Your weekly guide to heroic and villainous actions in tri-state transportation and development.

Winners

ConnDOT—Earlier this month, the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield rail project received a “finding of no significant impact” statement in response to its environmental assessment, bringing the region significantly closer to having a true commuter rail system. The Connecticut Department of Transportation anticipates a 2016 launch for the increased rail service.

Dunellen and East Orange, New Jersey—This week, the New Jersey Department of Transportation designated Dunellen and East Orange as transit villages, setting the municipalities up to receive technical assistance and some funding priority for transit-oriented development.

Tony Danza—Mr. Danza showed every mayoral candidate who’s the boss (you know we had to go there) when, outside of the Premium Rush premiere, he considered a mayoral run. His platform?

“We need less cars,” he said.” I support the bike-share program. And rollerblades – I’m a skater. You can’t even take a cab from 50th to 70th street now. If it was up to me, I’d go for the congestion price,” he said…

Danza later clarified that he is not really mulling over mayoral candidacy.

Losers

Payroll mobility tax opponents—After a judge ruled that New York State’s payroll mobility tax, and a few smaller levies that also support the MTA, were unconstitutional, opponents of the tax were overjoyed. Yet, facing a gaping hole in the MTA’s budget, they offered no realistic plan for funding the MTA (no, rebounding taxes and internal efficiencies do not constitute a realistic plan to fill a revenue hole of over a billion dollars).

New York taxpayers—A few years after winning a significant city and state taxpayer-funded aid package for parking garages near Yankee Stadium, the Bronx Parking Development Company’s lots remain unpopular, with occupancy rates below 50%. Now, Crain’s reports that there is talk of tearing the garages down.