Tuesday’s Headlines: No Surprise Edition

The good news: There’s no more free lunch — for car owners — on about a dozen blocks on the Upper West Side.

The bad news: drivers will scream bloody murder now that the Department of Transportation has begun implementing its Smart Curbs initiative between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue and between West 73rd and West 86th streets.

The West Side Spirit drew first dud with its story (I Love the Upper West Side soon followed) claiming the conversion of “free” parking spaces into paid parking was “installed in [the[ dead of night.” That’s factually true (the switch did happen abruptly, like most switches, from “off” to “on”), but not actually true, given that the DOT has been talking about it since 2023, as we reported (and then mocked as too small an initiative in 2024).

But facts be damned. Our guess is that drivers will quickly get the ear of the New York Post (in three, two, one…) and this whole idea of charging drivers a tiny fee for the public space they seize for their cars will become a new cause célèbre, prompting the Adams administration to throw its own DOT under the bus again.

In other news:

• Speaking of Mayor Adams betraying his own DOT, Dave Colon had yet another busway scoop yesterday, this time about Hizzoner’s failure to make the lives of Bronx residents better. (Could that explain why the mayor is polling in the single digits?)
• The only bus love triangle that we like is when we can catch the B47 and make a clean transfer to the B52 near Broadway. But this one is good, too. (NY Post)
• The New York Post isn’t happy unless every atom of fossil fuel is burned and the smoke billows over Rupert’s mansion. That paper can’t even find a way to appreciate batteries, now. Where’s the Energizer Bunny when we need it?
• It’s the Summer of Hell for PATH train users. Yes, it’s time for congestion pricing for people driving into New Jersey to fund transit. (NJ.com)
• Yes (for the 100th time), the Second Avenue Subway is happening (there was some minor news yesterday). (NYDN, NY Times, The City). Of course, the Paper of Wreckage found fault (times two!) with restarting construction of a subway line we’ve been waiting for for decades.
• Nobody likes a fare hike, but the express bus on Staten Island provides good service, not that amNY remembers its prior coverage.
• The Post covered the effort to bring elevators to the Smith-Ninth Street station in Brooklyn, the highest in the world.