Until last fall, the state’s planning for a new Tappan Zee Bridge was a model of public outreach. It included over 280 public meetings and one outreach center open full-time on each side of the bridge.

Under Governor Andrew Cuomo, however, the project has been “fast-tracked.” Transit was axed from the bridge and the project is hurtling forward without basic information being provided to the public. Tellingly, the outreach centers have been shuttered; shown above is the Nyack site as of yesterday.

The sign in the window says “Space For Rent.” Let us know in the comments what it should really say.

Photo: Clarence Eckerson

This was the scene in Jackson Heights yesterday, where Mayor Bloomberg, Anthony Weiner, and the top dog on Prospect Park West, Senator Chuck Schumer, joined a bevy of other pols to contest the surprisingly low Census counts in Brooklyn and Queens. (That’s Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez between Bloomberg and Schumer.)

During the presser, the Senator was extremely chatty about a recent bike ride through the neighborhood, humorously pointing out how his impressions just didn’t jibe with the Census numbers showing scant 0.1 percent population growth in Queens over the last decade: “Incredibly, I was just riding my bike yesterday through Middle Village, Woodside, Maspeth, Elmhurst and Jackson Heights, and as I biked all I noticed was rows and rows of abandoned homes everywhere and there is nobody on the streets.”

Afterward, as the Times reported today, Schumer clammed up when questions turned to the bike lane in front of his house on Prospect Park West, which he has reportedly lobbied against. His wife, Iris Weinshall, is closely affiliated with the groups currently suing the city to remove the lane. “I am not commenting,” was his refrain. According to the Times, Schumer’s office had expressly forbidden questions about the bike lane at the presser.

In case you’re wondering, Schumer does comment about bike projects, just not ones in front of his house. Here’s an excerpt from a letter his office sent just last week, urging the freight rail company CSX to sell some land for a rail trail link in Dutchess County:

“The Walkway has transformed the City of Poughkeepsie into a destination, allowing local businesses to flourish during an economic downturn, and I am confident the extension of the Walkway to the Greater Rail Trail will only increase economic activity in the region,” Schumer said in his letter.

Okay, back to the caption contest: What is Chuck Schumer saying in this picture? Leave your entries in the comments.

Photo courtesy of the Daily Politics

Why is Rochester Mayor and lieutenant governor-in-waiting Robert Duffy presenting this novelty oversized parking placard to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver?

The occasion was a ribbon-cutting for a parking structure that just re-opened in downtown Rochester. Back in 2006, an exit ramp of the South Avenue Garage collapsed. Miraculously, no cars were harmed, writes the local NBC affiliate. Now, thanks to $12 million in state assistance, the structure is back at full strength performing its essential task: generating traffic.

According to the City of Rochester’s website, Assembly members David Gantt and Joseph Morelle were also indispensable in securing the needed funds, which were disbursed through Empire State Development and the New York State Dormitory Authority.

Silver flew over to Rochester last week for the ribbon-cutting, telling the assembled, “For there to be any growth in job creation, there must be a strong foundation of infrastructure that supports economic activity.” (In other news, the MTA capital plan has a $9 billion hole, and New York City transit riders are putting up with worse service thanks in part to the state’s theft of more than $100 million in dedicated transit taxes.)

Even from this oblique angle, you can tell that the speaker is absolutely delighted to receive this token of Rochester’s gratitude. But those of us who didn’t attend can only guess at the exchange that took place between Duffy and Silver at the very moment the picture was snapped.

Give us your captions in the comments.

UPDATE: I know a Marty Barfowitz victory is sort of predictable, but Barfowitz wins. (Note: The last time we did a caption contest, someone beat Barfowitz. It can be done.)

Hey, here's some of that pulse-pounding New York City energy that a few people wish we still had in the middle of Times Square.

Instead of propelling a vehicle through midtown streets, the energy embedded in this taxi's tankful of gasoline has been converted into giant fireballs, molten metal, and a black cloud of vaporized God-knows-what. City Room reports that, thankfully, there were no injuries, and in fact, no one really batted an eye. ("This was routine," said the FDNY spokesman.) I guess we're just more accustomed to the sight of exploding taxis than people sitting outside on chairs, talking to each other. Gawker has another pic of the taxi after further combustion.

Captions?

Update: Here's some video, also via Gawker. I'm declaring the winner of the caption contest to be "curly" -- nice TerraPass reference.

Hat tip to Liz Benjamin at the Daily Politics for this snapshot of four state senators who've helped concoct a stopgap, toll-less MTA funding plan that does nothing to address the imminent decline of New York's transit system. Lest they be accused of completely shortchanging the future, they say maintenance and expansion can be taken care of next year, by raising personal income taxes throughout the 12-county MTA region. Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith is calling it all "sound practice." Politicker's Jimmy Vielkind has more from Smith.

The grinners, from left to right, are Carl Kruger, Ruben Diaz, Sr., Pedro Espada, Jr., and Hiram Monserrate (yes, that Hiram Monserrate). When these men held the Democratic takeover of the Senate hostage, they styled themselves the "four amigos." Now that they've done their level best to hamper investment in subways and buses, all to preserve a free ride to Manhattan for the car-driving minority, I think it's time for a new nickname. Something to do with horsemen, perhaps?

Watch this vid touting a contraption called the "SpeedFit," then get your punchlines ready. We like this one from the YouTube peanut gallery:

they already have that. its called walking.

Hat tip to Burbia by way of Andrew Sullivan.

This tipster photo was snapped last Tuesday, September 2, on Broadway south of 42 Street.

Who has a good caption?