Ever since Mayor Eric Adams took office, his administration has been known to stall projects that would set aside a greater share of New York City’s crowded streets for pedestrians, bicyclists and bus riders.
These sorts of proposals often draw passionate support from transit advocates and the city’s own urban planners. But in a megalopolis where the use of every inch of public space is fiercely contested, consensus is rarely possible.
Two years ago, the mayor’s chief aide, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, reintroduced cars to an eight-block stretch in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, that had been reserved for pedestrians. Last year, Mr. Adams’s administration watered down a proposal to prioritize bus traffic along Fordham Road in the Bronx. And in July, the mayor, who during his campaign for office vowed to help improve bus service, deflected criticism that he was delaying a major bus-lane project on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn.
Now, Mr. Adams and some of his closest advisers — those who have not resigned — are trying to run New York while they are at the center of several corruption investigations. And those who have championed changes to the city’s streets are sensing an opportunity.
Transit advocates and some rank-and-file officials in the city’s Department of Transportation are hoping that their policy priorities will have a better chance of navigating City Hall with the Adams administration focused on its own survival.
It’s a surge of opportunistic optimism that gained steam when several seemingly stuck projects lurched forward.
In a reversal, a plan to remove car lanes from a section of McGuinness Boulevard in Brooklyn was restored earlier this month after it had been cut back last year. Ms. Lewis-Martin had been the plan’s most powerful detractor, having pressed Mr. Adams to scale back the plan after it was opposed by influential Democratic donors.
“Ingrid Lewis-Martin was a big obstacle to some of these street projects moving forward — she’s certainly a little distracted right now, as is the mayor,” said Sara Lind, a co-executive director of Open Plans, a nonprofit that supports a more pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly city.
“It’s exciting to see that maybe the D.O.T. feels empowered right now, and it’s going to move ahead with some of this stuff,” Ms. Lind added.
In a text message, Ms. Lewis-Martin declined to respond to questions about the criticism.
City Hall officials did not respond to questions about how the investigations could be affecting the work of the Transportation Department, but a spokeswoman, Liz Garcia, said in a statement that the administration was “making it easier, safer and more affordable to get around New York City — especially for young people and working-class New Yorkers.”
She added that in August, the city and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had expanded bus-mounted camera enforcement against cars that were blocking or double-parking near bus stops. She also said that the city was moving forward with a plan to build more than 40 miles of new protected paths for cyclists and pedestrians.
Other projects that got a green light include additional bike lanes for Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn and on the Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, and new paths for pedestrians and bicyclists along 16 miles of Queens shoreline.
The Department of Transportation declined to address whether the crisis unfolding at City Hall had any impact on the progress of the projects. But a person familiar with the internal workings of the department, which is responsible for maintaining and building bus and bike lanes, said the timing was just chance.
Three department officials who spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution said that many of the agency’s employees had spent years drawing up plans for more bus and bike lanes, only to see them languish. The officials said that they hoped that Ydanis Rodriguez, the transportation commissioner, and Meera Joshi, the deputy mayor for operations, would use any opening presented by the crisis in City Hall to take bolder action.
Ms. Joshi said that the mayor had made “several organizational changes” that helped the city deliver projects more efficiently.
“We remain focused on making New York City a more walkable, bikeable and commuter-friendly city,” she wrote in an email. “City government continues to operate as normal for New Yorkers.”
Mr. Rodriguez declined to comment, but Vincent Barone, a spokesman for the department, said that officials were “laser focused on delivering for New Yorkers every day.” He added, “Over the last two years, we’ve implemented record amounts of pedestrian space, including Open Streets, shared streets, plazas and permanent outdoor dining, as well as protected bike lanes, and we look forward to keeping up this momentum.”
Federal prosecutors obtained an indictment of Mr. Adams on Sept. 25 on charges that include bribery conspiracy, fraud and soliciting of illegal foreign campaign donations. Many top officials’ phones have been seized and their homes searched, and some have been charged with crimes. Seven senior officials have left their jobs. Mr. Adams, who is up for re-election in 2025, has said that he is innocent.
Of course, pushing projects through City Hall is not the only obstacle, and transportation officials must often contend with skepticism from the public. Residents are often bitterly divided on matters that involve precious space on New York’s streets and sidewalks, frequently inundating government officials with complaints over even the smallest changes.
To help sway the public, Transportation Department officials periodically meet with transit advocates, a longstanding practice that has continued during the upheaval at City Hall.
Many transit activists hope that the added scrutiny at City Hall will amplify their lobbying. The Riders Alliance, a transit advocacy group, issued a sharp statement a day after Mr. Adams was indicted. “We hope Mayor Eric Adams has time to finally consider the needs of bus riders stuck on Fordham Road and Flatbush Avenue as he awaits his day in court,” said Betsy Plum, the group’s executive director.
On Thursday, the New York Public Interest Research Group, a nonprofit organization, held a hike along a section of Flatbush Avenue to push for the street’s bus plan.
Transit advocates and Transportation Department insiders, however, also fear that a City Hall in disarray might instead further slow the implementation of new projects.
“It’s a very real risk that the mayor circles the wagons,” said Danny Pearlstein, a spokesman with the Riders Alliance.
While the M.T.A., the agency that runs the subway and bus networks, is operated by the state, the streets are controlled by the mayor, and he has the power to give buses and bicycles more space to move freely on them.
City buses provide more than a million rides each weekday on streets filled with double-parked cars and delivery trucks, among other choke points. New York has the slowest buses in the nation — averaging eight miles per hour.
Mr. Adams said he would build 150 miles of bus lanes in four years. But the city built only 14.7 miles of new bus lanes last year and 5.4 miles the year before. This year, the city is on track to build just seven miles of bus lanes, according to an analysis by Streetsblog.
Mr. Adams also promised to install 300 miles of protected bike lanes by the end of his term. His administration has built 69 miles, achieving 23 percent of that goal with a year left in his term.
The post A Mayor’s Crisis Stirs Hope for Delayed Street Projects appeared first on New York Times.
