Friday’s Headlines: Let’s Go Mets Edition

Take a bite out of the Pods.
Take a bite out of the Pods.

We can sit here and pretend that you want to read another 300-word editorial foisted on us by our old man editor, but the fact is, you’re thinking one thing: this weekend’s Mets playoff series. There are so many worries: How is Jake’s arm? Will Marte’s finger ever heal? Can Manny Machado be stopped? What is an oblique anyway?

We’ll be parked in front of a TV at 8:07 p.m. for the first pitch from Flushing.

AOC (circled) at CB2 talking about SB.
AOC (circled) at CB2 talking about SB.

In the meantime, there was some news yesterday: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has spent her first three years in Congress declining interview requests from us about how she reconciles Big EV and the Green New Deal, apparently reads Streetsblog pretty darn closely. Appearing at a Zoom meeting of Queens Community Board 2 last night, AOC referred repeatedly to our recent stories, such as:

  • When she was asked about bike lanes, she said, “I remember in Sunnyside when there was this really strong debate about the bike lane, there was a very real concern for small businesses that they would that they might lose traffic if they lost parking spaces in front. But ultimately what we’ve seen in the data, is that a lot of those small businesses have actually seen their sales increase.” Obviously, that was cribbed from Jesse Coburn’s investigation on that very bike lane last week.
  • When she was asked about the public and the NYPD’s SUV-buying binge, she said, “Even if you take every car and you electrify it, that doesn’t solve a lot of our core problems that we have here.” Clearly, AOC has read so much of our coverage of the danger of thinking that merely converting gas cars to EV cars is going to solve all the other 49 or so problems of car dependency in our society.
  • And when she was asked about banning cars in some places, she said, “Pedestrianizing some of these areas also contributes to public safety,” which was a clear reference to our voluminous coverage of how car-free streets are simply safer.

So kudos to the Congresswoman from Queens. We’re betting that if you renew your subscription to Streetsblog, voters will renew their subscription in you next year.

In other news:

  • Just one day after we pointed out the problem with the NYPD buying so many SUVs, a police officer driving just such an oversized assault car swerved to avoid another driver and jumped a curb, injuring 10 in The Bronx. (NYDN; NY Post, with video; amNY with a terrible headline, Gothamist, and, last but not least, the NY Times, though that paper’s headline suggested that cars act by themselves:

times crash headline

  • Like Streetsblog, other outlets covered Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s report on MTA finances. (NYDN, amNY)
  • And like Streetsblog, other outlets covered the killing of a pedestrian in Midtown by a truck driver. (NYDN, NY Post)
  • Remember all those stories we did last year about Intel testing autonomous cars on the mean streets of New York? Well, apparently, the company is done. (Emerging Tech Brew)
  • The DOT quietly announced that it had removed a block from its uniquely successful Willoughby Avenue open street, bowing to “community feedback.” Council Member Crystal Hudson did not respond to a request for comment.. (Via Twitter)

  • That bizarre rezoning fight in Throggs Neck ended in an even more bizarre fashion, with longtime opponent Council Member Marjorie Velazquez suddenly throwing her support behind the project, paving the way for its passage (Bronx Times, The City). Obviously, supporter Michael Kaess, who has taken so much abuse from opponents of the oddly controversial project, was happy:

  • The car-centric New York Times gave aid and comfort to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy in his quest to stop congestion pricing. Hell Gate was more on target.
  • Hat tip to Reddit for continuing to cover the overgrown bike lane problem.
  • And, finally, congrats to Assembly Member Kenny Burgos, who got married the other day and posted about it on Twitter. Given the location of the photo on the right, perhaps we can count on The Bronx lawmaker to support making Washington Street in DUMBO (aka the Selfie Capital of the World) a car-free pedestrian zone?

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