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Vote 2024: Thousands of absentee ballots start going out in Connecticut

What happens if NYC Mayor Eric Adams steps down or is removed from office?

Some residents vow to make Edgemont an incorporated village following recent petition's denial

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News 12 Staff

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Welcome back to this episode of Power and Politics, everyone. I'm Amanda Bossard. The city pulled a U turn on the plan to redesign mcguinness Boulevard and says construction is set to start this fall. So joining us now to break down those changes and reaction to them is assembly member, Emily Gallagher, assembly member. Thanks so much for being with us here on Power and Politics this week. My pleasure. Thanks so much for having me. Great to have you, especially because you have been so vocal on the need for change on mcguinness after several deadly crashes in recent years on that stretch. So, what are your thoughts on the plan that's now been presented which I believe includes a protected bike lane parking and one lane for traffic in each direction between Collier and Meeker. I'm thrilled that the Adams administration chose ultimately to go with the community. Uh We had worked for about three years on uh feedback on these plans. This was the overwhelming winner. Uh We had hit some snags um last year and, and it had changed course, but I'm really, really grateful that we are back to the um plan B as it was called by the dot And I think that this is a significant step to, uh, changing, uh, behavior on our roadway. Yeah. What about that plan specifically? Do you think will lead to safer streets specifically along that stretch of mcguinness? Well, data shows that time and again, the more that you increase the, the lanes of traffic, the more people speed, the more people drive, the more, uh, aggressive the driving is. And even though, um, we, as you know, human minds might think, you think more means, you know, we're adding more space. But in fact, in transportation planning, there is significant evidence that that is not how it works. So the less um, roadway there is, the more people behave, the more they're alerted to Aris to cyclists and to other users of the road. And we really wanted to see that significant of a change because not only have there been several deadly crashes on this road, um for pedestrians, but there is a significant crash every week that leads to injury. So there is a lot of bad behavior on this roadway and we really know from ST that most of the traffic on this roadway is going, um to use it as a shortcut uh between highways. So while we reduce the lanes of traffic on this road, we're actually going to reduce the amount that it's used as a cut through and we're gonna reduce the, the kinds of bad behavior that we've been seeing on the road. Some might argue that reducing it to one lane for traffic might create congestion. Is, is that a concern for you at all? That is a, a theory that has, as I mentioned in, in studies of other cities has been disproven. Uh when we reduce uh roadways, we actually tend to see less congestion. I know it is counterintuitive, but it is actually how it, how um studies have shown that it works. Um One of the things that I think about when I used to drive is you're always doing that calculation in your head about where, where is it going to be the fastest for me to go? And can I pass and can I speed through? And um, if we reduce those opportunities, people are actually going to just stay on the highway and take the exit that will get them to the other highway rather than speeding through and um cutting across to get to the other highway. You point to the reason. And I think that shows just how long and how deeply things have been looked into here to improve mcguinness. You mentioned earlier, this has been a year long back and forth with the city, local lawmakers, colleagues of yours and of course, the community members, what is your take on what it took to get to this point? You know, I think that um unfortunately, the issues of traffic safety still tend to be a hot button issue that represent a lot of other issues for people. Uh Many people wrongly connect gentrification and bike lanes. Whereas actually the reason why bike lanes tend to be in gentrified neighborhoods are because they are a safety improvement and people with means tend to fight for it. So, um I think that we had to fight for a long hard time to get this through. We had to persuade many different audiences. And I think ultimately, um what we saw a referendum at the ballot box, my colleague and I Kristen Gonzalez, who is our state senator. We were both primary partially around this issue and overwhelmingly won our elections. And I think that really sent a message that this is something that the community wants and that is a representation um that people are voting uh for this change. So I think a lot of this was about um those changes and something that we have been covering for the years that this discussion has been happening here on news 12. I think the big question becomes, when will work. I know the dot says this fall. Do you know any further details on that start date at this time? I I do know that it is meant to happen in the next few weeks. Uh Initially, they were going to be putting in the, the unpopular plan which was plan A which was going to remove parking and create a bike lane just on the side of the road. Um Plan B is uh maintaining all of the parking that the community needs as well as creating a much safer bike lane. So they already had plans to do construction on the road this month. And so now the construction will just be for Plan B instead of plan A, all right, changes to come and it's a long time coming. Assembly member, Emily Gallagher. Thank you so much for your time and for breaking down this big news here in Brooklyn with us this week. Thank you so much. I'm really grateful for your coverage all these years. Next. We're taking a deeper look at efforts at the state level to make city streets safer and a new poll reveals whether New Yorkers think the mayor should step down more power in politics in just a few minutes. Stay with us.

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Welcome back to power and politics. Local lawmakers are pushing for stiffer penalties for unlicensed drivers involved in deadly crashes. News twelve's Rob Flax explains how a Brooklyn family hopes to get justice through Ephron's law. He killed my father. He knew he had no license, it was suspended, no registration and yet he got on the fight on that. I'm standing here on 60th Street and Fifth Avenue where in June of this year, 82 year old Ephraim Barretto was crossing the crosswalk. You can see behind me when he was struck and killed by a man. Prosecutors say was operating a moped without a license. However, that suspect only charged with misdemeanors. That's something that Eins law named in that victim's memory is looking to change. It is a choice to choose to drive without a license or insurance. Those negligent choices of what lead to death. State, Senator Yuan Chu joined members of Barreto's family, introducing the law that would make a case like Eins automatically a felony. The suspect 30 year old abed, abed faces aggravated operation of a vehicle without a license charges in the third degree. They had no right. So a stiffer penalty for. If you commit a crime, you kill someone, you hurt someone, you've got to go to jail. Everybody thinks it should be vele manslaughter. It's not, it's just a minor offense which makes absolutely no sense. Bretos family says they hope it can act as a deterrent and prevent violations before they happen in the future. As for Robin's case, they're calling on the Brooklyn D A to upgrade all of his charges to the felony level in Sunset Park R Lack news. 12 Brooklyn Rob. Thank you. As we continue to follow the latest in the federal indictment against mayor Eric Adams. A new poll is revealing that the majority of New Yorkers think the mayor needs to step down. According to a Marist poll, 69% of New York City residents think mayor Eric Adams should resign. Only 30% say that he should serve out the rest of his term. Federal prosecutors say more charges could come in the mayor's corruption case. Adams has resisted calls to resign, vowing to balance his mayoral duties and his obligations as a criminal defendant. As the investigations unfold. A Brooklyn Juice bar owner is claiming former NYPD commissioner Edward Cabin's brother and a former city hall staffer shook him down for $2500. Shamelle Kelly and his lawyer speaking in front of City Hall Tuesday. According to Kelly, members of the 60th precinct began harassing him shortly after he opened his shop Moore back in 2022. He says a friend of his put him in contact with Ray Martin who along with James Caban offered to get the NYPD off his back for a price. Kelly's attorneys say he is cooperating with the federal investigation into Mayor Adams and we'll continue to follow it all here on power and politics. That's it for this episode. Thanks for watching.

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The fallout from Mayor Eric Adams’ federal indictment continues – he pleaded not guilty to five federal charges including bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy. 

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