Thursday’s Headlines: Jimmy Van Bramer is Right Edition

Run, don’t walk (and definitely don’t drive) to the corner of Crescent Street and 43rd Avenue in Long Island City this morning at 8:30 to rally against illegal parking with Council Member (and future Queens Borough President?) Jimmy Van Bramer. If you’re wondering why Van Bramer picked that corner, all you had to do was Google it:

Check out what’s going on here: A double-parked United States Postal Service truck and a double-parked SUV pretty much destroy DOT’s good intentions, making the roadway increasingly unsafe for all users.

“This intersection is just one example … where illegal parking has gotten out of control. It must be stopped,” Van Bramer told us. “When cars turn our sidewalks into parking lots or block our bike lanes and crosswalks, they put pedestrians and cyclists in danger. … The NYPD must step up its enforcement and ticket and tow cars that are blatantly breaking the law. Not just sporadic ticket sweeps. We need a comprehensive, zero-tolerance policy and legislation to increase penalties.”

After the rally, Van Bramer might want to head to 30th Street and 40th Avenue, where Friend of Streetsblog @DutchLIC caught this fun video of a truck driver frustrated because his fellow drivers won’t let him in when he was trying to drive his box truck off the sidewalk.

And now, here’s the news roundup:

• Wow, that Uber/Lyft strike really fizzled out (NY Times, NY Post), which is a shame because the drivers are paid really poorly by two tech companies worth hundreds of billions.
• What could go wrong? The MTA is going to use its police force to monitor LIRR overtime. (Um, won’t that mean the cops will have to work overtime, too?). (NYDN)
• The Times had an interesting take on people who don’t pay their parking tickets.
• The Brooklyn Eagle’s sharpshooting Noah Goldberg ran the plates on a Brooklyn driving school’s car and found results he wished he hadn’t. It’s a small piece of a larger story we have to get around to: Driving schools don’t teach new drivers nearly enough about safety.
• And the Eagle’s Queens counterpart also had a nice get: The Sergeants Benevolent Association tweeted — possibly illegally — a porn video to highlight its opposition to congestion pricing. Even if you oppose congestion pricing — which cops do because they don’t like tolls because, you know, cars — the argument made by this particular tweet is, shall we say, overblown. (Hat tip to David Brand, who, with Brooklyn Eagle Editor Ned Berke are finally shaking the dust off Dozier Hasty’s torpid media empire.)
• And, finally, here are three more examples why people shouldn’t really be allowed to drive, first from the Post, then the News, and then the Post again.

• Oh, and one more thing. Our editor wanted to add a personal shout-out to New York Post Political Editor David Seifman, whose retirement party was last night at O’Lunney’s, one of two old haunts for Posties. In 45 years in the business, Seif did outstanding work covering City Hall without fear or favor (of Uncle Rupert!), but he was also a kind, calm mentor to three generations of news reporters. Former Mayor Bloomberg stopped by, as did Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer (below in photo right, presenting Seifman with an official borough proclamation). Also below, Seif checks out the fake wood given to him by his Post colleagues.