Ben Fried

In New York -- the most walkable city in America, where millions of people ride trains and buses every day -- transit and street safety tend to be second- or third-tier issues in mayoral elections. At last night's Democratic mayoral debate, none of the candidates seemed inclined to change that.

The death of Bronx high school student Renee Thompson, 16, on the Upper East Side Wednesday evening was the latest in a string of fatal crashes involving large trucks. Thompson was at least the seventh pedestrian killed by a semi-truck driver in New York City in the past year. While there are laws on the books intended to regulate the use of these vehicles, the state of truck enforcement in the city remains opaque, with NYPD's public information office (DCPI) generally providing no details about whether the vehicles involved in these crashes had the proper permits and safety equipment.

Via Gothamist, this van went up in flames at Madison Square at around 11 a.m. No one was hurt, apparently, though it looks like a lot of people will have to go search for an inferior lunch spot on a beautiful day.

In the span of little more than 24 hours, drivers killed three pedestrians in New York City this weekend.

More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill

Reader Keith Williams, who blogs at The Weekly Nabe, recently got a few shots of the brand new contraflow bike lane in progress on Union Street. This project will add a sorely needed westbound bike connection across the Gowanus Canal -- part of a route that jogs from Degraw, down to Union, then back up to Sackett [PDF].

Clarence came across this crash scene on Northern Boulevard at 80th Street in Jackson Heights yesterday at 7:00 p.m. This is the same intersection where a dump truck driver ran over and killed 11-year-old Miguel Torres the morning of December 28. If the traffic pole hadn't stopped this car from barreling down the sidewalk, the consequences of this crash could have been just as severe.

More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill

The Columbus Avenue protected bike lane won't be a disconnected stub much longer. DOT is striping extensions of the bike lane south from 77th Street and north from 96th Street this summer, following a supportive vote from Manhattan Community Board 7 in February. Streetsblog publisher Mark Gorton sent in this shot looking south from 76th Street this morning.

NYC Bicycle Share recently posted about ten days' worth of new Citi Bike user stats, and it looks like the heat wave isn't putting a damper on bike-share trips.