Eric Adams may not be mayor for long, but there's still a lot he could be doing or not doing in the last year of his term. Enter newly installed First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, who appears to be Hizzoner's latest consigliere from the "not doing" side of his administration.
Streetsblog and other outlets have spilled plenty of ink about Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Richard Bearak and the network of business interests and machine politics that serves as the sink stopper on the ambitious parts of Adams's stated vision for the city — changing the way we handle trash, building more housing and, with less conviction, building bike lanes. The floodgates opened for a time after Lewis-Martin was indicted and left City Hall, but appear to be closing after the departures of four key deputy mayors last month.
Building on the mayor's legacy of repeatedly stonewalling his own policies in the face any sort of outspoken opposition, Mastro has reportedly thrown two key pieces of Adams's agenda in disarray. On housing, Mastro has made moves to at least temporarily stop the city from evicting the Elizabeth Street Garden to make way for affordable housing amid, the New York Times reported on Thursday. And on sanitation, Mastro ordered officials to stop giving out tickets to buildings that don't follow the city's new composting rules, according to Hell Gate and Gothamist.
City Hall has said Mastro is also reviewing the Queensboro Bridge pedestrian path, which Adams has refused to approve despite eight years of planning.
It was always going to go this way with Mastro, who specializes in gumming up the works of local government — from his time advising the opponents of the Prospect Park West bike lane to his stint representing New Jersey in its case against congestion pricing.
In other news:
- The clock struck 4/20, and the congestion pricing cameras stayed on — does Sean Duffy have another move? (AP, NBC News)
- The Post Editorial Board wants to leave Penn Station "as it is." (NY Post)
- Don't miss Nolan Hicks's deep dive on the Penn Station saga. Or the one in the Times, which was also good.
- And how about the Gray Lady's inside look at manual subway signaling? A must read!
- An FDNY driver killed a cyclist in the heart of anti-bike pol Bob Holden's district. (NY Post, Daily News)
- City Council leaders are fighting back against Mastro's trash interference. (Daily News)
- New U.S. Rep. Laura Gillen sounded the alarm about traffic violence after Newsday found that a serious crash occurs on Long Island every seven minutes. (NY Post)
- A new mayoral poll showed Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani gaining support, with only Brad Lander and Adrienne Adams also above 5 percent. (NY Post)
- Staten Islanders rallied on Saturday for a car-free Silver Lake Park, which we previewed late last week.
- More people protested the Trump administration in Midtown on Saturday. (Gothamist)
- Get ready for the Five Boro Bike Tour on Sunday, May 4. (amNY)
