Wednesday’s Headlines: The Fire This Time Edition

Weird story out of the Upper West Side yesterday: An illegally parked car at a police station house burst into flames — and suddenly the NYPD didn’t have any trouble getting a tow-truck.

It all started at around 6:30 p.m. when a Streetsblog reader posted on Twitter, “An illegally parked car that was on the sidewalk outside the NYPD 28th precinct just exploded by the way.” He later tagged us with these pictures:

A little later, he offered a rueful update:

We’ll try to get more on this today.

Meanwhile, in other news from yesterday, which was my and Malcolm X’s birthday:

• There’s still tea leaves to pick through in the aftermath of the LIRR strike. (NY Times, City Journal, NY Post)
• Another driver, another “medical episode,” another dead pedestrian. (QNS)
• The “War on Cars” podcast looked at the race to succeed Rep. Nydia Velazquez by interviewing the three top candidates: Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, Assembly Member Claire Valdez and Council Member Julie Won.
• StreetopiaUWS lead Carl Mahaney offered a full-throated argument in favor of a redesign of W. 72nd Street. (amNY)
• When a kid gets killed by a driver in Williamsburg, the last people many of the religious leaders in the neighborhood want to see are from DOT offering street safety improvements. But they did enjoy a visit from the cops, according to our friends at WMSBG (and Williamsburg365).

• Red tape is killing outdoor dining, says amNY.
• A woman died when she fell through a utility hole cover in Midtown (Fox5). Associate Editor J.K. Trotter had been musing that many “manhole” covers have gotten loose because of all the pounding they take from trucks, many of them not on the legal route. Sure enough, others offered up this theory, and the Times confirmed it:

• Sean Duffy’s roadshow is not getting good reviews. (NY Times)
• Hell Gate is not impressed with Rep. Dan Goldman.