Tuesday’s Headlines: News Biz Contractions Edition

We don’t usually gaze at the navel in our morning media roundup, but two unrelated (or are they?!) stories caught our eyes yesterday.

First, we learned that WCBS-880 (which has been featuring Streetsblog reporters more and more lately) will shift from its all-news format to sports, thanks to a purchase by ESPN. That’s not only a huge loss for all us news junkies, but also a loss for city journalism, as two dozen reporters lost their jobs. The Daily News and amNY covered it.

Then the New York Times announced that it won’t be making endorsements in local races anymore, upsetting many people who care about local news, like Paul Newell:

Now, look, you know that we don’t always share the Gray Lady’s car-centric world view, but her endorsements did matter in local races. But without the Times at least holding local officials accountable (yes, for safe streets and better transit), there’s now only one place that will matter for livable streets-minded progressives.

No, not Streetsblog — we can’t endorse individual candidates. So if you want help figuring out which politician really cares about improving buses, creating great public space or simply getting drivers to stop killing us, check out StreetsPAC, the only political action committee devoted to the movement for livable streets and transportation equity.

Tell ’em we sent you.

In other news:

• Kudos to Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine for shining a light on the problem of “ghost cars,” something we pretty much do every day here at Streetsblog and in our private lives. I personally can’t wait to go bust plate-covering scofflaws with the Beep (hint, hint). (NY Post, followed by amNY, Gothamist)
• Meanwhile, our friend Jehiah Czebotar pointed out that the problem of unreadable tags might be worse than Levine thinks.
• Both the Times and Streetsblog covered the “hot bus stops” story.
• The Post followed our stories about the demise of outdoor dining.
• Everyone covered the new FDNY Commissioner, but Hell Gate won the headline contest: “This White Guy From a Private Security Firm Will Definitely Fix the FDNY’s Deep-Seated Culture of Sexism.”
• The NYPD is being sued again for how it handles protests. (Hell Gate)
• So Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer is such a transit champion that he’s demanding refunds for bad Amtrak and NJ Transit service … yet he opposes congestion pricing, which would improve transit. Whaddya gonna do? (amNY)
• The mayor is finally coming out swinging for his City of Yes housing plan (NY Post), which we’ve covered positively (see Fabian?), but also pointed out is a big “no” with voters.