Thursday’s Headlines: Historic Day? Edition

Yesterday seemingly was a historic day on several scores: Our first female governor, Kathy Hochul, gave her maiden (do we use the term anymore?) State of the State Address, and the City Council elected its first Black speaker, Adrienne Adams of Queens. Last (but not least) Hochul quickened the pulse of transit advocates by announcing that the MTA would study repurposing an old rail freight line into the “Interborough Express,” a long-overdue rail or bus-rapid-transit line between Brooklyn and Queens. Gothamist, The Post, amNY and Streetsblog all wrote stories devoted to the announcement, while the Daily News and the Times wrapped a mention into their omnibus coverage of her proposals.

At this point, given pandemic-prompted work trends, isn’t the entire concept of the “central business district” an anachronism? The Times did a story over the weekend on the “stunning comeback” of the city’s real-estate market, including the statistic that “more apartments were sold in Manhattan in the third quarter of 2021 than at any other time in the last 32 years.” With Manhattan fast turning into a residential paradise, the really far-sighted announcement that we are waiting to hear is that most of island below and above the so-called Central Business District will be going private car free! Now that would truly be historic….

In other news:

• Obviously, the lead story: Here’s yet another reason why you shouldn’t own a car in New York City: They’re traps for our dear friend Rattus norvegicus. (Via Nextdoor)

• It can be done, Mayor Adams! New Brooklyn Beep Antonio Reynoso banished cars from Borough Hall Plaza:

• A motorist ran over and killed a man lying in the road on Ocean Parkway in Coney Island, mistaking him for a bag of trash. (NYDN)
• In other Coney Island news, could it be that the Times’s Metro editors read Streetsblog? We flagged this story for them on Dec. 28.

• A developer is looking to build transit-oriented towers at Brooklyn’s Broadway Junction. (City Limits)
• Streetsblog wishes that there was a movement to ban cars. Council Member Joe Borelli (Staten Island), on the other hand, sees an anti-car bogeyman at every stop light! Upon being named the minority leader of the body yesterday, he said that his role is to represent the minority: “We talk about taxes when you talk about spending,” he said. “We talk about drivers when you talk about banning cars.” Open Plans Policy Director Sara Lind immediately saw the tell:

• Finally, congratulations to former Council Member Steve Levin on his new gig … in solar: