March 12, 2018 story by Micheal Kimmelman with photos by Damon Winter.
Last Thursday, in his weekly press conference, Mayor Schember made no mention of Micheal Kimmelman's March 12, 2018 New York Times story about the racial context surrounding the plan to demolish the McBride Viaduct that will force impoverished Eastside schoolchildren to walk an extra mile a day, most of it within inches of a 4-lane arterial highway with fumes, noise and a dangerous intersection. On March 14, one columnist's essay proclaimed, "New York Times takes viaduct fallacies national" and another op-ed column viewed the absence of discussion about the Viaduct during a minority meeting with the Governor March 13 as evidence that the bridge isn't of concern to Erie's black leadership. Today, another author commented "the recent front-page story in The New York Times portray Erie at its worst, several accompanying photos made the city's east side look like a war zone..."