Unburdened by What Has Been
The improved post-indictment Adams administration
Our October Happy Hour is next Wednesday in Brooklyn. Nothing spooky but election angst!
Hi All,
It’s strange, but as Mayor Adams and his inner circle deal with the ongoing fallout of their legal troubles, the policy decision-making from City Hall seems to be getting…better.
Perhaps it makes sense: highly empowered self-serving advisors have been sidelined or pushed out altogether, and so they are no longer meddling in (mis)management of the city. (Ingrid Lewis-Martin, for example, has been credited with leading Adams to reverse course on pedestrian and public transit projects, admitting she hasn’t taken the subway in 40 years.)
Now, highly qualified public servants are running agencies and executing on long-planned local projects without last-minute plug-pulling—government, finally, at work.
Bedford Ave. is getting a protected bike lane, 96th St. is getting dedicated busways, and McGuinness Blvd. is getting a full safety and equity redesign—back to what the DOT first proposed after car-centric community feedback led the admin to weaken the plan. Lower speed limits are starting to kick in citywide.
To replace Sheena Wright, Adams has tapped Maria Torres-Springer to be First Deputy Mayor. Torres-Springer is a highly respected architect of important policies like the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity.
On that note, COYHO will be heard at the City Council in two weeks; Speaker Adrienne Adams is indicating that it will be a hard fight. The public hearing on 10/22 is a great opportunity to speak up about the need to legalize a little more housing in every neighborhood. Sign up to testify today!
Curbside composting is now citywide and residential trash containerization (goodbye loose bags on streets!) for small buildings launches next month.
It remains to be seen whether more indictments will come—and whether the mayor will resign (as 69% of New Yorkers want), be removed by Governor Hochul or an Inability Committee, or hold on through next year’s primary.
While we wait, it’s good to know that at least some city officials are doing as the mayor says and not as he does.
More updates from the latest in New York below—see you next Wednesday!
Ryder
🧑💼 The latest Mayor’s Management Report highlighted the importance of staffing: more hires has meant faster response to fix apartments and potholes; fewer folks on the job has meant less frequent health and pest inspections.
👮 As with city service speeds, crime trend lines are variable—but the news is mostly good. Major crimes are down for the ninth straight month, and subway crime is hitting new lows; on the other hand, assaults and bias incidents are up.
🍽️ Heading straight down? Applications for outdoor dining, after the city council included the poison pill of seasonality in the permanent program. In the Bronx, 700 restaurants had outdoor dining; applications under the new rules topped out at 116.
👎 Also down? Brooklyn Community Board members’ attitudes towards new housing. CB7 voted to oppose the Arrow Linen project to build hundreds of apartments, including affordable homes, in a neighborhood with too few.
🚇 Nolan Hicks wrote a deep dive on perpetually high transit costs for Vital City.
🌳 17 trees have been added to the Parks Department’s list of “Great Trees” of NYC.
🏃 17 could also be the number of candidates who run in a special election for mayor. The newest rumored entrant? Attorney General Tish James.
📰 Finally, the chances that New York voters will be well-informed about the next mayoral field are up. After the New York Times announced they’ll no longer make their highly impactful local endorsements, a small group of journalists (including folks we recently recommended reading) are planning to fill the void.