{"id":332696,"date":"2026-08-29T15:41:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T15:41:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/332696\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T15:41:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T15:41:43","slug":"thursdays-headlines-lehrers-essential-blindness-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/332696\/","title":{"rendered":"Thursday’s Headlines: Lehrer’s Essential Blindness Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brian Lehrer outdid himself on his broadcast yesterday with a biased, incomplete, embittered and intellectually dishonest segment<\/a> that was purportedly about \u201cMaking Safer Streets Following Three E-Biker Deaths,\u201d but turned into yet another Lehrer broadside against e-bike users.<\/p>\n

The segment opened with Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Ben Furnas offering what we all know to be the solution to our ongoing road-safety problem: redesigning streets to limit the damage that car drivers do, slowing drivers down with reduced speed limits or speed governors, encouraging cycling and, yes, cracking down on illegally operated devices, whether on two or four wheels.<\/p>\n

But then the segment went off the rails. When Furnas\u2019s audio started crackling, Lehrer switched to taking calls, telling listeners, \u201cYou\u2019re going to notice a pattern here.\u201d The pattern? That people only want to talk about the danger of e-bikes.<\/p>\n

Except, they didn\u2019t. The very first caller made a point about street safety that didn\u2019t exactly match Lehrer\u2019s agenda, so the host cut him off to go to \u201cthe other nine lines\u201d that were filled with callers on hold wanting to complain about e-bikes.<\/p>\n

But the next caller didn\u2019t really make a point about e-bikes either, so Lehrer cut him off, too, saying, \u201cYou\u2019re starting to see the pattern, listeners,\u201d before going to another caller who wanted to talk about the danger faced by cyclists not the danger caused by them. Frustrated, Lehrer said the thinking part out loud: \u201cYou wanted to make a point about e-bikes, you told our screener \u2026?\u201d But the caller didn\u2019t really make the point, so Lehrer cut him off, too.<\/p>\n

Furnas came back on and Lehrer told him, \u201cIt wasn\u2019t as clear a bang, bang, bang point that I thought I was going to make, but here\u2019s the point, Ben: We have 10 lines. They\u2019re all full with people. We invited you because of the news that three e-bike riders were killed by hit-and-run car drivers, but all 10 of our lines are calling to say, \u2018Oh my god, these e-bikes, they\u2019re such a hazard.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Except, again, they weren\u2019t! And Lehrer wasn\u2019t happy! When a caller named Santiago said he rides a pedal-assist e-bike and that car drivers and illegal e-motos are the real danger, Lehrer stopped him and accused him of lying to the call screener. \u201cYou told my screener you thought e-bikes should be banned. Did you try to sneak your way in because you didn\u2019t think we would take your call?\u201d<\/p>\n

He told Lehrer no \u2014 he\u2019s scared of illegal high-speed motorized vehicles, but he\u2019s most terrified of cars and trucks.<\/p>\n

Lehrer also disgraced himself by reading points from the E-Vehicle Safety Alliance, an anti-cycling group that opposes efforts to rein in cars with street safety redesigns that have decades of proven success. To Lehrer in his rage about e-bikes, this is a safety group.<\/p>\n

After the show, I asked Furnas whether Lehrer\u2019s personal relationship with a pedestrian who was struck and injured by the rider of a moped \u2014\u00a0which Lehrer always calls an e-bike \u2014 has clouded his ability to see what is truly causing danger on our streets. Furnas didn\u2019t want to demean Lehrer, a powerful media figure, but he was disappointed in the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s sad and frustrating when we sort of lose sight that the number one reason why people don\u2019t make it home at the end of the day is because of speeding, dangerous car and truck drivers all over the city, more than 60 [pedestrian deaths] so far this year,\u201d Furnas told me. \u201cThat familiar, everyday tragedy fades into the background [because of] the new challenge of high-speed, illegal devices, and we get excessively focused on those things because they are new and different. \u2026 The fundamental danger is speeding cars and trucks, and we need to stay there.<\/p>\n

Lehrer has had a long career at the pinnacle of New York media. It\u2019s time for him to go out on top, like all the greats do.<\/p>\n

The Lehrer show was particularly outrageous, given that it aired only a few hours before Transportation Alternatives held a \u201cdie-in\u201d at City Hall Park to mourn the 18 cyclists who have been killed so far this year, the most since 2023. At the event, I ran into Harlem resident Carolyn Kelly, who said she was moved to attend her first die-in after reading Streetsblog\u2019s coverage of the recent spate of killings<\/a>. She commutes by bike from Central Harlem to Lower Manhattan on a mostly safe route that dumps her on Chambers Street for the last stretch.<\/p>\n

She wanted the mayor to know how dangerous the streets feel.<\/p>\n

\"\"Carolyn Kelly doesn\u2019t feel safe out there, Mr. Mayor. Photo: Gersh Kuntzman<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, I wonder if this is going to be the day that I die on Chambers Street,\u201d she told me.<\/p>\n

