Monday’s Headlines: Just the Facts, Ma’am Edition

Today’s going to be a busy day, so let’s just get straight to the weekend’s news:

  • Wow, it costs a lot to pay the cops for standing around as we berate the cops. The Independent Budget Office reported late last week that police put in for massive overtime during the antiracism and anti-police-brutality protests (Gothamist). , and plenty of cops were on overtime as they pepper sprayed and arrested protesters at the Queer Liberation march on Sunday afternoon (Gothamist)
  • We see London, we see France: Sure, we don’t write about Europe much, but we could not help but notice that bike-riding, car-hating Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo was re-elected handily (Forbes). We tried to tell Mayor de Blasio that he also could’ve been popular if he chosen to use the coronavirus pandemic to make substantial changes to New York’s transportation inequity, but he didn’t listen.
  • The MTA will bring back a lot of old subway cars, because the new R179s are just so bad. (NYDN)
  • Guse of the Newsuh got “Sunday Schumer”ed — but at least the story was about transportation funding (and the lack thereof coming from DC). Then again, Schumer can shout all he wants, but the senior senator is himself under fire from transit advocates who say he isn’t doing enough (amNY)
  • The Post took a deep, and surprisingly sympathetic, dive into the failure of the de Blasio administration to defend and secure its open streets from selfish drivers.
  • The Times looked into the NYPD’s bloated $6-billion budget (as we did earlier this month), and Daily News columnist Harry Siegel seemed to come out in support of a $1-billion cut.
  • In a story related to policing, the Nation un-endorsed de Blasio because of his handling of the cops.
  • Last week, Mayor de Blasio said he was easing alternate-side-of-the-street parking rules in order to lift a burden on drivers. Well, Bloomberg reports that he only made matters worse for drivers.
  • Larry Penner says that the MTA is not taking advantage of all the federal funding it could get (SI Advance), but MTA Chairman Pat Foye punched back in the agency’s latest in what seems like a series of op-eds in amNY.
  • And, finally, who doesn’t love a good SUV-in-the-sinkhole story? (NY Post)

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Cops on Scooters Trail Greenway Cyclists

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May’s Bike Month Critical Mass reportedly drew more participants than usual, and NYPD responded by handing out a passel of trumped-up summonses. No surprise there, but as this video (from glassbeadian via Gothamist) shows, officers on scooters went so far as to follow riders down the Hudson River Greenway. Barbara Ross of Time’s Up thinks […]