Comments on: Today’s Headlines

By: dbs

dbs — Wed, 07 May 2008 03:35:18 +0000

There was lots of Newsday coverage on the West Hempstead accidents…some quite good.

West Hempstead student, 17, dies in car crash
This story was reported by EMERSON CLARRIDGE and staff writers STACEY ALTHERR, SOPHIA CHANG, SUSANA ENRIQUEZ and CHRISTINA HERNANDEZ
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/nassau/ny-lidead115645793apr11,0,3349290.story

Teen driver in Nassau deadly crash remains in ICU
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/nassau/ny-lidead5648358apr13,0,2604284.story

Letters to the editor
Factors in tragic lunch break
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-e5651441apr16,0,3036358.story

Retired cop begs students to drive safely
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/suffolk/ny-b5650439apr15,0,5040494.story

West Hempstead teen killed in crash remembered
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-liwake0414,0,1124633.story
Near the crash site on Nassau Boulevard yesterday, Assemb. Michael Gianaris (D- Astoria) urged his colleagues in the State Legislature to pass a bill aimed at achieving a statewide ban on open campuses during lunch hour.
“Ideally, school districts would be taking the steps to prohibit this themselves, but they haven’t been,” Gianaris said by phone. “I don’t particularly want to sit back and dictate to schools what to do … but kids are dying because of this and I think it’s important to step in and do something.”

West Hempstead car crash victim remembered
Family, students attend funeral for teen who died in a car crash while on a lunch break from school Thursday
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/nassau/ny-a5650440apr15,0,6783475.story

By: dbs

dbs — Wed, 07 May 2008 03:33:45 +0000

#11 Ian: The Gianaris legislation does just that: prohibit driving at lunch.
(The bill was referred to the Assembly education committee on Jan 9th.)
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A09619
“Requires a prohibition on students leaving campus in a motor vehicle during the lunch period to be included in school codes of conduct.”

Way back in the 90s, when I was in high school, at West Hempstead High School, site of most recent crash that killed two, we walked to lunch. Plenty of places — pizza, chinese, bagels, mcdonalds, within a walking radius. So I have no idea why the Times article didn’t differentiate between “no driving at lunch” and a “closed campus policy.”

And if businesses are worried they’ll lose customers, perhaps the Districts could facilitate deliveries…

I’d love to see SB do a more comprehensive analysis.

This legislation would do much to encourage kids to bike to school, where legal

By: Angus Grieve-Smith

Angus Grieve-Smith — Wed, 07 May 2008 00:12:08 +0000

Finally, that last one worked! Sorry about that.

By: Angus Grieve-Smith

Angus Grieve-Smith — Wed, 07 May 2008 00:11:13 +0000

Okay, that must be WordPress munging my links, because they're coming out different from what I put in.

By: Angus Grieve-Smith

Angus Grieve-Smith — Wed, 07 May 2008 00:10:06 +0000

Okay, this one:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=15440269633517017067,40.860178,-73.243445&saddr=100+Central+Rd,+Smithtown,+NY+11787+(Smithtown+High+School)&daddr=975+W+Jericho+Tpke,+Smithtown,+NY+11787&mra=pe&mrcr=0&sll=40.880814,-73.284988&sspn=0.260615,0.6427&ie=UTF8&z=15

By: Angus Grieve-Smith

Angus Grieve-Smith — Wed, 07 May 2008 00:08:11 +0000

Hm, that one didn’t work either. This one works; I tested it.

By: Angus Grieve-Smith

Angus Grieve-Smith — Wed, 07 May 2008 00:06:46 +0000

My link got messed up, somehow:

http://maps.google.com/maps?daddr=975+W+Jericho+Tpke,+Smithtown,+NY+11787+(Don+Jono's+Pizzeria+Restaurant)&geocode=13461775559222969643,40.848307,-73.247279&dirflg=&saddr=100+Central+Rd,+Smithtown,+NY+11787&f=d&dq=pizza+loc:+100+Central+Rd,+Smithtown,+NY+11787&sll=40.860179,-73.243446&sspn=0.0507,0.089377&cid=40848307,-73247279,17067448328586864153&ie=UTF8&ll=40.853585,-73.247781&spn=0.016295,0.04549&z=15

By: Angus Grieve-Smith

Angus Grieve-Smith — Wed, 07 May 2008 00:03:01 +0000

Good point, Ian. According to Google Maps, the pizzeria is almost two miles from the high school, which would mean the kids would spend the entire lunch hour walking. There’s also apparently a Papa John’s that’s only 4/5ths of a mile away.

