Thursday’s Headlines: Winners and Losers Edition

Who's going up (or back) to Albany? Above, the NYS Capitol. Photo: Amy Sparwasser via Flickr
Who's going up (or back) to Albany? Above, the NYS Capitol. Photo: Amy Sparwasser via Flickr

Only three of the seven candidates endorsed in Tuesday’s primary by StreetsPAC, the political action committee “dedicated to improving the safety, mobility and livability” of the city’s streets, won their races, but it’s all good, according to Executive Director Eric McClure.

“We certainly didn’t expect that all our endorsees would win, and that’s what played out on Tuesday. In the races that mattered most, things turned out well,” McClure said, adding that all the endorsees ran on “the importance of making streets safer for walking and biking, and prioritizing public transit.”

Two incumbent senators endorsed by the PAC won — Andrew Gounardes (Brooklyn) and Jabari Brisport (Brooklyn) — as did a candidate for an open Senate seat in Queens, Kristen Gonzalez. Challengers Kaegan Mays-Williams (who ran against Sen. Kevin Parker of Brooklyn), Angel Vasquez (who sought to oust longtime Sen. Robert Jackson of Manhattan/Bronx), Christian Amato (running for a Bronx/Westchester open seat) and Rajiv Gowda (for an open seat in Brooklyn and Staten Island) did not prevail.

McClure said that Gounardes “may feel freed up to push even more aggressively on street-safety legislation for which he’s been such a great champion.” Brisport, meanwhile, a big proponent of busways, “won with almost 70 percent of the vote in a three-way race,” showing the potency of transit issues. And Gonzalez “won handily while running on a broadly progressive platform that was very pro-transit and safe streets.”

StreetsPAC didn’t endorse in the hotly contested Bronx senatorial race between Gustavo Rivera, an incumbent with a substantially redrawn district, and Miguelina Camilo, an attorney who was the choice of The Bronx machine. But McClure is satisfied with the outcome (Rivera won) because “Rivera has been an ally to street-safety and transit advocates.”

Brisport, Gonzalez and Rivera all were targets of Mayor Adams, who spent a chunk of change backing their opponents in a bid to roll back progressives, according to Politico. City Limits looked at some others who shoveled PAC money against the progressives.

Despite Streetsblog’s entreaties, turnout on Tuesday was “tragically low,” The City reported.

In other news:

  • Police released a description of the hit-and-run cyclist who fatally plowed into 44-year-old Gavin Lee, who was knocked to the ground as he crossed West 22nd Street near Eighth Avenue on Aug. 11. Lee died from his injuries on Aug. 16, police said. So far this year, two pedestrians have been killed by people on bikes, including e-bikes, according to the Department of Transportation, the same number that were killed last year and in 2019. None were killed in 2020. (By comparison, motorists were responsible for hundreds of deaths last year.) The male cyclist appears to be in his mid 20s and has brown wavy hair, a medium build and a tattoo on his right forearm (see photo below). He was last seen traveling north on Eighth Avenue wearing a yellow shirt, tan shorts and a black bag. Anyone with information should call Crimestoppers at 800-577-8477 (TIPS) or for (888) 577-4782 (or 57-PISTA, for Spanish) or can submit tips through the Crimestoppers website or on Twitter @NYPDTips.
  • Advocates expressed their condolences on Lee’s death: (Via Twitter)

  • Taxi and Uber/Lyft drivers protested in front of Gov. Hochul’s Manhattan offices, demanding a carveout from the coming congestion pricing tolls. (amNY)
  • Who won congestion pricing? Advocates did, and don’t you ever forget it, says Riders Alliance’s Danny Pearlstein in a City Limits op-ed.
  • FDNY is raising alarms about the number of fires sparked by e-mobility devices’ lithium ion batteries, which has doubled. (NYDN) Our Julianne Cuba solved the mystery months ago.
  • It’s happening: California will ban gasoline-powered cars after 2035. (NYT)
  • Chatty cops should cool it and not hang out in groups on the street, Mayor Adams ordered. (NYPost, NYDN)
  • A Post photographer captured some cyclist-on-cyclist mayhem in Brooklyn.
  • Hell Gate dove into the mayor’s war on Washington Square Park.
  • Bloomberg previews what subway platform barriers could look like.
  • A judge ruled in favor of the Staten Island Ferry’s union. (SI Advance)
  • Cord trouble yesterday as subway passengers pulled brakes, bollixing the commute of thousands. (Gothamist)
  • The DOT got some love from a frequent critic: (Via Twitter)

  • Finally, we know that we can expect better from the Sanitation Department: (Via Twitter)

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG