Wednesday’s Headlines: Nowhere is Safe Edition

Children navigate a hectic intersection near a school in the Bronx. Photo: Bess Adler
Children navigate a hectic intersection near a school in the Bronx. Photo: Bess Adler

The big story yesterday, of course, was the latest school shooting in a nation where school shootings are basically the norm.

We’re horrified by gun owners who kill, whether in the subway or in the Hill Country, but we’re mostly enraged by feckless politicians who talk about keeping kids safe, but do nothing to do so.

How Jesse Coburn's story was played.
How Jesse Coburn’s story was played.

Which reminds us of our local public health crisis: feckless politicians who talk about keeping kids safe — this time from road violence — but do nothing to do so. In other words, if you haven’t read Jesse Coburn’s exhaustive analysis of the dangers of New York City’s school streets, please do so now.

Just as Tuesday’s horror in Uvalde, Texas, shows in stark relief the need for safety, Coburn’s story dramatizes how New York’s chaotic roadways are putting our kids in danger exactly when they are on their way to or from school.

Something must be done. Who’ll do it? We’ll try to ask Mayor Adams about it today.

In other news:

  • Speaking of Coburn’s story, our friends at Chalkbeat, the education website, showed real street smarts by republishing our investigation into the deadly roads around city school.
  • Speaking of violence, Mayor Adams said Sunday’s subway shooting will once again keep the focus on crime on the subway, which seems to be where he wants to keep it anyway (NYDN). Meanwhile, the suspect in the killing of Daniel Enriquez has surrendered (NY Post).
  • The Post’s David Meyer continued his excellent reporting on the MTA’s failed bus command center project.
  • As flawed as it is, 421-a is about to lapse, which will not be good for the construction of below-market-rate units. (NY Post)
  • Car carnage in Midtown. (amNY)
  • The planet needs dense, car-free developments, Bloomberg reports.
  • The Village Sun printed an op-ed from an NYU student calling for a bike boulevard on University Place.
  • Speaking of op-eds, three Queens Council members are sick of illegal truck parking. (Gotham Gazette)
  • Hat tip to the DOT for going above its original proposal for E. 180th Street in the Bronx:

  • And, finally, stars, they’re just like us:

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