Friday’s Headlines: More Work for Gov. Hochul Edition

Yesterday, we led with Transportation Alternatives’s doorstop of an agenda for Gov. Hochul. Today, brings a more concise wish list from our parent company, Open Plans (read it here).

Like TA, Open Plans is pitching Big Ideas and keeping its eyes on multiple bills and proposals at the local, state and federal levels. The group’s agendas boils down to four key issues:

• Reforming the curb.
• Creating “more joyful and equitable public space”
• Eliminating parking mandates that force developers to add more parking than they would want, raising the cost of housing.
• Creating streets that are “more livable.”

“Public space and wellness aren’t just nice ideas — they’re central to building a thriving city,” said Sara Lind, the chief strategy officer for Open Plans (which is a sister organization of Streetsblog). “By advocating for better housing policy and people-centered street design alongside good governance and new technology, we ensure New York’s future is robust, equitable, and sustainable.”

We’ll be tracking Open Plans’s efforts through the year.

In other news:

• We were happy to see that the Daily News didn’t treat the death of Norman Fruchter as yet another slapdash story. Like us, the paper pointed out that Fruchter’s wife, Rachel, was also a victim of road violence. But our story had more details.
• The Daily News also covered the death of a Citi Bike rider, though, again, we had far more details.
• But on the story of senior Margie Salter, who was killed in a hit and run late last year, the Daily News did a very thorough job.
• Speaking of the spate of road violence, The Brooklyn Paper covered the influx of parked tractor trailers all over the borough (well, at least they’re safe when they’re parked!).
• Wow, Con Ed seems to be treating the MTA like it treats all its customers! (amNY)
• Hell Gate did the essential deep dive into the One45 development debacle and the role played by Council Member Kristin Richardson Jordan. (We appreciate the multiple Streetsblog links!)
• And Hell Gate’s lead story yesterday was about New York’s dangerous, filthy roads that are killing us.
• On the plus side, the composting program in Queens is positively cleaning up. (Gothamist)
• A member of the Connecticut legislature was killed by a wrong-way driver. (NY Times)
• And, finally, there was another crash on the narrow shared bike and pedestrian path on the Queensboro Bridge, which raises obvious concerns: