Wednesday’s Headlines: Happy Anniversary Edition

Streetsblog really does get action. Yes, the NYPD, MTA and other policing agencies took a victory lap yesterday to celebrate their 100th joint enforcement action against “ghost cars,” but Streetsblog’s contribution to exposing the crime of covered or defaced plates was very much the subtext of the presser.

Sure, officials touted the 5,340 vehicles they’ve seized and the “millions” of dollars in unpaid tolls and penalties they’ve recouped since March 2024 (Patch and amNY also covered it). But it was clear, everyone was standing on the shoulders of giants.

“Ghost cars have plagued our city for too long, and the NYPD has been listening to New Yorkers who are telling us loud and clear they want these vehicles off our streets,” NYPD Transportation Bureau Chief Ola Obe told reporters. No, she didn’t mention Streetsblog, but, come on, it was obvious that she was name-checking-by-association! We were, after all, the New Yorkers who were doing all the loud and clear talking!

We even wrote a hit song about it! (I mean, 1,077 Spotify fans can’t be wrong, right?)

The New Yorker wrote it up! So did the Times! And Ira Glass put us on “This American Life”!

So we also took a victory lap yesterday. And just for laughs, we asked the NYPD what it does with cars it seizes. After all, the mayor and Commissioner Tisch love to do photo ops whenever the NYPD crushes electric bikes and mopeds that it has seized from delivery workers, so of course they crush the much-more-dangerous vehicles they seize with covered or defaced plates, right?

LOL. “The NYPD does not crush or destroy cars,” a police spokesperson replied, declining to provide a name. Cars whose owners owe toll money are taken into custody by the MTA. Cars whose drivers are arrested for other reasons are taken by the NYPD and either eventually returned to their owners or auctioned off … to kill and maim again.

In other news:

• Speaking of Streetsblog getting action, the Red Hook Pool did indeed open on Sunday. (ABC7)
• Friend of Streetsblog Aaron Gordon and his colleagues at Bloomberg CityLab did a great analysis of NJ Transit’s epic Summer of Hell.
• Elected officials in Astoria support the 31st Street bike lane. (QNS)
• The Trump Administration has found another way to penalize the MTA for congestion pricing: accusing the agency of endangering workers. (Gothamist, NYDN, amNY)
• You gotta love Chappell Roan for how much she loves the subway. (amNY)
• And, finally, you’ve probably seen that viral video of the two influencers who were having a nice burger (or 10) only to be mowed down by a car driver. Well, our friend Shabazz Stuart had a good take on the web: