Monday’s Headlines: ‘Shame Shame Shame’ Edition

Times are tough, so we’re not going to draw any conclusions about the person who stole an 11-year-old’s brand new bike near N. Seventh and Berry streets in Brooklyn the other day, as Transportation Alternatives Executive Director reported over the weekend.

But we will share his parent’s outrage — and go one further: What if the reverberations of this crime go beyond mere disappointment at being robbed of his “wild dragon, his flying carpet, his shiny motorcycle” — and turn this child against cycling forever and turn him into, perish the thought, a driver?

If anyone has more info on the case, please email us at tips@streetsblog.org.

In other news:

• The big story on Sunday was the morning derailment of an A train (NYDN, NY Times), but the mystery was solved pretty quickly: witnesses had seen a man tossing debris onto the tracks. The Bronx man was later arrested (NY Post). And late on Sunday, the MTA said the A train would be running normally on Monday, so all’s well that could have ended very poorly.
• A minibus and an Aston Martin sportscar collided in Brooklyn early in the morning on Sunday. Who are you going to blame? The Daily News played it straight. The Post blamed the bus driver.
• It’s not as inspirational as the “Black Lives Matter” murals on six New York streets, but someone painted “Fuck Cuomo and de Blasio” on a Williamsburg street on Sunday. The city quickly removed the exercise of free speech (NY Post) — or a possible comment on the rising rate of shootings (NY Post).
• In a more positive bit of vandalism, someone turned the 50th Street subway station into a tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg — though, presumably, it could be for another Ruth. (NY Post, Gothamist)
• The Times offered an anatomy of a New York City street protest, complete with special praise for bike blockers. The Paper of Record also wrote up a sympathetic piece about bus drivers who are increasingly harassed for doing their job.
• A pedestrian was killed when a car wash worker lost control of a vehicle in Cypress Hills on Friday. (NYDN)
• The MTA hasn’t issued any summonses for people riding without a mask. (Gothamist)
• That clock in Union Square that used to run forwards and backwards now offers a countdown to the day when global warming will become irreversible. Apparently, we have about seven years. (NY Times)
• Friend of Streetsblog Steve Bodzin tried out the new temporary protected bike lane on Northern Boulevard and found it (mostly) good, as we did last week. (Via Twitter)
• And, finally, don’t miss Streetfilms’ short video on The Brown Bike Girl’s hugely successful bike fix day in East New York: