Skip to Content
Streetsblog Empire State home
Streetsblog Empire State home
Log In
Andrew Cuomo

Monday’s Headlines: Wounded Cuomo Edition

12:03 AM EDT on July 12, 2021

    File photo: Kevin Coughlin / Governor’s Office

    Not to toot our own horn, but we had noted last week that presumptive mayor Eric Adams sent a shot across Gov. Cuomo's bow after the flooding that revealed how the MTA has failed to protect the subway system from the inevitable toll of climate change — and how urgently we need the governor to implement congestion pricing to pay for it.

    Well, this weekend brought a spate of coverage:

      • The New York Post lavished attention to Transit Workers Union head John Samuelsen's very public divorce from the governor, reporting, "Things are really going off the rails for Gov. Andrew Cuomo!"
      • Nicole Gelinas — also in the Adams-loving/Cuomo-hating/controversy-stoking tabloid — also said Adams was "right to stay on the very public offense — playing nice [with Cuomo] won’t get him far."
      • The Times also looked into the possibility of an Adams-Cuomo rift (plus tossed in an explainer about the flooding, though Gothamist suggested it coulda been worse).
      • Politico did a deeper dive into Attorney General Letitia James — once an ally of the governor, now his likely tormentor and, possibly, his challenger.

    In other news,

      • Eric Adams is heading to the White House on Monday. No wonder he hasn't been returning our calls! (NY Post)
      • The NYPD is interacting way too much with emotionally distressed students. (WSJ)
      • The bike boom continues. (amNY)
      • Summer Streets is back after a pandemic cancellation. But it's only two weekends now. Gothamist wrote up the press release (including the superlatives, SMH). You do realize that Bogota has 75 miles of car-free streets every Sunday, don't you?
      • Clayton Guse was badly let down by his editors at the Daily News in this weird Sunday story about a stray comment made by MTA official Sarah Meyer on June 24 about redeploying token booth clerks out of the metal stalls. Our problem with the story? It raises way more questions than it answers, which, our old tabloid editor in chief always says is when you point the finger at the desk not the reporter.
      • Philly Inquirer architecture writer Inga Saffron used the Moynihan Train Hall and was as unimpressed as we were ... for the very same reason. (via Twitter)
      • Yet another piece of infrastructure failed on the Upper West Side on Sunday ... but the Post's only concern was, "Think of our defenseless cars!" (Reminder: A kid could have been killed, people).
      • A truck driver struck and critically wounded a man in Coney Island. No charges, of course. (NY Post)
      • Our friends at the "New Third Avenue" campaign have released the winners of their People's Choice Award for NYC Safe Streets/Transit Advocate of the year. It's a three-way tie: Jim Burke of the 34th Avenue open street; Sophie Maerowitz of the Avenue B version, and CJ Wojtkowski, who recently appeared in a Streetfilms profile (via Twitter)
      • It concerns us that no one in the mainstream media has followed our scoop on Friday that revealed that a speeding driver who killed delivery worker Borkot Ullah may have been being chased by cops — the latest example of a high-speed chase in a dense urban area gone wrong. The Post's coverage at least mentioned a Queens woman who was also killed in a hit-and-run — and was struck by an MTA bus driver who fled. We had asked the MTA about that on Friday, but the agency sent over crickets.
      • And, finally, Streetsblog's old man editor had a nice time at the War on Cars in-person meetup on Saturday in Brooklyn gabbing with the bold-faced names behind the world's most important podcast, Aaron Naparstek, Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon, plus other attendees journalist Aaron Gordon, City Comptroller staffer Adam Forman, North Brooklyn open streets volunteer Noel Hidalgo, Oonee founder Shabazz Stuart, former Council candidate Billy Freeland, Post reporter Nolan Hicks, Second Avenue Sagas legend Ben Kabak, and a guy from the Lower East Side named Cecil who said he loves Streetsblog so much that we just had to include him (even though we did not catch his last name!). See all the party shots on Patreon.
      • Oh, and speaking of a war on cars, auto thefts are up, the Post reports.

    Stay in touch

    Sign up for our free newsletter

    More from Streetsblog Empire State

    Friday Headlines: 205 Million Reasons To Be Happy

    Stopping New York's transportation goals is harder than it looks. Plus more news.

    February 13, 2026

    Talking Headways Podcast: Concrete Doesn’t Spend Money, People Do

    Dr. Lawrence Frank shows how the decisions we make about the built environment are a symbol of why the world is so f'd up. A very special edition of Talking Headways.

    February 12, 2026

    NYC Mayor Mamdani Pitches Free Buses (Cheap!) Plus Other Transportation Needs on ‘Tin Cup’ Day

    Mamdani gave his former colleagues in state government a glimpse of his thinking on transportation and city operations, and hopes they can send more cash his city's way.

    February 12, 2026

    Thursday Headlines: Is Your Tin Cup Full Edition

    Tin Cup day for many mayors is basically like returning to your alma mater for alumni weekend, except you're asking them for money. And more news.

    February 12, 2026

    ‘Everyone’s At Fault’: NYC Government Pointing Fingers Over Lowering Speed Limits

    The mayor and the City Council are using the "art of deflection" to keep the status quo instead of lowering the speed limit to a safer 20 miles per hour.

    February 12, 2026

    More Troubles for Fly E-Bike: Feds Order Costly Moped Recall

    Federal officials have ordered Fly E-Bike to recall all Fly 10 mopeds, the latest troubles for the micromobility company.

    February 11, 2026
    See all posts