Friday’s Headlines: Undermined at Every Turn Edition

Who's the boss?

The heads of NYPD and FDNY work under the direction of the mayor, but it's increasingly clear that neither agency cares what he has to say.

Streetsblog has covered the ongoing disconnect between Mamdani's stated opposition to NYPD's policy of giving criminal summonses to cyclists for low-level moving violations — yet NYPD continues the practice. In a (sadly) more high profile fracas this week, Mamdani has declined to make a big deal out of the notorious Washington Square Park snowball fight even as NYPD sought to arrest its participants (one of whom already had his assault charge dropped and downgraded to a misdemeanor).

Hell Gate's Nick Pinto diagnosed the disconnect as "rift between elected government on the one hand, and the political power of the NYPD and the constellation of interests with which it is aligned on the other."

On the campaign trail, Mamdani defended his decision to retain NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, saying she would "follow my lead because at the end of the day, I am the mayor." That hasn't panned out, as our coverage of NYPD's criminalization of cyclist tickets demonstrated early in his tenure.

Of course, Mamdani faces a difficult balance, as Pinto acknowledged — conventional wisdom holds that the success of any progressive mayoralty rises and falls with the mayor's perceived grip on law and order. Leave NYPD alone, and NYPD will leave you alone. His hiring of Tisch appeared to be at least one reason President Trump has been so nice to him so far (more on that later).

But the mayor's careful navigation of that balance — he didn't defend tossing snowballs at cops or criticize NYPD's response, for example — has yet to yield different outcomes. Tisch runs roughshod over his agenda, and her open defiance of the city's elected executive appears to be contagious: On Wednesday, FDNY brass took the unprecedented step to claim, without evidence, that life-saving protected bike lanes slow its response times.

Mamdani fans from across the country sent us angry messages when we expressed disappointment in him for not telling Tisch to call off her misdirected crackdown on cyclists, but the fact is no one but the mayor can hold a city agency accountable when it runs amok of common sense. That's why we reset our "Mamdani-O-Meter" back to zero in response to FDNY's testimony: The buck stops with the mayor.

As Pinto said of NYPD's move to arrest two of the snowball fight participants, "Mamdani has the authority to call that off, but he's not."

In other news:

• The mayor made an unannounced trip to D.C. to meet with Donald Trump about housing (and ICE) as the president's U.S. DOT holds up crucial busway plans in the Big Apple. The big news: Mamdani asked Trump for $21 billion to deck over Sunnyside Yards to make way for housing. (Gothamist, The City)

• Gov. Hochul also went to the White House on Thursday. (@DanClarkReports via X)
• The Paper of Record calls it as it is: Gov. Hochul wants to "expand" the Cross Bronx Expressway. (NY Times)
• Mamdani's City Hall stands by Eric Adams's 15 mph Central Park speed limit, which now faces a challenge in court. (Gothamist)
• DSNY created a "mobile mapping tool" after last month's winter storm to track snow clearance. (Fast Company)
• How are teenagers getting managing to commandeer subway trains? (NY Times)
• Cops arrested a 25-year-old driver for fatally striking and 64-year-old man in Brooklyn before fleeing the scene in December. (News 12 Brooklyn)
• Manhattan congressional wannabe Nina Schwalbe wants e-bikes to be treated as motor vehicles. (West Side Rag)
• From across the pond: "The pedestrianisation of London's Oxford Street has been given official final approval by Sir Sadiq Khan." (BBC)
• Business leaders had kudos for the mayor's snow response. (Crain's)
• One thing that's hidden in the Epstein files? The pedophile sex trafficker helped kill the Daily News. (American Prospect)
• And finally, peep the longest Citi Bike rides of each month of 2025: