Wednesday’s Headlines: Take a Bike Edition

Who needs a car?

I was biking home on the gorgeous Fourth Avenue protected bike lane on Tuesday when I spotted this musician biking … with a Sousaphone!

Naturally, I asked the obvious question:

“People probably always tell you to get a car, right?”

“Yes,” said the artist (I didn’t get their name because I’m a journalist first and a human being second). “But this is how I go to gigs!”

The encounter reminded me of all the people always saying, “But I need my car…!”

Really? Here’s me at Costco the other day:

Am I saying that you never need a car? Of course not! No one is saying that there aren’t times when a car is a great tool. For instance, the other day, I helped my recently divorced friend move a huge table from Park Slope to Williamsburg and, yes, we put it into the trunk of his mini-van. (Sidebar: Moving divorced friends is the subject of Jimmy and the Jaywalkers’ new hit, “Moving Day.”)

But do you need your car for every single trip? Take it from a Sousaphone player — you don’t!

In other news:

• Know your enemy edition: Council Member Vickie Paladino’s appearance on Matt Gaetz’s One America Network show on congestion pricing is unwatchable unless you’re prepared to become a crazy person screaming facts at the TV.
• The facts? Congestion pricing is the opposite of “elitist” (to quote the Transportation Secretary). It’s helping working class people. (Vox)
• And the MTA has some friends in court, too. (amNY)
• Can the Post get its rants straight? Usually, the Paper of Wreckage is complaining about traffic caused by bike lanes. But on Tuesday, the editors ignored the fact that double-parked cars and trucks cause the majority of congestion … by slamming a Queens lawmaker’s attempt to solve the problem with the appropriate user fee.
• Is Mayor Adams really going to appoint congestion pricing foe Randy Mastro to a key deputy mayor post? (NYDN)
• Carnage all over Brooklyn. (Brooklyn Paper)
• Tisch does it again! The Police Commissioner (and future mayor?) fired a top official in the NYPD for covering up an off-duty drunk driving crash. (NYDN)
• Here’s a novel NIMBY approach. Um, you people know that skateparks have existed for a long time, right? (NY Post)
• Good news: The city DOT’s weight sensors on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway are working. (NY Times, NYDN, amNY)
• House Democrats can’t even stand up for electric cars in the teeth of President Trump’s war on sustainable transport. (NY Post)
• And, finally, enjoy these two looks at the awesome new open gangway G train. First, our own Dave “Showtime!” Colon and then the MTA’s own video. (Plus, the Daily News, Gothamist and amNY covered it.)