New York Times Versus Brooklyn Mothers

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2010/08/new-york-times-versus-brooklyn-mothers

From a New York Times column this morning:

A second clerk, a young man with tattoos crawling up his arm, expressed great concern about the way mothers in the neighborhood "push their strollers out into the street before they can see if a car is coming." (Indeed, a Department of Transportation report released Monday found there were more pedestrian traffic fatalities and serious injuries in Brooklyn than in any other borough.)

The "indeed" suggests that the Times agrees with the theory that reckless Brooklyn mothers are to blame for pedestrian traffic fatalities and serious injuries. But the report the Times cites proves nothing of the sort. In fact, Brooklyn has the largest population of any borough in New York City, so it is entirely unsurprising (and not necessarily related to reckless stroller-pushing mothers) that it would have the most pedestrian traffic fatalities and serious injuries. If you calculate it by street-mile, according to the report, "Manhattan has four times as many pedestrian killed or severely injured per mile of street compared to the other four boroughs." So much for the Times's Brooklyn-bashing.

What's more, the column seems not to contemplate even the possibility that an accident could be the fault of a driver rather than a stroller-pushing mother.

by Ira Stoll  |  Aug 17, 2010 at 10:07 am Related Topics:  New York, Press receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list