Mayor Adams journeyed to Albany for the annual rite of asking legislators to fund his initiatives — and you, dear reader, didn't make the cut.
Adams spent most of his allotted time boasting of his achievements: crime is down, jobs are up and budgets remained balanced (which they must be by law). And, yes, the state did pass an expansion of red-light cameras last year.
But when it came to unveiling what he wants from Albany in 2025, livable streets issues were as absent as a student with the mumps. In order, Hizzoner wants the state legislature to:
- Pass his so-called “Axe the Tax for the Working Class” bill.
- Pass his so-called “Supportive Interventions Act” so people suffering mentally illness can be committed without their consent.
- Water down bail reform.
- Provide more money to help him manage "the international asylum seeker international crisis that has landed at our city’s front door."
Certainly, it's good to get a list from the mayor so we know where his head is at. But this list is about as exciting as a stripper in a parka. Where was Mayor Adams's urgency for:
- the legislature reauthorizing the city's life-saving speed cameras?
- passing Sen. Andrew Gounardes's bill to install speed governors inside the cars of repeat reckless drivers?
- filling the hole in the MTA's next capital plan after Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins blew it up last year
- Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon and Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal's daylighting bill (oh, right, he doesn't support that)?
- supporting a reduction in vehicle miles traveled?
- passing a bill that would provide rebates for e-bike purchasers (just like the state does with e-cars)?
If he didn't want to use too much of his time listing all the bills, Hizzoner could have kept it simple and called for the passage of the entire NYS Safe Streets Coalition's package. But he did not.
At least one of the mayor's primary challengers issued a strongly worded statement complaining of Mayor Adams's lack of vision.
"Adams’s testimony in Albany once again made clear he has no plan to deliver the bold solutions New Yorkers need, and is satisfied with the status quo," state Sen. Zellnor Myrie said.
In other news:
- Streetsblog covered Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's latest congestion pricing ramble on WNYC. In brighter D.C. delegation news, U.S. Rep Jerry Nadler touted the tolls in his latest newsletter to constituents.
- Another poll showed widespread support for an NYPD presence on the subways. (Gothamist)
- Don't let the door hit ya: Whiny Orange County wants to leave the MTA. (NY Post)
- The city is gearing up for a rezoning of Atlantic Avenue. (Gothamist — stay tuned for more coverage on Streetsblog)
- A speeding driver died in a "fiery crash" on the FDR Drive near E. 70th Street early Tuesday. (Daily News)
- Ambulance response times citywide remain "stubbornly high" post-congestion pricing, with FDNY blaming outer borough traffic. (Crain's)
- NYPD cops "are leaving in droves." (NY Times)
- amNewYork: Subway crime down, ridership up "significantly" in the "congestion pricing era."
- More charges could be in the works for former mayoral advisor Ingrid Lewis-Martin. (The City)
- NY1 spoke to underpaid EMTs still upset over congestion pricing.
