Friday’s Headlines: It’s Gutman Time in the Bronx Edition

Here's new Department of Transportation Commissioner Hank Gutman in his first virtual presser.
Here's new Department of Transportation Commissioner Hank Gutman in his first virtual presser.

Today at 10 a.m., new DOT Commissioner Hank Gutman will make his long-awaited first appearance before the vaunted New York press corps, albeit at a photo-op of sorts at the installation of some bike racks in The Bronx — the down payment on Gutman’s pledge to add 10,000 bike parking spaces to a bike-parking-starved city.

Our Julianne Cuba and Dave Colon will be on hand firing questions faster than intellectual property lawyers file copyright infringement claims (our old man editor would be there, too, but he was in The Bronx all day on Thursday, running NYPD officers’ plates, so he’s worn out).

Check back later for our team coverage of Gutman’s debut.

Meanwhile, our top story today: The de Blasio administration finally released the disciplinary records of tens of thousands of active and retired cops. Here’s the search engine. Take a gander. Everyone (well, mostly everyone) covered it:

  • The Daily News called it “the other shoe” dropping on the NYPD (though we’re not sure there was a first shoe).
  • The Post played it like a cop would, “No big deal here.”
  • amNY played it straight.
  • Gothamist pointed out that the disclosure does not include the full case histories.
  • The Times didn’t do the story.

And here’s the rest of today’s news digest:

  • So let’s get this straight: Amazon can build nine new warehouses across the city (NY Times) — yet every single bike lane has to be endlessly debated by a community board that will allow people from California to lie that cyclists are causing all the traffic?
  • The Staten Island Advance apparently wants its readers to know that hitting a pedestrian who is not in a crosswalk is just fine.
  • Cops say they’ve collared the hit-and-run driver who killed a Good Samaritan who tried to help another motorist in late January. (NY Post)
  • Sometimes NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea says the right things. (WSJ)
  • Are Amazon’s little robots “pedestrians”? Of course not (um, but did you say it can carry a half-dozen pizzas and drinks?). (Axios)
  • Just when you thought it was safe to underpay actors again, Actors Equity took aim at Mayor de Blasio’s Open Culture program. (Broadway World)
  • An Assembly Member you never heard of is opposed to a 16-cent increase in a bridge toll. (QNS)
  • From the assignment desk: At noon today, a team of runners from Transportation Alternatives will race a bus on Main Street in Flushing to show (hopefully!) that the car-free busway has made things much better for bus riders (and much worse for stunt joggers).
  • And, finally, credit where due. Last week, we made fun of the DOT for installing a Citi Bike rack on W. 70th Street, but not changing the parking signs to keep car owners from blocking half the rack. Well, yesterday, Friend of Streetsblog Daniel Bowman Simon sent over pictures and words: “The Department of Transportation has completed the request or corrected the condition,” Simon’s 311 case log concluded. Here’s the proof:

signs fixed

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