I asked what she specifically wants from this mayor.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s take out the bike map<\/a> and all that stuff in blue and purple \u2014\u00a0let\u2019s make it all green,\u201d she said, referring to painted bike lanes (blue on the map) and sharrows (purple lines). \u201cIf it ain\u2019t green, it is worthless. Sharrows are a terrifying joke and painted bike lanes are worthless. Parking enforcement should be done by DOT because we can\u2019t trust the police to protect cyclists. My life is worthless to them as soon as I\u2019m on a bike. We should do this die-in at my local precinct.\u201d<\/p>\n

About 100 people attended the die-in, most lying down on City Hall Plaza as a bagpiper blew mournful tunes. Eighteen people volunteered to stand, each holding the name of one of the killed cyclists.<\/p>\n

Unmentioned at the event \u2014 or, notably, on the Lehrer show \u2014 were the 2,885 cyclists injured this year (up 2.2 percent from last year), the 668 e-bike riders injured this year (up 28 percent) or the 982 stand-up scooter riders injured (up 32 percent). The vast majority of those people were injured by car drivers, just as all of the 58 pedestrians who have been killed this year were killed by car drivers (like 61-year-old Jing Wang, as QNS reported<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, you know there\u2019s a Vision Zero crisis going on when a Staten Island Republican is calling for City Hall to undertake more safety initiatives, so let\u2019s give a shout-out to Council Member Frank Morano, linking to an excellent Elizabeth Kim story in Gothamist<\/a>:<\/p>\n

You have to wonder why this administration still refuses to support Daylighting, something that is done in more than 40 states and every other city in this state. <\/p>\n

How many pedestrian deaths until @NYCMayor<\/a> actually does something??? https:\/\/t.co\/E2AJQOmeGB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Frank Morano (@frankmorano) August 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

I reached out to City Hall for comment before publication. On Thursday morning, the mayor issued a statement sharing his support for \u201cVision Zero and any effort to prevent deadly crashes across our city.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo New Yorker should fear walking to school, biking to work or driving to visit a loved one, and we will keep doing everything we can to make our streets safer for everyone,\u201d Hizzoner added.<\/p>\n

In other news:<\/p>\n

Speaking of die-ins, let\u2019s get ready for the next one: A judge the DOT\u2019s construction of protected bike lanes on Brooklyn and Kingston avenues, one of many Adams-era projects that Mayor Mamdani has restarted and completed. Judges frequently issue temporary restraining orders until they can fully review a project, but they rarely end up overruling the DOT, which has broad control over street design. But this TRO is troubling because, as Crown Heights News reported<\/a>, the judge is this case, Rachel Freier, \u201cprovides a meaningful sense of reassurance\u201d because she \u201cunderstands the [Hasidic] community\u2019s way of life and the practical concerns facing its families.\u201d Oy vey. (We reached out to DOT spokesperson Will Livingston, who said, \u201cThe redesign of Brooklyn and Kingston avenues will enhance safety for all road users, including students from more than 10 schools within one block of the project area. We stand by this safety project and will defend our work in court.\u201d)<\/p>\n

With the Council\u2019s Sept. 30 e-bike hearing looming, the mayor and Council Speaker Julie Menin are on a collision course over Citi Bike age verification, says amNY<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hell Gate\u2019s analysis<\/a> of the New York Times recent interview with Gov. Hochul is a key brick in the outlet\u2019s nearly completed foundation wall documenting the Gray Lady\u2019s vendetta against Mayor Mamdani.<\/p>\n

Hell Gate<\/a> also revealed NYPD officers\u2019 vendetta against the mayor.<\/p>\n

Former TLC Commissioner Matthew Daus reiterates in an amNY op-ed<\/a> that the city must make sure that illegal e-motos are not operating on the streets. We liked his arguments (and if you read Streetsblog, they\u2019ll sound awfully familiar to you).<\/p>\n

How do direct trains to Montauk sound? (Gothamist<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Free this Midtown public plaza! (amNY<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Carnage on the ever-dangerous Belt Parkway. (NY Post<\/a>)<\/p>\n

State Sen. John Liu cut a ribbon on a loading zone \u2014\u00a0that\u2019s how desperate this city is for streets clear of double-parked delivery trucks. (QNS<\/a>)<\/p>\n

And, finally, at Streetsblog, we have long favored the use of cargo bikes instead of big delivery trucks because \u2026 obvs. But the efficiency and safety of these new delivery vehicles will eventually overwhelm the bike lanes, so DOT had better build more protected infrastructure for these slow, safe pedal-assist delivery vehicles. They\u2019re much better than trucks:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brian Lehrer outdid himself on his broadcast yesterday with a biased, incomplete, embittered and intellectually dishonest segment that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-332696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}