Ben Fried

The headlines this morning were sobering for everyone who depends on New York City's transit system. Half-baked alternatives to the Ravitch plan are popping up left and right as bridge toll opponents dig in their heels, despite the whopping service cuts and fare hikes that loom for their constituents. With Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith bringing talks to a standstill, Streetsblog asked Gene Russianoff, senior lawyer for the Straphangers Campaign and veteran of many a fight over MTA financing, about what comes next.

The Post reported last week that the Cross-Bronx Expressway -- perhaps the most infamous urban freeway on the planet -- has earned the title "America's worst highway." According to traffic analysis firm INRIX, several of the nation's top bottlenecks are located on the Cross-Bronx:

A reader forwards this email from Assembly member Jim Brennan's office, apparently sent in response to the "Keep New York Moving" petition in support of an MTA rescue plan:

This afternoon, the State Senate is holding a hearing at Brooklyn Borough Hall to review the Ravitch Commission's MTA rescue plan. Albany has until March 25th to stave off major fare hikes and service cuts, a doomsday scenario that would spell disaster for transit riders and choke New York City streets with more auto traffic.

While we've been focusing on the stimulus action in Washington this week, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign has kept an eye on the region's state DOTs, which will dispense billions for transportation infrastructure. On Wednesday Tri-State filed suit to prevent the New Jersey Turnpike Authority from widening the Garden State Parkway, a project the agency intends to fund in part with stimulus cash. Tri-State has also kept the pressure on Connecticut's DOT -- which never made its wish list public -- to invest in transit, bike, and pedestrian improvements.

One thing we've learned from the stimulus saga is that many state DOTs still haven't kicked the highway habit. New York's state DOT is one of the exceptions: Expansion projects are mercifully absent from its stimulus wish list, according to a recent analysis by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.

Just how bad are the service cuts and layoffs that transit agencies across the country will soon be forced to enact? Severe enough to weaken the national economy, the New York Times reports -- all while Congress pieces together a stimulus plan that does nothing to address the problem:

In response to the crash that killed two young children on a Chinatown sidewalk yesterday, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and State Senator Daniel Squadron have released a nine-point plan to improve safety on the neighborhood's streets. From Stringer's press release:

Last month the Brooklyn Paper asked around for some person-on-the-street perspectives about how to fund our transit system, and look what they found. Talk to Brooklynites who aren't ensconced in their cars, and you get some pretty consistent answers: No one thought drivers should get a free pass.

It's primary day, and when it comes to local elections in New York, that means the next few hours bear more significance than what happens in November. Gotham Gazette has the most comprehensive guide to all the contested primaries in the city. From a livable streets perspective, the three Manhattan races stand out.