No spoilers: Gridlock Sam\u2019s book is pretty damn good!<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t usually do book reviews, but it must be said that Sam Schwartz\u2019s first novel \u2014 a thriller about a possible terror attack by autonomous vehicles \u2014 is a very enjoyable read. And that\u2019s no small feat, given all the bureaucratic prose filling Schwartz\u2019s resume (he\u2019s the former city Department of Traffic commissioner, the former Department of Transportation chief engineer and a longtime urban planner).<\/p>\n
Just because the guy coined the term \u201cgridlock\u201d doesn\u2019t mean he can write a novel, right? Well, wrong. \u201cAutokill,\u201d written with playwright Cary Pepper, is hard to put down.<\/p>\n
Schwartz and Pepper didn\u2019t just write a dystopian novel set in the near future about an AV that goes haywire and kills thousands of people \u2014 that, the pair said at a recent Hunter College book talk, would have been too simplistic.<\/p>\n
Instead, the duo concocted a layered plot with multiple twists, including good guys who aren\u2019t so good, bad guys that aren\u2019t so bad, scenarios that are mere weeks ahead of today\u2019s headlines and, of course, a professor character who definitely resembles one of the authors. Even the guy you think is the villain is a fully fleshed-out character who has legitimate concerns about AVs (hey, don\u2019t we all?). <\/p>\n
There\u2019s plenty of transportation wonkery \u2014\u00a0hey, it\u2019s Sam Schwartz! \u2014 but it pays off in making the intricacies of a possible terror attack by autonomous vehicles feel very plausible. Will the rogue NTSB agent solve the case? Will the right wing talk show host turn out to have been right? And will the professor (who curiously resembles Schwartz) find love again?<\/p>\n
Find out by buying it today<\/a> and reading it \u2026 before the inevitable movie comes out.<\/p>\n In other news:<\/p>\n Ritchie O\u2019Brien, who was walking in Central Park when he was struck and injured by a cyclist on Wednesday, has died. A GoFundMe page<\/a> has been set up for his family. (Streetsblog<\/a>, Chelsea News<\/a>, )<\/p>\n Staten Island\u2019s \u201cDowntown\u201d will boom under a Council plan that, nonetheless, could have been far more bold for the area steps from the ferry terminal and Staten Island railroad. (Gothamist<\/a>)<\/p>\n We\u2019ll be offering more coverage of this Wednesday\u2019s all-day-and-night e-bike Council hearing, but Gothamist<\/a> offered a primer.<\/p>\n