A weekly roundup of good deeds, missteps, heroic feats and epic failures in the tri-state region and beyond.
Winners
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio — The mayor announced that the City will fund a $100 million project to help close the gap on the east side of Manhattan’s Waterfront Greenway, and he also signed a pair of bills which “represent the most comprehensive environmental justice legislative package of any city in the nation.”
NYC Council Transportation Chair Ydanis Rodriguez — Thanks to the efforts of Councilman Rodriguez, who for a second year spearheaded New York City’s Car-Free Day, 30 blocks of Broadway in Midtown Manhattan were completely car-free for a few hours on Saturday — and it was awesome.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority — Citing the “urgent reality” of climate change, the MTA has released a report on how the agency is “preparing for sea level rise, storm surges and other climate-related dangers to this coastal region.”
New York pedestrians and bicyclists — Governor Cuomo announced last week that the state would invest $112 million in walking and biking infrastructure.
Losers
New York City subway riders — Commuters got more than their fair share of headaches from the MTA during the last few days, including a power outage in midtown Manhattan on Friday and an array of converging crises on Monday.
NJ Transit riders — Commute-induced stress, like the kind NJ Transit riders often deal with, “spills over into the workplace and probably spills over into the home,” according to an environmental psychologist at New York University.
President Donald Trump — A report from the American Public Transportation Association estimates that the president’s proposed cuts to the U.S. Department of Transportation would threaten about 800,000 jobs and reduce economic output by $90 billion. Meanwhile, a new survey found that a vast majority of U.S. mayors believe Trump’s budget would be “devastating” or “extremely painful” for their cities.
New Jersey taxpayers — The state will spend $300 million — which is roughly the cost of installing a federally-mandated positive train control system on all NJ Transit trains — to renovate the executive wing of the State House.
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