A weekly roundup of good deeds, missteps, heroic feats and epic failures in the tri-state region and beyond.
Winners
New York Assemblywoman Deborah Glick and State Senator Brad Hoylman — Two champions of sustainable transportation are practicing what they preach! Assemblywoman Glick and Senator Hoylman are two of several members of the New York State Legislature who carpool together to Albany.
Glastonbury (CT) Council Member Whit C. Osgood — The Glastonbury Town Council is moving forward with plans to install sidewalks along a route that currently has none, thanks to support from Osgood, who said “This is a village center… It should be pedestrian and bike-friendly.”
Williamsburg pedestrians and cyclists — A section of Kent Avenue in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood, where 82 percent percent of drivers exceed the speed limit, will undergo a transformation intended to curb speeding and fill a gap in Brooklyn’s network of cycle tracks.
Losers
New York transit riders — Diverting transit funds to other parts of the State Budget might become an annual tradition if Governor Cuomo’s draft budget is approved. The budget would move $40 million in dedicated transit funds to plug a hole in the General Fund — and beginning in fiscal year 2016, $20 million in transit funds would be available for the same purpose every year.
New Jersey taxpayers — The Garden State was ranked last in long-term fiscal solvency, “which measures how the state will be able to meet its long-term obligations like… infrastructure maintenance, and budget solvency, which tracks the ability to raise revenue to cover its fiscal year expenses.” New Jersey also has the third most state debt per capita in the nation.
NYPD’s 24th Precinct — The Upper West Side precinct ticketed 18 pedestrians last weekend for “jaywalking,” including “84-year-old Kang Wong, a Chinese immigrant who could not understand the cops and was left bloodied when he resisted.”
Why is ticketing jaywalkers in the “Losers” section, and why is jaywalking in quote marks?
Jaywalking is wrong, and it is dangerous. The city’s efforts to stop it are a good thing.
When I was little, it was drilled into us to “CROSS ON THE GREEN, NOT IN BETWEEN.” It was and is OUR responsibility to cross the street safely, just as it was and is a driver’s responsibility to drive safely.
And not for nothing, but anyone who wants to live here, has to live by our rules, especially universal ones like “don’t fight a police officer.”