Tuesday’s Headlines: A ‘Crash’ Course in How Not to Do Things

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.

Reminder: There were 9.500 non-injury-causing crashes in Staten Island last year, or roughly 26 per day. If, suddenly, none of those were reported, would the DOT pay attention to hot spots anymore? We’ll be asking.

Meanwhile, here’s the rest of the news:

  • Move along. Nothing to breathe here, people. (NYDN)
  • Everyone covered the MTA’s announcement of service improvements, but we focused on the implication for congestion pricing. Meanwhile, amNY focused on how riders aren’t feeling it. The Daily News focused on how unimpressive the improvements really are. The Post, of all places, played it straight. Patch was unimpressed.
  • Wait a second — when did New York magazine start channeling Streetsblog? Well, the more the merrier where coverage of Corey Johnson’s street-safety plan is concerned! Justin Davidson’s excellent piece seems like it was designed to start the “Johnson for Mayor!” shouts. (New York Mag)
  • Friend of Streetsblog Charles Komanoff (and future Friend of Streetsblog Jeff Blum) penned a nice op-ed in The Nation, whose title says it all: “Congestion Pricing Is New York’s Green New Deal.”
  • A judge ruled against Lyft in its fight against the city’s minimum wage for drivers. (NYDN)
  • The Post wisely followed Streetsblog’s coverage of suburban lawmakers’ anxiety about desire to take money away from congestion pricing.
  • That closed-door meeting between DOT and community leaders apparently ended with the city admitting it now has no plan for fixing the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. (So how about tearing down and not replacing it?) (Brooklyn Paper)
  • In case you missed it, Paul Berger had a nice scoop in the Wall Street Journal about how much control Gov. Cuomo exerts over the MTA (even as he says he doesn’t).
  • The latest episode of “The War on Cars” is up, and features what we in the old-time news business used to call a “good get”: Ray Magliozzi of “Car Talk,” which, we admit, was a guilty pleasure to listen to back when we thought car owners were funny instead of being insidious city-killers. (War on Cars)
  • Also, in case you missed this, Charles Gargano is at it again, this time arguing in a Daily News op-ed that the obscure Public Authorities Control Board should be dissolved — but then undermining his own argument by pointing out the vital role the PACB plays (or could play): “The PACB isn’t supposed to be a place to consider the merits of economic development projects; it’s supposed to be a simple due-diligence review of the underlying financials.” (Due diligence? Sounds good to us!)
  • And, finally, the Bike Jumble is back — so set your calendars for May 18 (when it will probably rain, if prior years are any indication).