Cell phone service is coming to New York City's subway system, which is good news, so the guy pictured below on the front page of the Daily News' website won't have to use an aluminum can with a wire attached to it so he can get an emergency message out to the streets above...

Wait a second, I know that guy! It's our founder and publisher Andrew Rasiej, back in 2005 when he was running for NYC Public Advocate. Part of his platform was the need to wire the subways, which fitted a more holistic vision of government working to empower the public to be more involved in improving their own lives (including being able to report problems as quickly as possible; see Tom Friedman's article about it from back then). It's good to see that this is finally beginning to happen, though the thought of having to wait six years for the job to be finished is galling.