This weekend Times reporters rode the MTA's weekend express bus lines and came back with a total downer of a story about how the elimination of the routes would leave lower income commuters particularly screwed. For instance, 69-year-old Myrtis Williams lives in the Marcy Houses in Brooklyn and is completely dependent on the potentially doomed B57; the subway isn't an option for her because her peripheral artery disease and diabetes make taking the stairs painful. But one strange ray of hope in the article comes from bus driver Mitchell Verley; despite his two decades working for the MTA, this man's faith in city bureaucracy is still miraculously intact: "I think somehow the government or something will come up with the money to keep it going," he tells the Times. more ›

Republicans in the State Senate introduced a bill this week that would protect minors, particularly transgender students, from bullies. But no one will take credit for sponsoring the bill, and it may disappear as quietly as it was introduced. A spokesman for the Senate majority leader Dean G. Skelos would not comment on the proposed law, telling the Times, “We are focused on property tax relief.” Similar legislation has been passed in the Democrat-controlled Assembly; the mysterious Republican version would require schools to train teachers to intervene during bullying and keep track of bullying cases, including incidents involving sexual orientation. 11 other states have already enacted such laws, according to Alan Van Capelle of the Empire State Pride Agenda. more ›