Mayoral campaign Brad Lander has won the endorsement of the Transport Workers Union...
... Local 320, "representing the nation's largest body of bike-share workers."
That's according to a news release blasted out by Lander's campaign, which touted the endorsement as the union local's first ever. In a statement, Local 320 President Edwin Aviles called Lander "the one and only person in NYC government who has ever publicly recognized and championed safety, fair wages, and a fair Collective Bargaining Agreement between the union and company operating Citi Bike under contract with NYC."
TWU Micro-Mobility Workers Local 320's endorsement came in the form of a letter. The union represents bike-share workers in nine major cities. Lander, for his part, defended Citi Bike when it came to his City Council district way back in 2016 and scrutinized its operations as city comptroller.
TWU Local 100, meanwhile, the 40,000-person union representing MTA workers, has yet to endorse in the mayor's race. In 2021, the union backed Eric Adams in late April. The MTA is a state authority, so Local 100's focus is on Albany — the union supported now-mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo off and on when he was governor, but has taken a harder line against his successor Gov. Hochul.
Cuomo apparently has the support of the bike-share bosses, however: Lyft, which owns and operates Citi Bike, gave $15,000 to the ex-governor's "Fix the City" PAC last week, City & State's Annie McDonough reported:
Among the latest batch of donors to the pro-Cuomo PAC "Fix the City" is Lyft, which kicked in $15k last week pic.twitter.com/yt3n2VHNlk
— Annie McDonough (@Annie_McDonough) May 19, 2025
In other news:
- Riders Alliance is getting in the political action committee game — to stop longtime straphanger nemesis Andrew Cuomo from becoming mayor: "For riders, a Cuomo comeback would be a disaster." (Daily News)
- Another Citi Bike expansion, another round of "concern from community leaders." (Brooklyn Eagle)
- The Post Editorial Board weighed in against the city's six-year-old "go with the walk signal" for cyclists law. Read Streetsblog's coverage from last month. And historian Peter Norton on how "the rules of the road" were written for cars.
- Plus — a worthy counterpoint to The Post in Bloomberg: "Bikers Like Me Should Run Red Lights in NYC Sometimes."
- "Attack on working-class New Yorkers": Sean Duffy dumped securities two days before Trump's first big tariff announcement in February. (ProPublica)
- DOT shared its 34th Street busway plans with Gothamist (but Streetsblog's Dave Colon had the story first).
- The Brooklyn Bridge is going to be okay, at least according to the NTSB. (Gothamist)
- New Jersey Transit still sucks, even if its engineers aren't on strike. Programming note: Hudson County advocates will rally for better PATH service Tuesday afternoon at 5 p.m. at Exchange Place. (NY Post, Daily News)
- The Post hammered Gov. Hochul on the MTA capital plan's $3 billion shortfall (our story here), which she and the MTA pretend doesn't exist.
- Rockaway A train service returns just in time for beach season. (Daily News)
- Related Companies abandoned its Hudson Yards casino bid amid local opposition, including from Friends of the High Line. (NY Post)
- And finally, Joyce Carol Oates with some cutting media analysis:
always funny to see a flood of tweets about NYC subway posted by persons who have never set foot in NYC let alone the subway but know all about the subject from their "conservative" "news" outlets. https://t.co/yGymvdsoXD
— Joyce Carol Oates (@JoyceCarolOates) May 19, 2025