“Metro and 30 other transit agencies across the country may have to pay billions of dollars to large banks as years-old financing deals unravel…. AIG had guaranteed deals between transit agencies and banks under which the banks made upfront payments that the agencies agreed to repay over time. But AIG’s financial problems have invalidated the company’s guarantees, putting the deals in technical default and allowing the banks to ask for all their money at once. In Metro’s case, the regional transit agency could face up to $400 million in payments….”

http://gothamist.com/2008/10/24/pedestrian_fatally_struck_on_bowery.php

New York already has garbage trucks that are a safer size for city streets: the ones driven on sidewalks by the parks department. So. Get more of those, use them for all street-side garbage collection, and drive only electric golf-truck vehicles in parks. Emissions would be a wash (probably). Less running down of elderly New Yorkers would occur. Am I missing something?

A spokeswoman for the F.B.I., Monica McLean, said that the agency follows government policy and makes drivers pay. She added, “Parking in New York City is a huge challenge. Parking facilities do not exist for the majority of F.B.I. vehicles assigned to the New York division.”

Office space in New York City is a pretty big challenge too, but I’m guessing that office space exists for all of the FBI staff. Why would you buy a bunch of cars and not arrange for parking for all of them – unless of course you were relying on lenient treatment from the NYPD?