Wednesday’s Headlines: Full Court Press Edition

What a crazy day Wednesday was! Brad Lander was arrested by ICE (and later freed), supporters of safe streets went to court to prevent the Adams administration from making Bedford Avenue less safe (ruling pending), and a Manhattan judge threw out a suburban town’s beef with congestion pricing (after they failed to show up for a hearing!).

Like I said, what a day. Meet me at bulleted list number 1:

• The Lander arrest and photos were top news from coast to coast and even overseas (NY Times, CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, NYDN, Gothamist, The City). Dean Moses of amNY deserves special praise for his pics all day long.
• The request for a temporary restraining order to prevent the Department of Transportation from removing the Bedford Avenue bike lane was also widely covered. (Streetsblog; Gothamist, less colorfully; News12)
• And Dave Colon put the punctuation mark on the Town of Hempstead’s lame suit.

Wednesday will end with two big events: First, at 6 p.m., Streetsblog reporter Sophia Lebowitz and her aging legend boss will go to the National Arts Club to accept an award from the Silurians Press Club for their investigation into fake chaplains.

At the same time, Transportation Alternatives and other street safety advocates will rally along the doomed three-block portion of Bedford Avenue between Willoughby and Flushing avenues.

And then, who knows? Depending on what happens in court, the DOT might start digging up the bike lane after 10 p.m. (according to “no parking” signs that were installed on Tuesday).

The Streetsblog staff will be out in force, and the award winners will straggle over later, ensconced in the vapors of glory (and the National Arts Club open bar).

In other news:

• Mixed signals from Amtrak: Talk of more service on Long Island was in amNY, but the struggling rail system is also talking about cutting $300 million in repairs from the profitable Northeast Corridor, according to NJ.com.
• DoorDash isn’t only funneling money to Andrew Cuomo, but to Adrienne Adams, too. (The City)
• The People’s Policy Project doesn’t like free buses.
• Mayor Adams banned a Daily News reporter from his open press briefings, which is simply not right and will not stand. (NY Times, Hell Gate)
• Isn’t it obvious all year: Don’t drive to JFK. (amNY)
• Caribbean Life let Mayor Adams spew more propaganda about “dangerous” bike lanes.
• And, finally, damn those controversial bike lanes on highways!