Thursday’s Headlines: Special NYPD Edition

Our curiosity was piqued yesterday when the NYPD’s Transportation Bureau Chief Philip Rivera tweeted some news about a fairly large bust of illegal mopeds at their point of sale:

Thirteen mopeds?! We almost couldn’t believe it … especially given that we have been obsessed with the NYPD’s seemingly failed effort to crack down on the sale of illegal mopeds at the brick-and-mortar locations where they seem to operate with impunity.

Indeed, after a Council hearing on Monday where reps from the Department of Consumer and Workplace Protection talked about their enforcement effort, we asked the NYPD, “How many illegal mopeds has NYPD seized from retail stories this year?”

The answer: Five.

Five. All year. And that’s down from 152 last year.

So, obviously, hearing about 13 mopeds — which would be almost triple the entire haul from stores all year — being seized in one location in one day surprised us.

But then again, so did the notion that the NYPD’s public information office only reported that five illegal mopeds had been seized all year. Especially since the 104th Precinct put out this tweet in July:

We asked the NYPD for more information, but heard crickets.

Speaking of the NYPD, the agency tweeted something else really interesting yesterday to mark the swearing-in of a new Police Academy class:

Is it me, or is six months of training completely insufficient for what is obviously a demanding job, both personally and professionally, not to mention one that requires a deep understanding of New York history, culture, ethnicities, customs, sociology and languages, as well as the obvious training imperatives regarding the use of force, de-escalation techniques, understanding a struggling person’s mental health, how to drive in an emergency (and not park in bike lanes), non-verbal communication, among so many other things.

Six months? That’s literally nothing. According to Indeed, six months is the same amount of time it takes to become a brick mason, a gas station manager, a funeral director, a personal trainer and other jobs that are certainly important and vital, but on which public safety and the city’s moral compass do not depend.

But maybe that’s just me. Comment below if you think six months is enough time to turn some green kid, often from the suburbs, into a New York City cop.

In other news from another slow day:

• Today is the final day of the city’s Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program, which we (and we alone) have been covering on a day-by-day basis. Yesterday’s story showed the way forward. And today, we have an exclusive from the architect of the program, Brad Lander. Plus, the Streetsblog Photoshop desk has been working overtime about the law’s sunset (see image, right).
• Janno Lieber said what he’s said before: A delay in congestion pricing means delays in bringing the subway up to a state of good repair. (NYDN, NY Times)
• Eyes on the Park: There’s a new walking trail in Brooklyn. (Gothamist, with surprisingly few pictures)
• Students with disabilities are suing the city for better transportation. (NYDN)
• Crain’s and Patch got a second day story out of the federal funding for the Second Avenue Subway.
• Jessie Singer had a great take on the massive crash in Louisiana: