Mayor Adams's legal and political sideshow was in full swing on Thursday. You can scroll down for our curated highlights, but we're going to focus this newsletter on what Hizzoner should be thinking about instead of the reported quid pro quo mess that's almost certainly gobbling up his attention.
The New York City subway system has billions of dollars of financial needs — $68 billion, by the MTA's pricetag for its 2025-2029 capital plan. That's money the transportation authority needs not only for vital expansion projects like the Second Avenue Subway and the Interborough Express, but for basic-but-crucial stuff like system maintenance and new trains and buses.
Unfortunately, Gov. Hochul and her colleagues in the State Legislature are still figuring out where to get $33 billion of that money, even as they try to stave off President Trump's threats to congestion pricing, which is funding $15 billion of the previous capital plan. Chances are that the state is going to turn to New York City, the city's Independent Budget Office warned on Thursday.
The IBO isn't crazy about that: A big chunk of the MTA's revenue already comes from the five boroughs in the form of taxes — including the a payroll tax hike exclusively on New York City that Hochul pushed through in 2023. And Hochul counts $4 billion from the city among the $35 billion she's already identified for the capital plan compared the $3 billion in the previous, $55-billion capital plan. The city also chipped in $1.4 billion to the MTA operating budget last year, up 17 percent compared to 2023 and expected to grow. (And don't forget fares.)
"With new federal funding unlikely to fill the gap, the state will need to choose a careful balance between broad-based state aid, MTA debt, and burdening the city further," the IBO report said.
That's where the Mayor Adams's role becomes crucial. With Hizzoner distracted by his moment in the national political spotlight and flirting with a full embrace of the president, will his administration leverage its growing contribution to the MTA or get the once-over from Hochul and her colleagues in Albany?
Barbara Russo-Lennon at amNY covered the IBO report, which you can read for yourself here.
In other news:
- Danielle Sassoon, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, resigned with several of her colleagues on Thursday in defiance of orders from the Trump administration to drop the corruption case against Mayor Adams. (NY Times, NY Post, The City, NBC News)
- Sassoon revealed now-torpedoed plans to charge Hizzoner with destroying evidence and lying to the FBI. She also accused her Trump-appointed bosses of halting the investigation of Adams "because he occupies an important public position and can use that position to assist in the Administration’s policy priorities.” (NY Times)
- A top Trump appointee personally guided Adams's lawyers towards a legal justification for putting the charges against the mayor on ice. The mayor's lawyers also directly asked Trump for a pardon. (NY Times)
- Elsewhere in Adams-world: A lawsuit alleging corruption by city official and former state Sen. Jesse Hamilton and federal charges against Adams donor Weihong Hu. (The City 1, 2)
- More politicians are calling on the mayor to resign after Sassoon's bombshell — and Gov. Hochul won't rule out using her legal authority to remove him from office. (NY Post)
- The high cost of garage parking: A building that housed a former six-story garage shut down for unsafe conditions sold for over $10 million. (West Side Rag)
- Man, the city really screwed up outdoor dining. (NY Times)
- Cars were more deadly than guns in New York City last year. (Gothamist)
- Metro-North is killing the "quiet car." (NY Post)
- New Yorkers have quickly found ways over and under the MTA's latest attempted to prevent turnstile-jumping. (NY Post)
- DOGE could empty out Manhattan federal office buildings. (Crain's)
- Fake license plates "have the complete attention of law enforcement," according to CBS New York — whose reporter was still able to buy one off Amazon for $2.
- CBS is also buying the hysteria at the northern end of the Bedford Avenue protected bike lane.
- Tourists have ruined the Roosevelt Island Tram for locals — will tighter headways help? (NY1)
