Sam Levin

Public Advocate and mayoral hopeful Bill de Blasio speaks on 43rd Street near the United Nations this morning.

​Running for mayor of New York City? Well, you better stick your nose in some foreign policy issues -- and backing Israel certainly won't hurt your cause.

Enter Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who is expected to run for mayor in 2013, and who held a press conference this morning -- on a plaza on 43rd Street overlooking the United Nations -- to announce the launch of a consumer action campaign to pressure companies to stop doing business in Iran.

Backed by groups Iran180 and United Against Nuclear Iran, de Blasio unveiled an interactive website called IranWatchList.com designed to target companies that are doing business with Iran and in some cases allegedly selling directly to Iran's military. They are starting the campaign by focusing on twelve foreign car companies that continue to sell vehicles in Iran, despite economic sanctions.

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via @nysgo

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A 26-year-old driver going the wrong-way on the FDR Drive was responsible for a crash that left two dead, Eyewitness News reported. The driver, in a Nissan Maxima, hit a Dodge Caravan driven by a 53-year-old man. The Caravan was going southbound -- the correct direction -- when the Nissan, coming northbound, hit. Both drivers were killed.

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DOT

​New York City's first "Slow Zone," a residential area of several blocks with maximum marked speeds of 20 miles per hour, has been unveiled in the Claremont section of the Bronx. The Daily News reports that 46 people were injured or killed in the Community Board 3 neighborhood, which includes Claremont, between 2006 and 2010. In fascinating yet morbid statistical information, if you're hit by a car going 20 miles per hour, you have a 95% chance of surviving, which drops to 30% if the car is going 40 miles per hour.

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​With the 9/11 commemoration taking place in lower Manhattan as well as two presidents' presence and the elevated security measures following a "credible, but unconfirmed" threat of a "vehicle-borne" terrorist attack, there are a myriad of street closures in New York today. Plan for a complicated commute all day, with unforeseen security measures being a very real possibility. After the jump, a list the locations and times of street closures.

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The above video appears to show a 4-year-old girl in China at the wheel of a car. She is navigating a relatively busy street while her parents can be heard instructing her. Like the smoking baby before her, there is sure to be much outrage about this child exhibiting the dangerous behavior of an adult. Before that outrage erupts, can we take this time to acknowledge that she does a pretty good job merging? [h/t @stevesilberman] [@nickgreene]

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​Here's a warning sounded by the Daily News today: The intersection of Essex and Delancey street is pretty much the worst place in the city to walk or drive a car or get in a taxi or do anything. Just, like, try not to go there, okay? It's scary. It's where Satan would be like, "Hey, this is a good place to cruise around in my fiery red automobile." Here are some of the horrifying statistics the Daily News compiled from state Department of Transportation records: Between 1998 and 2010 there were 523 motor vehicle accidents, 134 with bicyclists and pedestrians, three resulting in death. The intersection also yielded 258 injuries resulting from motor vehicle accidents. Proceed with caution. [NYDN]

Neighborhood favorite Joey Boots took his camera down to the scene of a Bronx car accident last night just to survey the scene. Everyone appears safe, though a little shaken, while one of the cars involved, a Corvette, has its whole front end smashed and the battery removed. But that -- nor the camera in his face -- stops him from peeling off before police arrived. In addition to the footage, no less than three people took down his license plate number, all but assuring he'll be caught and putting his karma at an all-time low. [via Animal NY]

​Can we just say it, all together? If you're driving, you should not be...drinking; texting; sexting; eating; putting on makeup; reaching around to slap someone in the backseat, even if they really are getting on your last nerve; applying Vaseline to a watermelon; wishing your hard-of-hearing uncle a happy birthday; rummaging for your lucky rabbit's foot in the glove compartment; painting your fingernails in alternating neon colors; puffy-painting a sweatshirt as a gift for your niece; practicing calligraphy; cutting your bangs; vacuuming your floormats; pretending to drive without the use of sight; seeing how many water balloons will fit in the hatchback; playing Angry Birds; practicing that monologue from Hamlet; recording your first solo album; baking a cake and frosting it; reading the bikini wax instructions; having a baby (unless you really can't help it); putting your feet out the window to feel the rush of wind against your heels; walking your Pomeranian. As for the second one, Governor Andrew Cuomo just signed a bill that will let cops pull you over and fine you up to $150 for that sort of thing. Take the bus instead. [NY1]

​Four people in Manhattan yesterday saved a life and gained a story they'll likely tell for the rest of their lives when they helped lift a Honda Civic off of a little boy stuck underneath. Jaden Torres, either 9- or 10-years-old depending on who you believe, was playing in Harlem's Grant Houses at around 7:30 p.m. when he ran across the street and was hit by a taxi, the impact of which jammed him under the bumper of a parked car. "He had a pulse," said a pediatrician who helped Torres at the scene, "but he was completely unresponsive." Then a group of strangers went into hero mode. "I wanted to talk to him just so he knew someone was there," said one woman who stood by as the car was lifted. Torress was sent to Harlem Hospital in stable condition. [NYDN, NYP]

Behold! A car shaped like a banana, seen driving about the streets of New York City. Steve Braithwaite and his brother Spade (a/k/a "The Dirty Brothers") are the proud owners of the Big Banana Car, inspired when Steve glanced at a bowl of bananas at a gas station and thought, "I could build a banana car!" he told us. And so he did, taking a 1993 Ford F-150, removing the sheet metal, building the skeleton shape of a banana over the engine and suspension, covering it all with chicken wire, and sculpting it into a banana shape. An airbrush artist painted the banana for free. Because it's a car shaped like a banana!

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