Monday’s Headlines: Uncharted Territory Edition

Some 100,000 people took to the streets of New York City for Saturday’s “No Kings” protest of President Trump repeatedly flaunting the Constitution to enact his agenda. Demonstrators included our very own Editor-in-Chief Gersh Kuntzman, who brought along a homemade sign defending the president’s latest target, the 34th Street busway.

Kuntzman didn’t get many comments on his janky sign, but Streetfilms’ Clarence Eckerson (photo above) got plenty of kudos for his.

The irony is that the “No Kings” slogan originated from social media posts in which the president declared congestion pricing “dead” followed by “LONG LIVE THE KING!” That was eight months ago, however — and congestion pricing is far from dead as Trump’s illegal bid to kill it flounders.

Don’t get us wrong: Trump’s leverage over New York state is real, and the lengths to which he’s willing to go dictate policy here are uncertain. He’s seized the power of the purse and there are plenty of ways to use the federal government as a cudgel to get what he wants. But his legal standing to defund infrastructure projects or cancel busways is no sure thing, as we saw in his failed attempt to withhold $34 million in transit security funds from the MTA. The president’s desire to withhold that money to crack down on New York’s “sanctuary city” policies didn’t fly with a federal judge, who said the money must be allocated based on security needs.

Which raises the question: Why are Mayor Adams and his team taking seriously the Federal Highway Administration’s whiny order to pause the 34th Street busway? Administrator Sean McMaster claims to want to know how the busway will impact truck traffic, but he has smart (enough) people working for him to figure out that getting rid of cars on a street helps speed up trucks as well as buses.

State Sen. Brad Hoylman, the frontrunner in next month’s race for Manhattan borough president, said as much at a pro-busway rally on Friday when he asked why Adams and DOT had complied with the order rather than take U.S. DOT to prevent federal interference and assert New York City’s control of its streets.

“Why do you continue to bend the knee?” he asked of the mayor.

In other news:

• Gothamist, the Times, ABC, NBC, FOX, Bloomberg, Crain’s, W42ST, amNY, Patch, the Daily News and NY1 all covered the 34th Street news. Read Streetsblog’s coverage here.
• “It’s up to me”: Trump again said Gateway is “terminated” (“as of now”).

• YIMBY Fantasy: NJ Transit wants to raise $1.9 billion by developing on unused property it owns. (Trains.com)
• Ignore the haters: Cycling in cities is booming — and making everyone safer. (Vox)
• Like his would-be predecessor, the Democrat vying to succeed Bob Holden can’t stand the all-powerful bike lobby. (QNS)
• A Nassau County Comptroller’s report found LIRR facilities in the county to be “extremely inadequate.” (News 12 Long Island)
• Cathy Rinaldi is taking over the helm at the Gateway Development Commission temporarily after Commission Chair Tom Prendergast had a heart attack at an Eagles concert in Las Vegas. (NorthJersey.com)
• The rezoning of Greenpoint 20 years ago created a ton of housing… but rents continued to rise. Gothamist explored why.
• Subway ridership continues to grow. (amNY)
• Turns out the elderly driver who killed an elderly pedestrian and injured two others in Coney Island last week was struck by another driver first. (Brooklyn Paper)
• amNewYork‘s ongoing tour of the IBX route passed through East New York.
• Friend of Streetsblog John Surico teamed up with data journalist Nick Underwood and the New York Times to dive into the future threat of flooding facing the Big Apple — and what to do about it. (NY Times)
• The Times mourned the demise of the New York City public bench.
• Bloomberg CityLab columnist David Zipper reviewed the new book from the hosts of The War on Cars podcast.