Wednesday’s Headlines: All Die-In, All The Time Edition

A protester at the "die-in" asks not to be the 16th cyclist killed by drivers this year. Photo: Dave Colon
A protester at the "die-in" asks not to be the 16th cyclist killed by drivers this year. Photo: Dave Colon

It’s obviously hard to ignore 1,000 people laying on the ground to protest the city’s dangerous roadway — so the major outlets were out in force to cover Tuesday night’s “die-in” in Washington Square Park.

Streetsblog had full team coverage, but the Daily News, amNY (which added a sidebar about all the cyclist deaths this year), PIX11 and ABC7 were also on hand. The Times did not cover.

It was a somber, sobering night for #bikenyc. So here’s the rest of the news you might have missed:

  • They grow up so fast. Former Streetsblog reporter David Meyer left us for the New York Post only about a month ago, and he already has his first wood — a classic tabloid front-page yarn about an MTA employee’s overtime scam.
  • Double-duty David also filed this story about how lousy the SBS service is on 14th Street because it was launched even though a judge blocked the city’s busway plan.
  • Legendary boondoggle debunker Neil DeMause followed our cynicism over Gov. Cuomo’s new LIRR station for the Islanders with his own detailed analysis that came to a similar conclusion: Boondoggle. (Gothamist)
  • What the F?! The MTA finally listened and is creating some F express service in Brooklyn, (amNY)
  • The Daily News had a good story about a billionaire who created a parking space for himself in the West Village with an illegal curb cut — and the tabloid had the inevitable red-faced city removal of said space within a day. But we would be remiss if we didn’t point out two things: the actual problem is the very notion that public space along the curb belongs to drivers in the first place. And also, isn’t it amazing how quickly the city can act when a newspaper puts a story on its front page? How about finishing Queens Boulevard as quickly, Mr. Mayor?
  • It really hasn’t been a great week for the public image of police, has it? (NY Post)
  • Council Member Brad Lander, who was at the die-in, is promising an update on his Reckless Driver Accountability Act some time today. (Lander via Twitter)
  • Hey, subway lady, your hair is on fire? Oh, you knew that? OK, carry on. (NY Post)
  • Meanwhile, the MTA is trying to give Queens commuters a poison ivy rash. (Gothamist)
  • And, finally, RuPaul blew up the internet again with a timely post about how bad cars are:

https://twitter.com/RuPaul/status/1148592721994498048

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