Today’s Headlines

Today will be a watershed moment in New York City cycling. Activists will rally at 4 p.m. outside the Midtown North precinct's W. 54th Street stationhouse to protest the treatment of cyclists after a captain was caught on camera tackling a rider on Ninth Avenue yesterday. The protest will also focus on the ongoing ticket blitz against delivery cyclists in the days after a cyclist was killed by a hit-and-run driver on Monday. Some people were even written up for riding without a helmet, which is not illegal — clear evidence of a precinct whose goal is to intimidate cyclists.

We were very happy to see the national media pick up on our exclusive story about Google's new Maps feature tipping off drivers to the locations of New York City's hard-fought speed cameras. NBC Nightly News did a web story and a video segment (alas, no mention of Streetsblog), both of which made a unmentioned case for public oversight, or at least debate, over who gets to decide what is in the interest of public safety and what is a private company just trying to make some money. The Daily News, Gothamist, Fox5NY, amNY and the New York Times also covered the controversy, with amNY and the Times giving us a hat tip, even.

Boy, the L train really stinks. No, seriously, yesterday's non-State-of-the-Union news was dominated by the gas fumes that forced the shutdown of the most-important train line in world history. The Daily News reported that two people actually fainted, while Gothamist gave something of a station-by-station aroma guide. The Post played it straight, as did amNY. The President did not mention it in his State of the Union address, but he did lie about New York's new abortion rights law.

As promised, our editor went on Arthur Schwartz's show on WBAI radio on Monday night and, objectively speaking, got the better of the Greenwich Village car owner and anti-14th-St-Busway agitator. But you don't have to believe us. Click here to listen to the stirring half-hour broadcast. (OK, so it's not War on Cars, but it's a good segment.)

Just in time for Sunday's Super Bowl matchup of the Patriots and the Rams, the New York Post delivered an epic analysis of why everyone hates, or should hate, Tom Brady. That said, it is likely that everyone except New England fans will hate him even more after the game.

You don't need us to tell you what you already know: Wear the longjohns.

You don't need us to tell you to wear the thermals today. Wednesday will start out as a normal cold day (well, a normal cold day for those of us over 40), but then transmogrify into a frigid Chicago-esque hellscape by nightfall. Thursday will be so cold that you won't mind being stuffed like a sardine onto the L train — the insides of sardine cans, we're told, are quite temperate.

Two big events will bookend today. First, at noon, Council Members Antonio Reynoso, Justin Brannan, Rafael Espinal, Carlos Menchaca and others will rally with private sanitation workers at City Hall to protest horrible working conditions in the industry.

Well, our editor is back from New Orleans and he won't shut up about what a great time he had — except for one thing: The Big Easy doesn't live up to its name for cyclists. The Crescent City could be a paradise — it's almost entirely flat and the weather cooperates almost the entire year — but there's a dearth of protected bike lanes, gas is $1.89 a gallon, and drivers speed around like they own the place (which, alas, they do).