There are definitely worse ways to spend your lunch hour than walking down a suburban street with a slice in your hand, but it’s probably not “cool.” Still, the principal should at least let the uncool kids do it.

By: Ian Turner

Ian Turner — Tue, 06 May 2008 22:52:21 +0000

I thought the perspective on the open campus article was quite telling. Nobody even brought up the possibility of allowing students to walk off of campus. There was an implicit assumption throughout the article and indeed throughout the stakeholders that if students were leaving campus then they would do so by car.

Perhaps the best solution to this issue is to allow students — all high school students — to leave campus, as long as they leave their car behind.

By: Mark Walker

Mark Walker — Tue, 06 May 2008 22:29:25 +0000

“Light, sweet crude for June delivery jumped to a new record of $122.73 a barrel before retreating to settle up $1.87 at a record $121.84 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oil_prices;_ylt=AgdTQBh1ciCSTNpCnD0Uu_qAsnsA

By: Larry Littlefield

Larry Littlefield — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:04:04 +0000

“May 6 (Bloomberg) — Crude oil may rise to between $150 and $200 a barrel within two years as growth in supply fails to keep pace with increased demand from developing nations, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts led by Arjun N. Murti said in a report.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ayxRKcAZi630&refer=worldwide

Who will be the first politician who will come on it favor of not only eliminating taxes on gasoline, but having the federal government subsidize it, young borrowed money?

Doing so, after all, would be good for senior citizens, especially those who don’t care about anyone but themselves — even their own kids and grandkids. Which seems to be the only senior citizens who exist politically.

By: BicyclesOnly

BicyclesOnly — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:27:35 +0000

Bus lane enforcement is a safety issue. If the bus can’t pull up to the curb, the passengers disembark in the street and have to climb the curb. There are people with little kids, older people with canes and walkers, people in wheelchairs riding the buses. How can this idiot Gantt fail to see the safety issue?

By: Mark Walker

Mark Walker — Tue, 06 May 2008 15:09:30 +0000

In the longterm, we need bus and bike lanes to be physically separated from the rest of the street, with raised curbs, jersey barriers, or bollards. This might complicate matters for passengers entering or leaving taxis but more designated taxi stands would solve that problem.

By: Aaron Naparstek

Aaron Naparstek — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:19:53 +0000

Suggestion for Mr. Gantt who has been blocking bus lane and red light cams for years now: Don’t use them in Rochester if you don’t like them.

By: Glenn

Glenn — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:58:09 +0000

Concerns over privacy? Fears over revenue raising?

What expectation of privacy do people breaking the law have in a vehicle surrounded in glass with two clearly marked and unique alpha-numeric tags (license plates)?

Doesn’t the city/state/MTA have major budget problems over the next few years? Should we borrow more money to allow law breaking cars to continue to block buses?

Who are these people and what planet do they live on? If the Assembly Dems kill something as mother and apple pie as better enforcement of existing laws, there will be a backlash. I’d love to see them try and explain that one to the community boards across the city.

By: Brad Aaron

Brad Aaron — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:47:29 +0000

Dave H. – As related in the article, “Straphangers” refers to the Straphangers Campaign, which is singular.

By: J. Mork

J. Mork — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:34:34 +0000

No, Mr. Gantt, it’s not about safety, it’s about getting drivers to obey the law so that buses can go faster.

By: Dave H.

Dave H. — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:23:33 +0000

Typo: Straphangers Calls for Public Info on Privately-Owned Escalators

“Calls” should be plural (have no ‘s’)?

By: vnm

vnm — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:01:03 +0000

Re cameras to get cars out of bus lane:

A skeptical Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman David Gantt (D-Rochester), who has helped block additional red-light cameras sought by the city, said, “This sounds like it’s more about raising revenues than it is about safety.”

Hey Assembly Democrats, I thought you guys said “enforcement” was the answer instead of congestion pricing. Here’s your chance to prove you weren’t just making up an excuse to obstruct real progress.