Thursday's headlines: Issue on the impeachment of the mayor

Well, we have been saying for months that Mayor Adams should for failing to build the number of bus and cycle lanes required by law, for capitulating to big donors by limiting road safety improvements, and for skimping on congestion charges. So until the actual charges are made public today, we assume that this is why the government has loosened the reins.

Anyway, everyone covered it. Click here to see all the coverage, but the best part was when everyone on Twitter was dunking on Bret Stephens:

Late at night, the mayor recorded a video with shaking hands in which he protested his innocence and said he would fight And stay in office (and blame immigrants for his problems):

If Adams changes his mind and resigns, there won't be much sadness in these pages (although we will miss his City of Yes housing initiative, which could have brought about change).

When he leaves, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams will take over, albeit temporarily. Livable Streets supporters have a general opinion of Williams – he has been particularly eloquent in his support of victims of road rage, for example. And as Komanoff pointed out last night, Williams has said the right things about congestion charges (which is easy for him to do, since he is neither mayor nor governor…):

There's not much more to say about Williams – considering how rarely he's mentioned in the Streetsblog, he's not a great pioneer in terms of livable streets. While the indictment was still drying in yesterday's early edition, the Post was already sharpening its knives on the “progressive Democrat” Williams. (Rest easy, Rupert, Williams will only be mayor until the special election – 90 days at the most.)

On the other hand, we hope that Williams will at least use his 90 days of power to get Governor Hochul to reinstate the congestion charge. That would give him a legacy as mayor – something Eric Adams failed to accomplish in three years.

More news (was there more news?):

• Well, today was allegedly will be a big day, with a huge rally at the town hall in support of the development plan of the now accused mayor “City of Yes” And a party in Foley Square in honor of Lorenzo Pace's monumental sculpture “Triumph of the Human Spirit,” which hopefully won't have any cops parked on it. But the whole thing will probably be overshadowed by the Adams follow-up works.
• Speaking of the City of Yes, before Mayor Adams was indicted, his housing project passed the City Planning Commission with ease (NYDN, Streetsblog, Gothamist, amNY, NY Times), but the Post is already saying the City Council will reject it.
• The MTA board did what was expected and approved the $68.4 billion capital plan, and most media outlets took it seriously (all the details had already been worked out beforehand). (NYDN, NY Post, amNY)
• However, amNY reminded everyone that the MTA has not allocated any money for the Second Avenue subway in this major renovation plan.
• An Amtrak train derailed near Penn Station, inconveniencing New Jersey Transit and Amtrak passengers. (NY Post, amNY)
• The Department of Transportation has announced an ingenious method for recycling road surfaces. (NYDN)