Believe me, I'd much rather be writing about what the Mets did yesterday, but instead I'm in the position of defending the hard-working staff of Streetsblog against the pettiness of the Adams administration.
The other day, we got word that the Department of Transportation was setting up a briefing for reporters on the agency's proposal for improving "safety, public spaces and connectivity" in neighborhoods on both sides of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway triple cantilever.
Many transportation reporters got an invitation to the briefing, which is set for today at 11:30 a.m. and will include "on-the-record" remarks from Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi and DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez and a background briefing from the DOT staff.
The DOT also promised reporters "there will be an opportunity for Q&A."
But our invite never showed, so I reached out to the DOT press office. First, I wrote simply: "Hello, DOT press shop. We understand there is a press briefing on Wednesday, October 9, 2024 regarding the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Can we get the location and time of that briefing? If it is virtual, can you please register Kevin Duggan for the briefing?"
Duggan's coverage of the BQE has been impeccable. But when I heard only crickets from the DOT press office, I wrote again three hours later: "I need to know if Streetsblog is not being invited to the briefing, as we will need to be transparent with our readers as to why we don’t have certain details that other outlets may have."
Minutes later, Deputy Commissioner Nick Benson wrote back, "If there is any news on the BQE, we will make sure Streetsblog receives it."
Uh, no — that's not how this game is played; "news" isn't what city agencies say it is ... based on invite-only question-and-answer sessions.
Streetsblog reporters have City Hall-issued media credentials for a reason: to cover transportation in this town. And, as such, any discussion of a proposal to improve safety, public spaces and connectivity is something our reporters should be allowed to ask about, especially at an event where two top city officials — Joshi and Rodriguez — will make on-the-record remarks.
And if those officials will be taking questions, then barring some reporters is even more egregious — a suggestion by the DOT staff that Meera Joshi and Ydanis Rodriguez are afraid of taking the tough questions (which they are not, by the way).
Benson oversees a communications and press office with 31 staffers reporting to him, according to the DOT's own organizational chart, below:
Interestingly, when Mayor Adams took over, that communications office had only 16 total staffers — meaning that Adams has doubled the staff of the DOT press office. This is all based on the DOT's own org charts:
Agencies have communication staff to provide information to the city press corps — all of the city press corps — so that the public can get the information it needs to assess the quality of city services or the vision of its leaders.
But Streetsblog readers won't be able to do that because DOT chose to depart from 18 years of (mostly) professional interaction with our outlet to bar us from today's briefing. It's kind of ironic, of course, because DOT officials have been happy to give us access and answer our questions in the past when it serves their needs. But now they are choosing to prevent Streetsblog, a Polk Award-winning news outlet, from properly covering them.
More on this tomorrow.
In other news:
- The best news yesterday was that the Grimace train is still going strong — and yesterday, that was literally. (NY Post)
- Mayor Adams insists he will finish his term (NY Post, Hell Gate) — and promptly gave a very able public servant, Maria Torres-Springer, a promotion to First Deputy Mayor (NY Post, Gothamist).
- Set your calendar, times two: The City Council's City of Yes hearings will be on Oct. 21 (for administration officials) and Oct. 22 (for the public), per Nick Garber (and others) on Twitter. To sign up to testify, click here.
- Meanwhile, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is making noise that she may let the perfect be the enemy of the good when it comes to Mayor Adams's City of Yes zoning initiative. (Gothamist)
- Also, I'll be on NY1 at 7:30 a.m. today (did you miss me?) talking about how I got anointed as an official fake chaplain. And, yes, I'll bring my badge and placard for show-and-tell.
- The MTA showed off new train cars for the Staten Island Railway, which is kind of ironic given that these kinds of subway and bus improvements were supposed to be partly funded through congestion pricing — which virtually all elected officials on the Rock oppose. (NYDN, amNY, Gothamist, The City)
- Gov. Hochul is no climate champion. (Gothamist)
