Monday’s Headlines: Newsday Finally Looks at Road Violence Edition

The big story late last week was Newsday’s three-part series on the large increase in fatal crashes on Long Island since the pandemic. The series went over a lot of well-known ground, but also had a lot to recommend in it: for one thing, it didn’t offer a collective sigh about “accidents” and it sought to provide a full look at the crisis.

But it also had some real airballs. For example:

• It quoted Robert Sinclair from the AAA — the “Thank You For Smoking” guy when it comes to cars — basically blaming drivers for all the problems, which is a tired old way of trying to deflect the impetus for change.
• Similarly, it quoted some guy from a Virginia-based police association saying that “cars and roads [are] safer than they’ve ever been,” which is true, of course, unless you count all the people dying outside of the vehicles.
• It really didn’t go very deeply on redesigning roads to force drivers to slow down, preferring to highlight how little traffic enforcement local police forces are doing out there (which is true, but safer roads work better than random cop enforcement).

Anyway, it’s a must read if you want to know how deadly the suburbs are (but you knew that). Here’s another take:

In other news from a slow, anxious weekend:

• Hate to say it, but the MTA picked the worst weekend to make the subway system not work that well at all. Others noticed:

• We’d already reported that Amazon is still selling illegal mopeds and batteries in its mammoth online store, but now the FDNY is asking the retailer to stop already. (NYDN)
• The crackdown on vendors has begun on the Brooklyn Bridge. (NY Post)
• Here’s another reason to keep trash in sealed containers. (NY Post)
• Hat tip to the Department of Transportation for saving monarch butterflies. (NY Times)
• An SUV driver smashed into the front of a Bronx advertising agency. (Bronx Times)
• Some residents (well, drivers) in East New York don’t like the DOT’s protected bike lane because it doesn’t allow them to see when they pull out of their driveway — a seemingly fair complaint, which is why street safety advocates always call for more daylighting. (CBS2)
• Speaking of SUV drivers, one who caused a crash on the Upper East Side had a long record of recklessness. (Upper East Site)
• Former federal transit man Larry Penner is already looking forward to the 2025-2044 MTA capital plan. (Mass Transit)
• Council Member Inna Vernikov was arrested for carrying a gun to a protest, the City reported, but we at Streetsblog know this is hardly her first experience misusing a deadly weapon.
• Check out the new fare gates (you can’t even call them turnstiles anymore!):

• Finally, I caught another criminal mischief-maker: