Its been quite hot this past week, and as I understand it from reading Streetsblog this is due entirely to the climate change which would have been immediately undone if only our governor hadnt paused congestion pricing:Transportation pollution accounts for 28% of greenhouse gas emissions in NYS, yet #CongestionKathy, who now tweets warnings about climate change, killed congestion pricing, despite a glowing review from the feds: https://t.co/MZ7GjtCNmr https://t.co/zZLzcbOL9w Streetsblog New York (@StreetsblogNYC) June 17, 2024Not only that, but due to the heat the governor made admission and parking free at state parks, which outraged the Streetsbloggers further:Parking at Jones Beach is already subsidized: $10 per car, no matter how many people you've crammed inside.But for 4 Manhattanites to make the same trip, it's $11.60 for 4 subway rides, $92 for 4 round-trip LIRR tickets, and another $11.60 for the return subway. That's $115.20. https://t.co/qJv9scRq2v Streetsblog New York (@StreetsblogNYC) June 20, 2024I realize that in the social media age its no longer important to be consistent, but what can I say? Im old-fashioned, and I wish theyd decide whether car ownership is crippling us financially or its a subsidized free-for-all, because they seem to tell me one or the other depending on whatever their agenda happens to be at the moment:I mean, I guess driving to Jones Beach from Manhattan and parking for free is cheaper than taking public transit there, just as long as you assume the car fell from the sky and costs nothing to own and operatethough to be fair this probably rings true to many urbanists, who have ready no-strings-attached access to their parents cars whenever they need them. And hey, I know my harping on Streetsblog is tedious, but I really resent them for constantly making arguments so specious that I find myself defending all these asshole drivers, which really is quite a feat on their part. There are a million things wrong with cars and driving, but no matter how right you are you start to run the risk of losing people once you start simply making stuff up.(Also, pro tip to Manhattanites: a round-trip to Rockaway via public transit costs under six bucks, and a bike ride is free. (Okay, thats assuming the bike fell from the sky and costs nothing to own and operate, which rings true to semi-professional bike bloggers who get free Marinonis sent to them. (And yes, thats a parenthetical statement inside of a parenthetical statement, and this is a parenthetical statement inside of a parenthetical statement inside of a parenthetical statement, making this a veritable Russian doll of tedium.)))As for me, I got plenty of quality bicycle-cycling in this past weekend despite the heat:And while Im generally noted for my avian photography, so honed are my senses that even the fishes escape neither my peripheral vision nor my lens:I spotted these whilst traversing the mighty Saw Mill River via the bridge pictured above. At the risk of offending any Ichthyology Freds out there, as far as I can tell they must be carp, but I stand ready and willing to be corrected. And while youre at it, Id also love to hear from any of you pedantic types what the difference is between a storm and a storm event:If I had to guess Id say a storm event is just a storm for which you need to purchase tickets in advance, but I admit Im not a Meteorology Fred. Either that, or a storm is just weather, but a storm event is one caused by the cancellation of congestion pricing.Regardless, from there I took to the dirt for awhile:And I was nearly home when I incurred my very first puncture on a tire that has proven so profoundly durable over the past four years that I had just assumed by now that they must be flat-proof:Alas, into every tire a small sliver of metal must protrude, and the puncture was so tiny I elected to patch it instead of deploying the spare tube:In all it was only a minor inconvenience; nevertheless, I blame Kathy Hochul entirely for my flat tire event.