Tuesday’s Headlines: An Ugly Day for New York Edition

By Streetsblog
Nov 12, 2019

Cops busting a churro vendor at a Brooklyn subway station in 2019. Riders Alliance wants subway security to focus on major crimes and not minor offenses. Photo: Rafael Martinez

What an ugly day it was yesterday: The mayor defended the police mistreatment of a woman who became a national news story after she was detained for the crime of selling churros in the subway — and as the mayor was speaking, another churro vendor was being cuffed in Bushwick.

Streetsblog covered the pathetic events in this new “Churro Crackdown” — which come against the backdrop of Gov. Cuomo wanting to hire 500 unaccountable cops to patrol the subways (frankly, only rats root out rogue churros).

Other media joined with coverage, including Guse at the Newsuh going all “Les Miserables” on us, plus BuzzFeed News, the Wall Street Journal, amNY, the NY Post, and even the Times.

Later, the Twitter account of the NYPD’s transit bureau took exception with Streetsblog’s description of the day’s events as ugly (Editor’s note: We stand by our story):

This unauthorized vendor was given a warning and told to leave the station. She returned a short time later. Officers attempted to issue her a summons but discovered she had open warrants. She was handcuffed, issued a summons, and taken to court to answer for her warrants.

— NYPD Chief of Transit (@NYPDTransit) November 12, 2019

Those were, indeed, the facts, but facts can be ugly, too.

And the ugly day ended with a cyclist being seriously injured by a hit-and-run driver on a murderstrip about which bike riders have long complained to DOT. Ugh.

Here’s the rest of the day’s news:

This is why you shouldn’t yell “Fire!” in a crowded moviehouse — or “I have a gun!” on a crowded subway. (NYDN)
Our editor’s trick ankle thinks it’ll be too warm to snow today, but the Post is predicting the white stuff.
The MTA has ended the free ride for some Access-a-Ride customers (NYDN) — and is hitting up the city for a lot more money (NY Post)
Oh, and by the way, cops are firing their guns more. Great — now we need bullet-proof churros. (WSJ)
The CEO of Uber said something idiotic about Saudi Arabia and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi (Axios, with a must-watch video), prompting a social media campaign to delete Uber (Fast Company).
And, finally, Jalopnik published the greatest story about the worst Greyhound bus route: From Midtown to Brooklyn!