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On his first day in office, Mayor Mamdani told New York City that his administration would “replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism” and promised that City Hall would “use its power to improve New Yorkers’ lives.”

More than seven months later, Mamdani announced that would he start wearing a bike helmet on his frequent rides across the city, apparently in response to the pleas of his constituents. “You’re right, I’ve gotta do better,” he said in a video published on Aug. 18. “Safety first, New York. See you out there.”

The announcement combined everything that Mamdani loves about the city with everything that the city loves about Mamdani: cycling, safety, vertical video and a sense of protectiveness around their globally famous mayor.

Yet the same announcement further entrenched a persistent narrative that assigns responsibility for road safety to individual cyclists while downplaying the government’s role in designing safer streets.
That narrative is completely false. The chief culprits of traffic violence are car drivers who terrorize the city’s streets, maim and kill its residents and evade any punishment for doing so.
This became painfully clear when three drivers — none of whom Mamdani’s NYPD has arrested or even identified — slaughtered three cyclists in three separate crashes in less than a week. At least two of those cyclists were wearing a helmet. But helmets are no match for three-ton motor vehicles.

Read more at the link below.

Anyone Can Access Friday’s Headlines
Anyone Can Access Friday’s Headlines
By Blake Aued
September 11, 2026
Just putting a bike in someone’s hands is the best way to get them to ride one.
I Care About E-Bike Safety 0.02 Percent of The Time
I Care About E-Bike Safety 0.02 Percent of The Time
By Andy Boenau
September 11, 2026
Click-bait media outlets would have you think we should drop everything and do something about the scary threat of battery-powered bicycles and battery-powered motorcycles. But are either the biggest threat that road users face?
Talking Headways Podcast: Carspreading
Talking Headways Podcast: Carspreading
By Jeff Wood
September 10, 2026
Decisions about our public space are not being made at City Hall, but in car showrooms around the world.
Waymo’s Nevada Rollout Violates Accessibility Law, Disability Activist Claims
Waymo’s Nevada Rollout Violates Accessibility Law, Disability Activist Claims
By Ren Zaro Fitzgerald
September 10, 2026
The company says it plans to comply, but true equality is years away.
‘Back To School’ Means Back To Fear For Teen Cyclists
‘Back To School’ Means Back To Fear For Teen Cyclists
By Ava Jean
September 10, 2026
Public school kids are heading back to school today. Here’s a perspective on road safety from one of them.
Thursday’s Headlines Yearn to Breathe Free
Thursday’s Headlines Yearn to Breathe Free
By Blake Aued
September 10, 2026
(George Bush voice): “Is our children learning?” It helps if they have clean air, a new study finds.
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