[head explodes]

For all their media creativity and good work on similar issues, the Bloomberg Administration has been a little DISGRACEFUL in their own dealing the the issue of idling.

They could have cut emissions and pollution WELL, well ahead of their long-term greenhouse goals if they had just immediately and publicly cracked down on idling.

Disgraceful. Good leadership on many issues, crap on this.

Why would you want to retrofit SUVs to do what minibuses already do, safely and more efficiently?

Because minibuses cost money, and there's a glut of cheap SUVs coming on the market. What else should we do with all those SUVs?

I want drag racers shot dead.

Okay, I believe in laws and due process and everything, but when I read a story like that I can't help myself from saying I wish all drag racers would be shot the hell dead.

Except that they'll be illegal in NYC.

That's the problem with SUVs, which do burn less fuel that buses after all. It is the number of passengers. Fill them, and they are more fuel efficient than hybrids.

(Pretty soon, the biggest SUV's are going to be the cheapest cars you can buy.)

I wonder if, simply from an environmental impact point of view, if it would be better to buy an existing SUV which would otherwise be scrapped than a new car that would take energy and materials to make?

Whoever figures out a cheap way to repurpose used SUVs as microbuses will be a hero.

Keith Bradsher predicted this in his book, "High & Mighty."

Pretty soon, the biggest SUV's are going to be the cheapest cars you can buy. Think about the implications of that for a minute.

My response at the time was that the promise of the SAS already induced lots of building on the East Side, and the failure to deliver left Upper East Side residents paying massive taxes while cramming onto the Lex like sardines.

What the Partnership should be in favor of from a cost-benefit perspective, I wrote them them, was promising the Flushing Extension, borrowing money for the Flushing Extension, planning the Flushing Extension, having lots of people invest in new buildings expecting to be served by the Flushing Extension, but then NEVER ACTUALLY BUILD IT.

"The developer was also negotiating with city officials over other promised West Side projects, including the subway line. If the cost of the subway exceeded $2.1 billion, Tishman Speyer wanted assurances that either the state or the city would provide additional financing. It never got them."

LOOKS LIKE MY SUGGESTION DIDN'T WORK!

Angry residents said the stretch of 109th Ave. is popular with racers. [...]

A Department of Transportation spokesman said there had been seven accidents at the intersection since 2003, but it did not meet the federal standards for an additional traffic light or stop sign.

In that case I nominate 109th Avenue for a road diet, using other safety strategies not blocked by the MUTCD.

At first I thought they were being obnoxious and honking at me. But yesterday I realized what was actually happening, when a few Black Cars pulled in front of me and honked, in a couple of cases speeding up again and in one case pulling to the curb.

That quick honk is a signal to people standing on the curb. If they "get it," the driver picks them up for an illegal cab ride. If not, they keep going.

My guess is that with fewer deals getting done, the Black Car-using crowd has fewer reasons to flit around Manhattan to meetings. I hear taxi business is down too. Sounds like an economic belwether to me -- low safety net service providers fighting over the remaining scraps.