Mayor Adams came down with Covid just in time to cancel his "town hall" meeting on the Underhill Avenue bike boulevard. Or vice-versa.
Here's how we found out (though Hell Gate also got the news):
In any event, now we'll never know if the mayor was intending to use the town hall as a pretense to kill the popular bike-friendly route, though, come on, it's pretty obvious that a mayor who did his own second round of outreach after his own Department of Transportation did months of outreach is pretty bent on doing more outreach!
Writing in Crain's, Ross Barkan said, Covid or not, the mayor has never looked weaker. Ouch.
In other news:
- I attended a community board meeting on a housing development in my neighborhood last night that, as I (and Gothamist) predicted, would be a proxy battle for City of Yes. Boy, was it ever! Full confession time: I attended strictly as a Windsor Terrace resident, not as a journalist, and, yes, I spoke in favor of more housing. Imagine being booed by 300 people! It really makes you want to participate in our democratic process, lemme tell ya! Some guy filmed it from the cheap seats, so enjoy:
And mayoral candidate Sen. Zelnor Myrie was also on my side (though he wasn't there getting booed!):
- Is the federal government finally going to use its power to set new rules to make cars safer for people outside of them? The feds are inching forward. (NHTSA press release)
- Gov. Hochul's congestion pricing "pause" is now at risk of losing the Mets a playoff slot. (Newsday)
- Here's another good Dodai Stewart Street Wars story in the Times about how we need a better Park Avenue. Of course, Streetsblog readers know that!
- What's with the buses on Roosevelt Island? (NY Post)
- David Waldstein, a good hockey player and better writer, had a tribute to the Gaudreau Brothers, who were killed by a driver in New Jersey earlier this month (NY Times). But, lest we forget, Streetsblog USA Editor Kea Wilson had the definitive coverage.
- We love these annual screaming headlines, "The UN General Assembly starts Tuesday. Here’s how you can avoid Manhattan gridlock and travel quickly." How about one answer: "Don't drive." (amNY)
- Gov. Hochul is making a stupid legal argument in defense of her indefensible congestion pricing "pause." (Gothamist, Streetsblog)
- The NYPD treats street vendors like garbage. (Gothamist)
- Finally, it's real and its spectacular:
