Mayor Adams and the City Council got into a pissing match on Monday, hours after Streetsblog more or less put a pox on both of their houses.
First, the background: On Monday, we proudly published Sophia Lebowitz's analysis of Mayor Adams's current crackdown on cyclists as well as Emily Lipstein's video version. The story — with the Kuntzman-esque headline, "Anatomy Of A Debacle: How Mayor Adams Went From Visionary to Bully on E-Bikes" — blamed both the mayor and the City Council for a vacuum of leadership that has ended with a war on cyclists.
The mayor clearly only read the part where we blamed the Council. And the Council only seemed to read the part where we blamed the mayor. Here's how their spat played out in real time on X, the everything app:
As we said last week, the administration never discussed its proposal for a 15 MPH speed limit with the Council. The mayor has repeatedly failed to demonstrate an understanding of the city's lawmaking process, which has made him ineffective. We remain in discussions with… pic.twitter.com/70gvbMyHjl
— New York City Council (@NYCCouncil) June 9, 2025
And then the mayor trotted out his own meme:
Endless meetings…
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) June 9, 2025
And it’s still been 9 months of inaction.
Move the bill.
🎵What you waiting for?🎵 https://t.co/O07AuNGagi pic.twitter.com/u5iaQcCAG8
Funny footnote to this spat: I was yesterday years old when I learned that the clip featuring Dakota Johnson debunking Ellen DeGeneres's claim of being snubbed at the former's birthday party was the beginning of the end for the talk show host. Of course, when it comes to talk show hosts, at least DeGeneres is no Whoopi Goldberg.
In other news:
- Here's another reason to really consider who you rank for mayor: Andrew Cuomo has just been endorsed by a religious order that wants to remove the Bedford Avenue bike lane. (Williamsburg365)
- Speaking of Cuomo, here's more on state Sen. Jessica Ramos's endorsement of the former governor. (NY Mag)
- And more on Cuomo: Finally someone is shedding some light on his bridge bling boondoggle. (NY Post)
- Say cheese: A top NYPD chief and a Deputy Mayor palled around with President Trump over the weekend — as the president deployed the National Guard against immigration protesters in Los Angeles. (NYDN)
- In a related story, Mayor Adams is, of course, on the president's side when it comes to immigration protesters. (NY Post)
- Find out why mayoral hopeful Michael Blake doesn't drive. We wish more drivers were as honest as Blake. (NY Times)
- Fare evasion does indeed exist. (amNY)
- Rep. Grace Meng wants LIRR service restored in Elmhurst, according to MicrobilityNYC, but before you get too excited, she's been talking about it for at least 13 years.
- We were pleased that amNY followed our story on how an Upper West Side community board opposes Jessica Tisch's bike crackdown.
- At least these ambassadors don't park wherever they want for free. (amNY)
- Our friend Baruch Herzfeld made the Talmudic case for his battery-swap company PopWheels. (NY Jewish Week)
- Streetsblog's Albany correspondent Amy Sohn has opened a lot of eyes to all the dysfunction in the state legislature, but in case you need a shorter primer, check out this Times-Union piece.