Wednesday’s Headlines: Nothingburger From The Albany Sausage Grinder Edition

OK, so maybe we overhyped Tuesday’s legislative hearing on the many transportation proposals in Gov. Hochul’s executive budget. In the end, not much happened, though we loved MTA Chairman Janno Lieber’s outburst at Long Island Republican state Sen. Mario Mattera!.

Still there was a little discussion of the governor’s proposal to lower car insurance premiums.

Open Plans, the non-profit that fights for livable streets (and, full disclosure, funds Streetsblog), became the first advocacy group to condemn the governor’s proposal because it will likely affect the compensation received by crash victims.

“This proposal would dramatically weaken legal protections for people injured by cars, shift costs to families and taxpayers, and do nothing to improve safety or reduce insurance premiums,” the group said in a statement that demanded the initiative be “removed in the final budget.”

“The governor’s proposal guts long-standing protections for crash victims and benefits insurance companies at the expense of people harmed by negligent drivers,” the group’s testimony at yesterday’s hearing continued. “It would result in more denied claims, less accountability for dangerous driving, and increased blame placed on victims. It will shift financial responsibility from those responsible back onto victims.

“It does not prevent crashes, improve street safety or guarantee lower insurance premiums,” the statement added. “Similar reforms in other states did not reduce insurance costs. Instead, injured pedestrians and cyclists will pay the price.”

Another good government group, Reinvent Albany, testified that it is “concerned by the central role of Uber, who we have seen repeatedly trample on local laws and regulations related to street safety and labor.”

“We also note that New York City is the center of pedestrian, bicycle, and transit culture and has made enormous progress reducing deaths and injuries to vulnerable road users under current insurance laws,” the group continued.

Meanwhile, Transportation Alternatives refused to respond to multiple queries from Streetsblog seeking the group’s opinion on the proposal, only to issue a statement, late on Tuesday, that did not directly criticize the governor’s Uber-backed plan, but merely urged her to make streets safer.

If TA doesn’t want to put its full throat to street safety advocates’ argument against the governor, so be it. But Streetsblog readers can rest assured that Kevin Duggan, Austin C. Jefferson and, well, literally every reporter here, will stay on the insurance scam story until the legislature confines it to the circular file cabinet under each member’s desk. (All of our stories are archived here.)

Until then, here’s the news:

• Speaking of Hochul’s Uber-backed auto insurance premium cut, NY Focus revealed that Uber is pumping more money into getting her re-elected. Yet, still, no other outlets are picking up this scandal playing out in real time.
• One thing that also came out of the state transportation hearing was Janno Lieber again ruling out all-door boarding. (amNY)
• New York and New Jersey are finally cooperating against their common enemy on the Gateway Tunnel project and have sued the Trump administration for blocking funds. (NYDN, Gothamist or read the suit for yourself)
• Snow? Problem. (NY Post)
• Musical chairs: In Tuesday’s special election, voters chose Diana Moreno to fill the Assembly seat once occupied by Zohran Mamdani, Council Member Erik Bottcher to take the state Senate seat that Brad Hoylman-Sigal had before becoming Manhattan Borough President, and Keith Powers to succeed Harvey Epstein in the Assembly now that Epstein is in the Council. (NY Post, NY Times, Gothamist)
• Gothamist and the Post are horning in on Hell Gate’s toilet turf with their coverage of subway bathrooms.
• Speaking of Hell Gate, the outlet really reheated our nachos when it comes to slamming Citi Bike. After all, we posted this video days ago!

• First they came for the speed cameras. Then the minority business set-asides. Then the active transportation funding. Now, the Trump administration is targeting Mayor Mamdani’s free bus proposal. (Politico)
• New Jersey roads, welcome to the war on cars. (NJ.com)
• As we’ve been saying, heavy snow combined by car-first clearing strategies is hell for people in wheelchairs. (Mother Jones)
• Finally, there is one great thing about snow. I believe it’s pronounced “cowabunga”: