WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2025
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Dear New Yorkers,
You may have heard of independent expenditure groups — the city’s Super PACs — ing Andrew Cuomo, but some candidates for down-ballot races are also backed by big money.
An IE group called Ending Homelessness & Building a Better NYC has been pouring money into a City Council race that usually has a much lower spending cap. It’s funded solely by $1.6 million from Wall Street financier Michael Jenkins.
It’s thrown most of its weight behind Wil López, a candidate for City Council in The Bronx. So far, the group has spent at least $145,143 ing López, including a mass mailing, digital ads and swag, according to disclosure records.
It’s not yet clear why the Wall Street mogul is so invested in the Bronx race. But last month, the IE mounted a legal challenge to try and knock López’s opponent off the ballot in the Democratic primary.
Read more here about the ballot attack from a big-money PAC in the Council race.
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Weather ⛅
Partly sunny with highs in the low 70s and potential rain in the evening.
MTA 🚇
In Brooklyn, the Jamaica Center-bound J train and Middle Village-bound M train skip Hewes Street, Lorimer Street and Flushing Ave from 9:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Friday. Find all the MTA’s planned changes and the latest delays here.
Alternate side parking 🚙
It’s in effect today, May 8.
By the way…
May is Bike Month, according to the Department of Transportation! They have bike-related events and giveaways happening all month.
Our Other Top Stories
- For the latest in Eric Adams’ quest for $4 million in matching funds, he asked the Campaign Finance Board last week to reconsider denying him the funding. The CFB has denied his request, again.
- The NYPD commissioner is defending her department’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities that are detaining a Palestinian woman who participated in protests at Columbia University. Jessica Tisch is arguing that New York’s strict sanctuary laws don’t apply — but immigration advocates say she’s dangerously wrong.
- We’re co-hosting the leading Democratic mayoral and comptroller debates with Spectrum News 1, WNYC/Gothamist and other partners and we want your suggestions for questions to ask the candidates. Submit a question you would like us to put to the candidates for mayor and comptroller — it could end up getting asked at the debates.
Reporter’s Notebook
Massive LIRR Delays Caused by Amtrak Tunnel Work Are Sign of Future, MTA Sys
A morning-rush meltdown that affected dozens of Long Island Rail Road trains Wednesday ignited the latest flare-up between the MTA and Amtrak — weeks before the federal service begins Sandy-related repairs to the East River tunnel that it shares with the LIRR.
“I don’t claim to be a fortuneteller, but this is exactly what we have been concerned with and warning our customers and Amtrak about,” LIRR President Rob Free said at a Penn Station news conference.
Free said “tens of thousands” of riders on 43 LIRR trains were delayed, with six diverted from their original destination and five canceled entirely.
“I don’t know how much more we can take and it’s unacceptable,” he added.
An Amtrak spokesperson blamed overnight work outside of the East River tunnel, saying it “illustrates the risk of a nights and weekends approach to complex projects.”
The start of the three-year rehabilitation project was this week pushed back from Friday to May 23 after complaints from Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams.
— Jose Martinez
Sanitation Union Head Retires
Harry Nespoli, the longtime head of the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association Teamsters Local 831 and chair of the Municipal Labor Committee alliance of unions, retired on April 30 after more than 55 years of service, he told THE CITY. The Chief Leader first reported the news on Wednesday.
His departure promises to shake up the ongoing fight over the derailed cost-saving shift to Medicare Advantage for city union retirees, a deal Nespoli helped broker. The Municipal Labor Committee sued the city last week to avoid arbitration in a dispute in which they are being asked to give back billions of dollars.
He will remain chair of the MLC for at least the next two weeks, when the group gathers to vote for a new leader, Nespoli told THE CITY.
Dennis Schock, his vice president, was elected to ride out the rest of Nespoli’s term at Local 831, which expires in 2027. Nespoli, who is 80 years old, said that he is looking forward to spending time with his wife and grandchildren.
— Claudia Irizarry Aponte
Things To Do
Here are some free and low-cost things to do around the city this week.
- Thursday, May 8: Watch Barbie under the stars at Chelsea Green park in Manhattan. 7:30 p.m.
- Thursday, May 8: Take a free outdoor West African dance class. Times Square, 5 p.m.
- Thursday, May 8: Go on a run through Flushing Meadows Corona Park with the New York Road Runners. 7 p.m.
THE KICKER: One of the bolts placed to mark potential intersections as part of the 1811 plan that created the famous Manhattan grid still exists in Central Park today — you can even touch it!
Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Thursday.
Love,
THE CITY
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