r/newyorkurbanists

Great report on this important story told by Emma Thebault, struck by habitual reckless driver Inson Wood. (Disclosure: my law firm, Vaccaro Law, represents Emma and her minor children in a suit against the driver, Inson Wood). NYT story linked here: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/30/nyregion/nyc-speed-limiters-cars-frequent-speeders.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

We need to focus on stories like Emma's which are all too common, as we approach a critical vote in Albany for a "Super Speeder" law that would put automated mechanical speed governors on the cars driven by people like Wood (Wood would get a speed governor under the law, because he exceeds 11 MPH over the speed limit in school zones in NYC more than 16 times a year.)

The Times story only scratches the surface of this horrible and ironic incidence of reckless driving and super-speeding, but for a deeper dive check out the civil lawsuit for compensatory and punitive damages we filed against Wood, linked here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/j01y16gte2psabipyk8kh/Thebault-Filed-Summons-and-Complaint.pdf?rlkey=6t35bs3b7ivr0ln0liq2rwdyh&st=ru40o886&dl=0

Also check out this earlier report from Streetsblog's Sophia Lebowitz, which includes links to video of rhe crash (if you can stomach it), posted to this subreddit reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/nyc/s/WElNMQtFy4

Some key takeaways:

- Emma's story represents the fourth time in three years Wood has crashed his car into other people or their property (4th time *resulting in a police report*; there may be other unreported incidents that we learn of in litigation).

-Wood is not just a super-speeder but apparently also super-rich, using his cash to operate as if he is a law unto himself: racking up hundreds of tickets, then paying them off ~$20,000 at a go, and then just continuing on, speed, crash, lather, rinse, repeat;

-Wood's driving record proves that his likelihood of killing or severely injuring someone behind the wheel is *two orders of magnitude* greater than the likelihood of an average NYC driver doing so.

-Truth is stranger than fiction: Wood is a noted bike racer, philanthropist to bike community charities, and the alleged co-founder of fabled bike racing team Foundation Racing. Go figure! (We hear Foundation asked Wood to leave the team when Emma's story broke, but this rumor is unconfirmed).

Check out Wood's driving record on "How's My Driving" (howsmydriving [dot] com), using his plate # from the linked complaint, and share in the comments whether you think Wood has chilled out on his reckless driving sufficiently since October 18 when he hit Emma that he should be spared a speed governor in his car!

After nearly 1000 people said they would show up, the Anti-72nd St Bike Lane protest had almost as many people who support the w72nd St Bike Lane and media show up as the anti-bike lane crowd protesting.

People had various reasons for supporting the project.
- bike lanes to and from either park
- pedestrian safety
- bus islands
- bike lights
- reigns in double parking
- adds loading and drop off zones

On the left we can see after the 5 Boro Bike Tour the cars start lining up on 34th Street which is one of the busiest streets for pedestrians between 3rd and 9th Avenues.

On the right we can see 34th Street cleared of through traffic from cars. People start feeling comfortable using the street for walking as they feel they need to. On 34th Street in particular, people start taking pictures and having a moment with their friends and family who are with them.

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Please come to the Vaccaro Law + Veselka Restaurant Spring Social in the East Village this Thursday, 5/14, where you’ll hear a panel discussion on “Cycling in Mamdani’s New York” with Lucia Deng, Daniel Perez, Vince Rhino, Shabazz Stuart, and me! 

Our new Mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has fulfilled some of our wildest dreams with cyclist-friendly street and policy changes that promise to transform our public space. Mamdani didn’t run on a "bike platform," but was elected with the endorsement and support of StreetsPAC, the cyclists and safe-streets political action committee we formed in 2013.  Turns out, Mayor Mamdani is a decade-old commuter cyclist who has fast-tracked many bike-friendly changes in his first 100 days, including:

 fixing the dangerous and unpleasant Manhattan ramp to the Williamsburg Bridge that stood for over a decade as a symbol of the City's disregard for cyclists;

calling off the heavy-handed Adams-Tisch policy of criminalizing biking tickets, an unfair policy that threatened cyclists with dire consequences for traffic violations not faced by drivers, and necessitated a major pro-bono effort to help cyclists sent to criminal court for traffic violations; and

implementing Sammy's Law to create 15 MPH speed zones around all our schools to be enforced with cameras and speed governor devices (fingers crossed) under the Stop Super-Speeders Act.

At the same time, there are some reasons for cyclists to be critical of the Mamdani administration, that will merit discussion this Thursday:

his administration apparently still supports a 15 MPH speed limit on non-motorized, pedal cyclists and perhaps citywide, even though our road cycling and and racing communities won a temporary restraining order against that measure;

while the Mayor lifted the criminal court diversion program against cyclists, we've not yet seen follow-through on his accompanying and welcome commitment to regulate delivery cyclists in a non-punitive way that's fair and ensures the safety of all;  

the administration dropped the ball on secure bike parking with a surprise and opaque decision to reject the most experienced vendor favored by the biking community, Oonee.

Join us and the discussion this Thursday!

Someone could've been seriously injured or worse. In any case, glad to see 9th Ave paving being done.

I'm a volunteer organizer with Open New York, NYC's YIMBY group, and we're hosting our monthly chapter happy hours for Queens and Brooklyn this Wednesday at 6:30pm. Come out to whichever one is easiest for you! Newcomers welcome--if you want to get more involved with housing advocacy, this is a great way to meet people in person, chat about the organization, and get plugged in.

Queens RSVP (Fifth Hammer Brewing, in Long Island City)

Brooklyn RSVP (Black Forest, in Fort Greene)

This opened up in the summer of last year and more recently the pavilion opened up as well. I didn't even know any part of the Battery Park City parks was reopened to the public. Either way it looks beautiful. You all should definitely check it out if you haven't already.