Studies Prove It Once And For All: Lawn Furniture Saves Lives

And once you go to the trouble to install all that raised sidewalk, it’s annoying to have to get rid of it:

Broadway will remain permanently closed through Times Square after an eight-month tryout that infuriated cabbies but delighted tourists.

Mayor Bloomberg is set to announce the decision Thursday morning after weighing the complaints of area businesses against City Hall’s statistics.

One person familiar with the conclusions said traffic speeds increased slightly on Seventh Ave., but less than the 17% improvement DOT engineers predicted.

. . .

“If lives are being saved, it’s really hard to argue with,” said Transportation Alternatives spokesman Wiley Norvell.

Location Scout: Times Square Pedestrian Mall.

Less Bagelry Than Bagel-Spree

If you’re going to inflate expenses, do it within reason — say, $25 for a bagel, not $177:

If you ordered a Bits Best Bagel Platter and asked them to throw on extra toppings, like avocado, bacon, sun-dried tomato, steak fries, chicken wings and mozzarella sticks, that would still come to only $25.80.

Such an exercise in bagel-nomics was necessary and noteworthy on Wednesday, the day after Councilman Larry B. Seabrook was charged with money laundering, extortion and fraud.

Among the items in the 13-count federal indictment was the curious case of the $177 bagel sandwich and soda. Mr. Seabrook, a Bronx Democrat and former assemblyman and former state senator, bought a bagel sandwich and diet soda for $7 one day and submitted a doctored receipt that inflated the cost to $177, according to the indictment.

Snow-Related Blog Post Headline Of The Day . . .

. . . from the Village Voice — Record 0″ Snowfall Closes New York Public Schools. Snap!

Here’s more information about the preemptive snow day:

Both Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the schools chancellor, Joel I. Klein, took pains in an afternoon news conference to describe how they carefully weighed their verdict, basing it on early-morning forecasts that they said were unlikely to change.

God, what pussies.

Those Deep Pockets Have An Annoying Little Hole Where The Stitching Is Coming Apart

More on the mysterious Bloomberg Independence Party campaign contribution in the Daily News:

The Manhattan DA is investigating how the state Independence Party and a prominent GOP operative handled a $750,000 payment from Mayor Bloomberg’s personal checkbook — and why they can’t fully account for how they spent it.

Earlier: Did Bloomberg Pay Street Money To Get Reelected?

“Productivity Goals” Return

Apparently now that the election season has come and gone city ticket agents can go back to doing what they do best — cheap collars in Astoria:

Swarms of traffic agents patrol the jammed streets of Astoria’s commercial strips every day, writing tickets for expired meters and double-parked cars — even as drivers sit in their vehicles.

Earlier: We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Quotas — We Have Productivity Goals For That!; Countless Hovers Under Cover Of The Street, Or, The Gift Down Below.