Wednesday’s Headlines: A Ferry Fast Race Edition
Revenge is a dish best served wet.
Before his 15 minutes of fame expires, we wanted to celebrate the resolve of Ayush Maini, who, with his friend Val He and his uncle, Andy Chen, set a new world record on Aug. 4 for setting foot at each of the 25 stops on the NYC Ferry system in just six hours, 53 minutes, and 35 seconds — roughly six minutes faster than the previous record.
We always knew Maini would be back in the record books — after all, in August 2023, Maini, then a high school senior, and two others set a record by finishing the watery trek in just under seven hours and 20 minutes … only to see that record eclipsed two years later by Johnny Cruz Buckingham, Liesel Christensen, Colin Christensen, Erin Dienst, and Haolun Qu.
What’s next for Maini? Dramamine, we suspect.
In other news:
- Here’s some blatant police misconduct. (X.com)
- Speaking of which, Mayor Mamdani and Commissioner Jessica Tisch are on a collision course … well, if Hizzoner really does want to reform the hidebound NYPD. (The Nation, NY Post)
- Politico did a solid deep dive on the shaky financing for the future Trump Station, but there was nothing new to see here.
- The outlet I Love the Upper West Side identified the woman scooter rider who was killed by a Tesla driver on Amsterdam Avenue last month. The victim was Doreen Marie Meyers, 49.
- Council Member Shaun Abreu gave Hell Gate a nifty sneak peak at some upcoming e-bike bills. Abreu does not support licensing and registration for e-bike riders, but he does want to rein in illegal e-motos. (amNY followed)
- It looks like the mayor will not correct the Adams administration’s abandonment of housing at the Elizabeth Street Garden, so it’s a good thing that our Mamdani-O-Meter is already at zero because housing advocates are pissed (NY Times, Gothamist). But some housing will be built nearby. (NY Post)
- A funny postscript to Mayor Mamdani’s great video about Amazon’s shady subcontracting practice — his main rival on the issue is none other than Jessica Schumer, the famed senator’s daughter. (The American Prospect)
- Boys and their toys. (WMSBG)
- “Gridlock” Sam Schwartz was on the DOT’s Curb Enthusiasm podcast, talking about the hilarious time Ed Koch demanded a protected bike lane on Sixth Avenue and then demanded it be ripped up before the paint even dried.
- It’s a big day for Gridlock Sam: Streetsblog USA just excerpted a chapter from his first novel, “Autokill” (with Cary Pepper), a thriller about an autonomous vehicle that goes rogue (or was it programmed that way — mwaaaah).
- Welcome to the war on trucks, Boston Globe.
- And welcome to the war on childhood play, NY Times.
- Seniors love the bus, but not OMNY. (The City Reporter)
- And seniors also are more likely to die in crashes when struck by car drivers. (NY Times)
- A fall of hell on NJ Transit is coming. (NJ.com)
- An old bus festival is coming to Brooklyn Bridge Park. (Brooklyn Paper)
- The City Reporter had more on rocker Chet Mazur, who was killed by a postal service driver in Hells Kitchen.
- Meet a great bike store in Queens. (QNS)
- And, finally, who knew that Mike Bloomberg and Andrew Cuomo — the father and son of New York’s congestion pricing toll — were radical jihadists!
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