno and state Senate candidate Keith Powers in special elections to replace Zohran Mamdani and Brad Hoylman-Sigal, respectively. (StreetsPAC)
• The Council overrode an old Mayor Adams veto and ushered in reform for street vendors. (amNY)
• Finally, there will be an Alex Pretti memorial ride in solidarity with the people of Minneapolis this Saturday at 2 p.m. from Foley Square. (Instagram)