Zohran Mamdani vows to rescue street redesign DA says Adams adviser sidelined for bribes

Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor, on Monday said he plans to charge ahead with a slate of proposed street redesigns sidelined by the Adams administration, including one in Greenpoint that’s at the center of an alleged bribery scandal prosecutors say was orchestrated by the mayor’s former top adviser.

Mamdani said if he wins November’s general election, he’d restore an overhaul to McGuiness Boulevard that was approved by the city transportation department and local community board more than two years ago. The plan aimed to add a bike lane while removing a traffic lane on each side of the busy street.

Prosecutors last week filed an indictment alleging Adams’ former senior adviser Ingrid Lewis-Martin took $12,500 in bribes and other favors from the owners of the Greenpoint-based production company Broadway Stages to reduce the scope of the redesign.

After months of delays, the department in 2023 added bike lanes to the street. Last year, city officials eliminated one of two traffic lanes in each direction between Humbolt and Calyer streets. But the DOT has not eliminated any traffic lanes along the the northern section of the street that approaches the Pulaski Bridge, where Broadway Stages operates.

Mamdani said he would allow the transportation department to follow through on the original plan for the entire street.

“What this model represents is that working people can and must be safe, no matter if they drive, if they bike, if they walk, if they ride the bus, if they take the train,” he said at a street safety rally on McGuinness Boulevard Monday morning. “They must be safe across their city and we will make decisions with safety as the imperative.”

Mamdani also said he would move forward with new bus lane projects on Fordham Road and Tremont Avenue in the Bronx, which were both nixed by the Adams administration in recent years following protests from local business owners and institutions.

The Fordham Road project would have banned most car traffic on a section of the street to give priority to bus riders. It was nixed in 2023 after groups like the New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo protested the change. Last week, Streetsblog first reported that Tremont Avenue was slated to get a similar treatment before it was walked back by the Adams administration.

A spokesperson for the mayor's office said the transportation department is monitoring the McGuiness Boulevard redesign, and continues to consider the changes to Tremont Avenue.

“What we’ve seen in these charges, it begs the question of what the safety of New Yorkers is worth,” Mamdani said.