A rare message of hope -- The Mayor is a King when it comes to Micromobility, and our next one should be good...

With the current mayor and his merry gang of bandits skittering for cover under threat of possible impending RICO charges, the next election for the world’s richest city with the most watched streets has suddenly become a can’t-lose contest.

There are currently only three serious candidates in the race to become the next mayor of NYC… and every one of them is a big supporter of Micromobility and our movement.

I’m not a betting man, but even I don’t mind throwing my chips down when there is no possibility of losing.

BRAD LANDER - Currently City Comptroller

The strongest evidence for Brad’s micromobility chops is of course, his work organizing the legal fight against Hochul’s illegal “pause” of congestion pricing. This is a much bigger deal than it might seem. Besides being obviously right and good, let us not forget that the reason Hochul thought she could get away with her scheme in the first place was because the polling on Congestion Pricing was truly terrible just before implementation (as we knew it would be.) She thought canceling it would be popular and therefore help Democrats at the polls. Fighting for it should have been deeply unpopular.

Nevertheless, Brad took a big step to defend the city and our interests (even if people didn’t immediately understand that) despite what at the time seemed like an almost certain political harm for him personally. I don’t know about you, but I tend to like politicians that will do the right thing and defend the people -- even when it means losing some of their own political capital.

This is not a strategy for the masses, but I also get a large amount of my voting and endorsing information from speaking to the candidates in person. I want to hear who they are as a human, and how they think. I’ve spoken with Brad a number of times now, including:

Just after Congestion Pricing was killed

Just after the lawsuit he organized to re-start it

Brad has also called for widespread change to our streetscape, including pedestrianizing large parts of downtown.

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JESSICA RAMOS - Currently State Senator

Jessica is the refreshingly frank. If she has thoughts you’re going to hear them, which I highly enjoy, especially when she reminds voters we are “New York City” not “New York Suburbs.” This is such an incredibly important point that gets to the heart of everything we want to build in this city that is

However, this frankness also sometimes betrays that she doesn’t quite understand the full picture yet. Recently she proposed expanding municipal parking lots in Astoria into towering complexes capable of holding even more cars. Her logic is that removing parking spaces from our streets and moving them to municipal lots will free up our streets for better usage, but this is rarely what actually happens in practice. In the real world the city builds the big, expensive lots — adding huge subsidies for drivers to the public tab, and then keeps many or all of the street parking too. This results in more traffic, more cars, more emissions, and higher costs for all of us. The better way is to simply remove on street parking and not build any additional alternatives at all. Let the free market solve the car storage problem, if it must, or just encourage people to stop driving entirely by scaling back the millions of parking spots we currently clutter the city with.

In any case, she does not drive herself, relies on public transit, and is an outspoken advocate for massively reducing the city’s use of cars, as she told me in person:

The first time I spoke with her on camera

And at a rally for the bike / ped lane seperation on the Queensboro bridge.

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ZOHRAN MAMDANI - Currently State Assembly

Zohran hasn’t announced yet, but after widespread calls to enter the race, almost certainly will very soon. He’s been a huge supporter of our daylighting campaign from day one, making the cause his own, and even attending the first r/micromobilityNYC Streetsmoot in person.

I have of course, spoken to him many times as well. Zohran is the real deal.

About the rampant corruption of his potential predecessor

At the workshops for the 31st Ave bike lane

About the need for the Queensboro Bridge bike / ped separation lanes.

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There are several other’s bopping about or getting ready to potentially throw their hat in the ring, from the disgraced Cuomo, to the already also-ran Myrie. (who?) There are many months between now and Democratic primary that will determine the race in 2025, but as of now these look to be your candidates, NYC. So far, the future looks bright.