Today’s Headlines

Our reporters don't wear kid gloves and they don't pull punches. So we were very happy to see some positive results yesterday from some aggressive reporting earlier in the week. First, we learned that congestion pricing opponent Rodneyse Bichotte had flipped and is now a supporter of tolling drivers to enter central Manhattan. Then we learned that the MTA had backed away from the ledge of asking the NYPD to crack down on fare beaters — a trial balloon that we criticized as "bus and frisk" because of the Police Department's infamous legacy of stopping hundreds of thousands of people in minority communities even though they had done nothing wrong.

We kid you not: Today at City Hall, Council Member Robert Cornegy Jr. will be presented with a Guinness Book certificate for being the world's tallest male politician (NY Post and, wait, the Times did it too?). Cornegy, who played his college ball at St. John's, is certainly tall at 6-foot-10. But the tallest in the world? Streetsblog will ask the tough questions at the noon ceremony (or, more likely, we won't, as David Meyer will be covering a far more important hearing on placards at roughly the same time, and Julianne Cuba will be chasing a killer driver).

The story of the day was Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie's announcement that he had lined up enough votes to pass Gov. Cuomo's congestion pricing plan to raise billions for the subway system (sorry, Assenbly Member Bichotte). Streetsblog played it straight, as did NY1, the NY Post, the NY Daily News and amNY. Meanwhile, the Times put a broadly historic spin on it (hey, we used "historic" in the lede, too!). And the Wall Street Journal looked at the broader economic impact congestion pricing might have.

Sunday was about as fun a day as we ink-stained pixel-pushing reporters get. Two Assembly Members, plus four other drivers, decided to stand in public to decry congestion pricing. Except scores of congestion pricing supporters found out, and staged their own counter-protest. Not that we're picking sides, but it is absolutely thrilling to hear members of the public scream expletives in the face of elected officials, who aren't used to being confronted so vigorously.

Wow, what a bad day the mayor had yesterday. First, he had to ride the subway, where reporters grumbled at his tardiness (NY Post). Then he gets to his own press conference only to have an Assembly Member tell everyone that she opposes congestion pricing plan (which is why the mayor was on the subway in the first place!). Then, reporters asked about his continued investment in a highly subsidized ferry system that carries passengers in the thousands every day, while the subway and bus system carry millions. (NY Post). Scott Stringer is not pleased. (Gothamist) Neither is the NY Post editorial page.

There is no better pedal-assist e-bike than the Jump bikes that are being tested in Staten Island and the Bronx — except when the power cuts out and suddenly you're at Lily Pond Ave. and McClean Ave. on The Rock and have to wait 20 minutes for an S51 to take you to the ferry because there's no other dockless bike anywhere nearby.

We started yesterday's headlines file with a mild concern about the NYPD's plan to stop responding to minor fender-benders or crashes without injuries in Staten Island. We fretted that if cops aren't there to log crashes, the total number of reported crashes will fall — which will give all of us a false sense of security about, well, the security of our roads.

Um, what could possibly go wrong? Apparently, cops in Staten Island will no longer respond to routine fender-benders because they take up too much manpower, NY1 reported. But Myles Miller's scoop suggested that such collisions may not be reported anymore — which raises questions about whether our "data-driven" Department of Transportation will know which intersections are the most dangerous.

We'll cap off our week of investigations into the horrendous driving records of NYPD officers with a 6:30 a.m. spot on NY1's "Mornings on 1" show today — hopefully Pat Kiernan will share a banquette with our editor Gersh Kuntzman instead of the cold anchor desk. But we're just pleased that the affable Canadian has seen the importance of coverage that has revealed many recidivist reckless drivers among the NYPD rank-and-file.