Just once, we hope a voter in Ottumwa, Ia., or Powdersville, S.C., will sidle up to Mayor de Blasio and say, “We love your brand of progressive politics, but for now, why not had back to New York City, where fatalities on your roads are up 21 percent over the same period last year?”

It would be a fair question, especially after Tuesday, when two people were killed in separate crashes by truck drivers backing up over them. The Daily News and the Post both covered the 76-year-old man who was run down on First Avenue in Manhattan (Streetsblog had it, too). And that back-over incident occurred a few hours after a motorcyclist in Queens was run over by a backing-up private sanitation truck.

There wasn’t much other news yesterday, but here’s what we got:

• Someone was pulling emergency brakes on subway trains, delaying everyone. (NY Times)
• Advocates for the disabled appear to be closer to winning a case against the MTA for failing to install enough elevators. (amNY)
• Council Speaker Corey Johnson trolling the NYPD’s 13th Precinct might just be the best thing we have seen all year. It’s peak Johnson. (via Twitter)
• City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez says taxi drivers should be exempt from congestion pricing — even though taxis are roughly 50 percent of the congestion in Manhattan, and the surcharge cabbies currently charge is passed along to passengers. This misguided bid to help struggling cabbies — who do need help — is probably DOA. (amNY)
• The 7 train is improving! (NY1)
• In case you missed it, the Brooklyn Navy Yard now has a ferry stop. (NY1)
• And, finally, Streetsblog’s David Meyer is going deep on his walk along Memory Lane (which, we’re told, has a protected bike lane!).

in three years and six months

— David J. Meyer (@dahvnyc) May 21, 2019