Tuesday’s Headlines: Cuomo’s Edifice Complex Edition

The big news yesterday was Gov. Cuomo’s heavy lift. No, we’re not talking about his big Penn Station announcement, but how he heroically rescued a trapped driver after just happening on a crash on the BQE after his Penn Station announcement.

Zack Fink broke the news on Twitter, but then it was a race to see whether the tabloids would hail the governor as a modern-day Superman or a showboating camera hog.

Cuomo “sprang into action,” the Daily News reported, starting off on the Clark Kent side only to quote a first responder who said the governor was trying to “play” hero. The Post played it without snark. Even the Times got into the action, “Driver in Distress? It’s Cuomo to the Rescue (Again),” the headline read.

Gothamist was suitably jaded about these, and all of Cuomo’s other, car antics.

OK, all in good fun. But at least there was plenty of coverage of Cuomo’s larger announcement on expanding the capacity of Penn Station (Streetsblog, NYDN, NY Post, skeptically, the Wall Street Journal, amNY). The coverage included a thankfully straightforward, entirely non-backwards, regular, old-fashioned hard news story from the new Times transportation reporter Christina Goldbaum. (Let’s hope she stays that way.)

It’s a good thing Cuomo had a good day because his MTA had a disastrous one, subway-wise, thanks to “human” error (is there any other kind?). (NYDN, NY Post, amNY, Gothamist)

There was even a little more news:

• Like Streetsblog, the Post was confused by Mayor de Blasio defending his crackdown on e-bike-riding delivery workers as “common sense” — when, in fact, there’s no sense about it.
• Great tabloid minds think alike, part II: Like Streetsblog’s old former Postie editor, the Post also reported that Day 1 of the city’s alleged placard crackdown was a bust.
• Thankfully, the headline on Gothamist’s Cellino and Barnes break-up story properly scanned (reminding our editor of the time he wrote jingles for the longtime legal partners).
• Rep. Jerry Nadler’s would-be challenger Holly Lynch wrote up a pro-transit, pro-livability ad in City & State.

Tuesday should be partly sunny and not as cold. Enjoy.