Mayor Adams appears so desperate for a W that he journeyed to Midtown yesterday to tout a city effort to remove excessive scaffolding, some of which has been affixed to buildings so long that they appear to be part of the building.
No one had a negative word to say about the mayor's worthy effort, which The Post and Gothamist covered. But both outlets missed the real irony here: The mayor who was citing the negative effect of scaffolding on small business bottom lines is the same guy who helped convert the city's enormously popular, Covid-era roadside dining initiative into a much-smaller seasonal program, leaving thousands of restaurateurs out of luck.
It's smaller because the seasonal format means that restaurants will have to set up their "streeteries" every April, break them down every November and then store them for four months at great expense. It's too much for so many business owners to bear.
The demise of thousands of streeteries has been sad to watch. We caught the scene outside of Negril as workers chopped up one of the pandemic's most-popular outdoor dining sheds, so we decided to recall the glory days in a tweet:
Here's the full going, going, gone sequence from @NegrilBK with a final requiem shot by @brooklynspoke. Please blame @NYCSpeakerAdams and @nycmayor Adams for this complete loss of great public space in favor of storage for privately owned autos: pic.twitter.com/cWtPZnHVEh
— Streetsblog New York (@StreetsblogNYC) August 14, 2024
And our colleague Clarence Eckerson Jr. turned it into an epic short film that every city lawmaker should watch:
In other news:
- We were happy to see our esteemed colleague Errol Louis follow our diatribe against the Times's decision to abandon local political endorsements. Errol was more eloquent; we merely ranted and plugged ourselves. (NY Magazine)
- More emergency door guards are coming to a station near you. (amNY)
- Thank goodness that the Financial Times has broken down the presidential race in terms we can understand: unpaid parking fines!
- The Daily News had more about construction worker Herb Alesna who was killed by a driver on the Washington Bridge.
- Tree branches keep delaying commuters on the B and Q in Brooklyn. (amNY)
- Just when we were all feeling sympathetic to the MTA for losing congestion pricing comes a report that the agency is risking the safety of its workers. Ouch. (NYDN, Gothamist, The City)
- Speaking of congestion pricing, Gov. Hochul's decision to kill the transit-boosting and traffic-busting toll has delivered a powerful campaign issue to a suburban Republican in his fight against former Rep. Mondaire Jones — more evidence that the gridlock governor was more interested in helping suburbanites than city residents. (NY Post)
- A hit-and-run driver from the suburbs who mowed down five people in Washington Heights pleaded guilty. (Patch)
- Here's one way to protect dirty cops: cut the budget to the police watchdog agency. (Crain's)
