Thursday’s Headlines: Save the Children (But Not Just For One Week!) Edition

A man and child on a scooter cross Vanderbilt Avenue in Brooklyn. File photo: Bess Adler
A man and child on a scooter cross Vanderbilt Avenue in Brooklyn. File photo: Bess Adler

Submitted without snark: Today at 11 a.m. in Queens, the NYPD and the Department of Transportation will announce that “expanded traffic enforcement, with a special focus on violations that endanger child pedestrians” will begin next week, timed to Monday’s opening day of public schools.

OK, some snark: You guys do know that kids go to school for months and months, not just the second week of September, right?

In other news:

  • Speaking of the omni-present danger that kids face, multiple people, including kids, were injured when a car driver went berserk in the Bronx. (CBS2)
  • There’s a new tunnel between the Bryant Park and Times Square subway stations (NYDN). Gothamist emphasized the Nick Cave artwork.
  • Citi Bike had a record day last week when Hurricane Ida shuttered most of the subway, the Post reports, but Streetsblog readers were already well aware.
  • Here’s a terribly reported story by the Post about a scooter rider who allegedly killed himself — even though he was driven over by a van driver. Huh?
  • We weren’t the only outlet to cover the NYPD’s hasty backtrack from illegally confiscating bikes (amNY). Meanwhile, an off-duty cop was arrested for drunk driving in Queens. (1010WINS)
  • The Brooklyn Paper noticed what we’re all noticing: people are using the Brooklyn Bridge bike path even though it is not officially open yet (hence the big barricades on either end).

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Top Traffic Cops Promise Pedestrians-First Enforcement at West Side Forum

By Noah Kazis |
Top NYPD brass expressed surprise at West Side residents’ unhappiness with the department’s traffic enforcement policies and vowed to do better at a meeting of Manhattan CB 4’s transportation committee last night. They also announced a new citywide “pedestrians first” policy for the department. Four officers attended the CB 4 meeting, according to committee co-chair […]

City Hall Announces NYPD Crackdown on Drivers Who Endanger Cyclists

By Brad Aaron |
NYPD will crack down this week on motorists who put cyclists at risk. The “Bicycle Safe Passage Initiative,” which coincides with Bike to Work Week, will last through Friday. Officers in precincts citywide will focus enforcement on motorists who commit traffic violations that “endanger bicyclists,” according to a City Hall press release. Traffic enforcement agents will concentrate […]

DOT Launches Speed Limit PSAs; NYPD to Target Speeding, Failure-to-Yield

By Ben Fried |
NYC DOT and NYPD jointly announced some new street safety initiatives today. Harking back to the release this summer of DOT’s Pedestrian Safety Study and Action Plan, Janette Sadik-Khan and Ray Kelly came out with plans to increase awareness about the dangers of speeding and to target more police enforcement on speeding and failure-to-yield violations. […]

Does the Box Blocking Crackdown Ignore Crosswalk Violations?

By Brad Aaron |
Manhattan Community Board 2’s Ian Dutton sends along this shot of a motorist about to be ticketed for blocking the box on Broome Street at W. Broadway in SoHo. Yesterday, police and traffic agents stepped up enforcement of what is a normally ignored traffic regulation. However, writes Ian: Note that blocking the box only applies […]

TA Outlines a Traffic Enforcement Strategy as NYPD Feels the Heat

By Stephen Miller |
Following up on its report highlighting NYPD’s lack of meaningful traffic enforcement and a street safety forum featuring former police commissioner Bill Bratton, Transportation Alternatives released a report yesterday [PDF] outlining case studies of effective traffic enforcement. The report gives Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio and his next police commissioner a broad strategy to help achieve de Blasio’s […]