The current situation in New York: The subways are closed; upon the Hozziner's request, Zone A has been forced to evacuate; Broadway shows have been cancelled; Bloomberg, Christie, and Cuomo are hosting storm watch conferences; my door keeps slamming by itself, even while locked; and the quieter-than-ever city is no longer open for business. But, on the Internet, a hurricane in the age of social media is like one big collective party, except with the dangling possibility of disaster. And, since a year ago is not that long ago in our cyber-minds, numerous comparisons have been made between Hurricane Sandy and Tropical Storm Irene.

Council Members David Greenfield, Letitia James, Brad Lander, Stephen Levin, Peter Vallone, and James Vacca announced this morning that they want to create a 15-member group charged with analyzing the NYPD's definition of "serious injury," as officers do not investigate accidents unless they think the hurt party is dead or likely to die. Lander, Levin, and Council Member Jessica Lapin have also proposed a law that would require the NYPD to publish crash info online. Members Melissa Mark-Viverito, Dan Garodnick, and Robert Jackson also back the package of proposals.

Transportation Alternatives, which advocates for pedestrians and cyclists, has long called for this legislation and been especially vocal in its criticism of the NYPD since the Lefevre incident.

Cops say the perp talked to the victim on train departing from East 14th Street and Union Square. Around 4 a.m., after she had returned to her East Tremont hotel, the alleged assailant knocked on her door. When she opened it, he forced the door open and attacked her.

Obviously, this is awful and heinous, and we feel for the victim and hope she's OK. It's also scary as shit: if you're a woman, some stranger has probably tried to chat you up on the subway, so it's worrisome to think that that guy could be an attacker.

That said, we've assembled some safety tips for women in New York City.

A tourist was raped in her Bronx hotel room on Wednesday -- and cops say the man in this video is the perp.

Santana was not the first pedestrian to perish on the busy road: Other walkers and many cyclists have died on Delancey. At the intersection of Delancey and Essex, for example, Transportation Alternatives tabulated 119 motor vehicle crashes with pedestrians and bicyclists between 1998 and 2008. And the New York Daily News , using Department of Transportation stats, noted in August that between 1998 and 2010, there were 523 motor vehicle accidents; 134 involved bicyclists and pedestrians, three resulting in death. The crossing yielded an additional 258 injuries resulting from motor vehicle accidents.

In response to these dangers, the Department of Transportation and electeds such as Sen. Daniel Squadron; Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver; Councilmember Margaret Chin; Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez; Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer; Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh; and Councilmember Rosie Mendez teamed up to figure out how to make Delancey less deadly.

What did they come up with?

With a new legislation proposal, Schumer is responding to some incidents that were actually a bit more serious than an uncomfortable touch. In December, three elderly women came forward with claims that they were strip-searched by Transportation Security Administration officers at JFK airport -- and recent reports allege that TSA officials have inappropriately harassed women passing through security.

Let's take Lenore Zimmerman, for example. She's a tiny, 85-year-old Long Island grandmother who says she was brought into a private room and forced to take off her clothes on her way to a flight to Fort Lauderdale.

Or Ruth Sherman, 88, who said that TSA agents made her strip so they could inspect her colostomy bag.

No? Well, not to worry, Runnin' Scared doesn't either -- and we can't really imagine New York being the kind of place where youngins would want to play outside, considering that NYC traffic puts speed over pedestrian safety. (It's even worse if you're a child from a lower-income household: Studies show that vehicle crashes disproportionately affect youth from poor areas.)

But a coalition of New Yorkers wants to change this.