Tuesday’s Headlines: ‘Criminal Mischief’ and Punishment Edition

Remember this spicy bit of criminal mischief posted by our editor last week? Well, you’d better remember it, because the Manhattan district attorney consultant depicted in the video resigned after an internal investigation that began after we told the world about his plate-covering shenanigans on Friday:

Early on Monday, a spokesperson for District Attorney Alvin Bragg said an investigation had been launched. And then later in the day, the same spokesperson said the worker in question — a former NYPD hostage negotiator who was more recently an “hourly consultant” for (and placard recipient from) the DA — had resigned.

Perhaps there’s a lesson out there for all of you public servants who are defacing or covering your license plate. It’s wrong and you will be caught … if not by the authorities, at least by our old man editor, apparently.

In other news from a slow Monday:

• Attacks on subway and bus workers hit a four-year high last year. (NY Post)
• The trial of Sayfullo Saipov, who could face the death penalty for his alleged terror attack on the Hudson River Greenway in 2017, began with a startling admission from the defense lawyer: “He did it intentionally.” (NY Times)
• More EV “superhubs” are coming, but amNY‘s coverage noted something important: “The selected sites will not require any rezonings … and thus will avoid the city’s drawn-out and costly Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.” Translation: the needs of car owners just swept aside any concern that locals might have about the environmental impact of scores of more cars driving through the neighborhood to get to a plug. Do we never learn? (Crain’s also covered.)
• Meanwhile, electrification of freight trucks is going too slowly, argues this amNY op-ed.
• New video has emerged that shows the hit-and-run crash that injured a man in Crown Heights may indeed have been intentional. (Collive.com)
• The mother of Kala Santiago, the cyclist who was killed by a truck driver who was wrongly on a non-truck route, wants answers and accountability. (WCBS)
• There’s a long way to go until New Jersey gets permission to expand the Turnpike in yet another insane highway widening project, but this NJ.com op-ed argues that even if all the traffic was electric, the project would still be bad for the environment.
• Like Streetsblog, Hell Gate covered the “visioning session” held by Mets owner Steve Cohen, who wants to built a casino just to the west of Citi Field. We focused on transportation, but Neil deMause’s story was broader.
• Our Streetfilms colleague Clarence Eckerson Jr. finally got that profile in his alumni magazine. Who knew that he majored in rhetoric? (Yes, that was a rhetorical question!)
• And, speaking of profiles, in case you missed it, Bicycling magazine did a nice profile on Courtney Williams, aka “The Brown Bike Girl.”