Noah Kazis

Here's a project we're glad not to be doing (but we're thrilled someone is). Gallery owner Robert Hult is spending today walking the route of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, not on the highway but as close alongside it as possible, and posting regular photos to his Twitter account.

Assembly members Marcos Crespo and Vanessa Gibson pledged their support for transit improvements at a town hall meeting in Soundview last night, starting with a campaign for more rush hour service on the Bx27, Bx36, and Bx41 buses.

More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill

The City Council is holding a first-of-its-kind hearing on NYPD crash investigations today, a joint effort of the transportation and public safety committees. Based on the early reports via Twitter, it sounds like council members are holding NYPD's feet to the fire for failing to investigate serious crashes and letting motorists off the hook for the harm they cause.

As part of an application for a $2 billion federal loan to help pay for a replacement Tappan Zee Bridge that would double the width of the current bridge, the Cuomo administration has put forward a new and much-higher estimate of the project's cost: $6 billion. That's $800 million higher than previous press reports had stated, and $1.4 billion more than the state put forward in its draft environmental impact statement. The loan application also suggests that the administration will use toll revenues to repay the feds, meaning potentially huge toll hikes for Tappan Zee drivers without providing any effective transit option as an alternative.

More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill

Just in time for Valentine's Day, here is a new and interesting way to compare streets. At www.beautiful.st, you can compare 200 randomly selected streets in Philadelphia, plucked from Google Street View, two at a time. Vote for the most beautiful and two more images pop up for you to compare.

In 2010, State Senator Dan Squadron and Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh stood on the corner of Essex and Delancey Streets to tell motorists: "Careless driving is unacceptable." Said Kavanagh, "You can suffer serious consequences."

The hits keep coming against the Republican House of Representatives' radical transportation bill, especially its unprecedented attack on dedicated transit funding. In New York, the region's Congress member -- of both parties -- and editorial boards have now been joined by that most traditional GOP constituency: big business.

Northeastern Republicans, especially those from transit-rich New York, continue to turn against the House leadership's unprecedented attack on transit. An amendment by Manhattan Democrat Jerry Nadler, which would head off the attempt to stop gas tax revenues from going to transit, is attracting significant support from area Republicans.