Comments on: Today’s Headlines

By: ddartley

ddartley — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 18:28:32 +0000

Josh @11, well, I e-mailed Dan Abrams asking if he’d say something about it on his show tonight when he talks about Ms. McNamara. Don’t know if he’ll want to do anything but focus on her, but I figured I’d try.

By: Hilary

Hilary — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:57:25 +0000

At 1:15 you can tune in to the Leonard Lopate Show on National Public Radio and listen to Tim Davis, lead historian with the National Parks Service, talk about parkways and why they are different from highways.

By: Ace

Ace — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:41:54 +0000

What if cars have to come to a complete stop before making any turn? This is particularly important late and early. I can’t count the number of times a vehicle making a turn speeds through the crosswalk in front of me as I am crossing with the light.

By: Fran Taylor

Fran Taylor — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:10:21 +0000

Missing in the story about the death of four-year-old Elizabeth Dominguez (“San Francisco Settles Traffic Death Lawsuit for $21M”), crushed on the sidewalk by a truck, is any history of the community’s earlier efforts to make the street where she was killed safer. Residents and parents at her school had long asked for better signals and crosswalks and other traffic calming measures there. The City stalled. After Elizabeth’s death and a continued push for changes, the street was finally reconfigured to reduce car traffic lanes, add medians and bike lanes, and upgrade signals and crosswalks. No one can say whether the death of a little girl would have been avoided had the City responded earlier, but the community’s dogged efforts may have prevented more such tragedies.

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:02:38 +0000

The fact that there are so rarely charges filed in car-on-pedestrian deaths continues to sicken me. Sadly, it doesn’t shock me anymore.

By: Larry Littlefield

Larry Littlefield — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:19:58 +0000

Wherever the state legislators are, it’s Albany. I felt the chill sitting at my desk, as they were around the corner.

(Perhaps a minor point, but Sander’s plea and Brodsky’s flak actually took place in Midtown, not Albany.)

By: Spud Spudly

Spud Spudly — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:07:53 +0000

Whether the issue is free parking or use of car pool lanes or whatever, it’s disturbing that so many people seem to think a “hybrid” car is automatically cleaner than other cars. Honda made a V6 hybrid Accord for a while that got virtually the same gas mileage as a regular Accord. Large hybrid cars and SUVs are still way more polluting than a regular Corolla or Civic. Under this bill, a guy driving a hybrid Chevy Tahoe can get free parking for his three-ton 15 MPG monstrosity while someone driving a 38 MPG Corolla does not.

By: Gary

Gary — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:06:16 +0000

Re: Delayed Ruling on Yards Case Deals Setback to Ratner

Now is the time to cut a deal: get some concessions on the scale of the project in exchange for dropping the appeal!

By: ddartley

ddartley — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:42:20 +0000

Daily News reports no charges were filed in Jennifer McNamara’s death (Jason’s comment #3), nor in another truck-on-ped death only blocks and minutes apart.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/03/06/2008-03-06_2_pedestrians_run_over_in_manhattan.html

By: Ben Fried

Ben Fried — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:34:58 +0000

Thanks vnm. Amended.

By: mike

mike — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:34:32 +0000

Free parking for hybrids? Oh man, is that a terrible idea. Only encourages more driving.

By: vnm

vnm — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:30:35 +0000

Perhaps a minor point, but Sander’s plea and Brodsky’s flak actually took place in Midtown, not Albany.

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:08:10 +0000

Saw this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/07/msnbc-staffer-dies-after-_n_90369.html

But I didn’t see anything on Streetsblog…

By: ddartley

ddartley — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:43:23 +0000

I’ll take the obvious remarks today:

Hiram Monserrate, here’s a newsflash: Hybrids are only slightly better for the environment than regular cars, which are terrible for the environment, so it’s not saying much. Cars do more damage than just produce greenhouse gases. Traffic itself causes lots of other problems. We have to stop incentivizing ALL driving into town, not encourage more people to drive in.

You want to cut people a break? Write a bill that incentivizes transit use, walking, and cycling. I mean how ffing obvious? Hey, Lew, if you’re reading, pass this on to your colleague.

By: Larry Littlefield

Larry Littlefield — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:14:43 +0000

Brodsky thinks there is no choice but to raise taxes instead of congestion pricing.

But the truth is, because of what his generation has done to those coming after, there is no choice but to raise taxes, impose congestion pricing, and accept lower services and benefits.

The only other alternative is to not pay back our debts, and not pay the promised pensions and retiree health care thatn future generations will never get. Bankruptcy is an option that should be on the table. Brodsky, Spitzer, Silver, Bruno et al have finally convinced me that responsible and fair-minded people are losers and fools.