Friday’s Headlines: What’s Next, Locusts? Edition

We’ll keep this short because our old man editor is ornery! In a year that saw him get COVID, then separate his shoulder in a crash with a cat, he now has an impacted molar that will be removed by barbaric methods modern dentistry next week. So until then, expect us to keep it short, lest he bellow like an old man in a silent movie (see photo above).

So here’s the news:

• Bicycle delivery workers — who deliver goods at low pay to far wealthier New Yorkers who then stand idly by while the NYPD harasses and tickets them — had the second protest in as many weeks, this time at the 72nd Street subway station on the Upper West Side and in City Hall Park on Thursday (NYDN, ILoveTheUpperWestSide). The protest was about that harassment, but also a series of thefts of their bikes. The group also protested at the 20th Precinct station house last week. Guardian Angel founder Curtis Sliwa — with whom our editor has tangled on his radio show repeatedly — told Streetsblog that he and his red-capped crime fighters will be out in force on Friday to try to find the perps.
• The family of the Bronx woman who was run down and killed by a speeding police officer plans to sue the city for $20 million. (NYDN, NY Post)
• Road-raging cop Wayne Isaacs should be disciplined, says the CCRB. (NY Post)
• The mayor already said he wants curbside dining to be a permanent fixture of New York life, but the Council rubber-stamped it. (amNY)
• New York will be just fine, says the Regional Plan Association (but it won’t be automatic!). (Gothamist)
• It’s a good news/bad news thing: The good news is that the DOT will build a protected bike lane on Brooklyn’s Parkside Avenue. The bad news? The two-way lane is just six feet wide — WAAAAAY too narrow for safe cycling. Plus, the rendering that DOT gave the Brooklyn Paper is deceptive. Parkside consists of one very wide travel lane in each direction, plus a very wide parking lane in each direction. More space for cyclists could easily have been made.
• In case you missed it, the people who don’t have alternatives to the subway are still using the subway. (Politico)
• And finally, a reminder: The Transportation Alternatives “Vision Zero Cities” conference starts on Monday, Oct. 19. To register, click here.