Tuesday’s Headlines: The Last Day of 2019 Edition

There really was a paucity of news on the livable streets front yesterday, as it seemed the entire city was getting ready for 2020.

But here was an interesting tidbit: The mayor’s Sunday schedule included a non-press event: the mayor attended the wake for Andreas Stylianou, who was one of six people killed in road violence in a 48-hour period last week. Stylianou was killed by a driver as he crossed Third Avenue near Seventh Street in Park Slope.

Now, this particular mayor hasn’t been to a funeral or a vigil for any of the 29 cyclists who have died so far this year, nor did we have any record of him attending any other memorial for the victims of road violence. So we asked City Hall, and there was a perfectly good explanation: the mayor knew Stylianou personally.

“The mayor knew Mr. Stylianou for a long time — as he was his mechanic,” said City Hall spokeswoman Olivia Lapeyrolerie.

Interesting.

Tuesday is the last day of a dreadful year. On the weather front, at least New Year’s Eve Day will be dry, albeit a little cold.

• Here’s the new super-duper security system to protect pedestrians on the Pulaski Bridge. (NY Post)
• So Gov. Cuomo vetoed a bill that would have allowed New York City to experiment with e-scooters, but the Long Island town of Hempstead appears to be moving forward anyway. (Newsday).
• We were happy to see that the customer is indeed always right. According to Clarence Eckerson at Streetsfilms, his most-watched video of the year was his tremendous bike porno from Utrecht, which got nearly a half-million views! Watch it here. It will make you thrilled by what can be achieved — and very sad that we haven’t achieved it here.
• Those cameras on B44 buses are finally issuing actual tickets. (amNY)
• The Brooklyn Eagle, revitalized under editor Ned Berke, is hiring a reporter whose sole beat is buses. (Hey, stop cutting into our monopoly!).