Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani said Monday that he’d complete a slew of bus and bike lane projects scaled back or killed by the Adams administration if he’s elected to lead the city.
Mamdani said he’d finish projects on Bedford Ave, Third Ave in Sunset Park, Ashland Place and the Fordham Road and Fremont Ave busways in the Bronx — all which have been either watered down or canceled by the Adams administration despite being given the go-ahead by the city’s Department of Transportation.
The candidate also pledged to finish the original redesign plan for McGuinness Boulevard, which Mayor Adams’ former chief advisor Ingrid Lewis-Martin was accused in her recent indictment of attempting to kill.
“I commit to it because these are not simply ideas or thoughts as to what could make the city better,” Mamdani said.
“These are the results of years of work by the DOT. And I have been someone who has gone back and forth with the DOT around street safety in Astoria, and yet I always have a guilt in those conversations, because I know I’m not arguing with DOT, I’m arguing with Mayor Adams.”
Mamdani made these remarks at a press conference on McGuinness Boulevard in Greenpoint, where he slammed the mayor for the corruption allegations against his former top aide.
“We need a politics where the decision is not determined by the last person who calls you and just how much money they have, whether donated to you or not. We need decisions that are made with the safety of New Yorkers in mind,” Mamdani said.
Lewis-Martin, the mayor’s longtime friend, was charged last week on four indictments alleging she accepted bribes in exchange for the bike lanes on McGuinness Boulevard, a major thoroughfare in the area, in addition to intervening in the city’s migrant contracts and building approvals process.
Prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office allege Lewis-Martin worked within City Hall to water down plans to revamp a dangerous stretch of the street by placing protected bike lanes on either side of the road, accepting bribes of $2,500 cash, expensive seafood catering and a small role on a Hulu crime drama from Gina and Tony Argento, the owners of a production studio.
After Lewis-Martin’s efforts, the city announced they would move forward with a scaled back version of the original design. Then, when Lewis-Martin’s devices were seized and home raided by investigators, the city changed paths again, announcing they’d move forward with the original bike lane design.
