We’re thinking a few more executive orders need to be considered;

• Astoria’s Neptune Diner be relocated to Flushing
• The Newtown Creek be renamed The Gulf of Brooklyn
• The Jets take a new home in a stadium built in the old Flushing Air Field.
• Joey Chestnut banned from participating in the Nathans Hot Dog Eating Contest …. Because there’s no loyalty these days.

One From Adams Too

And while we’re at executive orders, although Mayor Adams is a bit under the weather this week, non-profits, have also been under the gun recently, due to the excessively late reimbursement of funds for city contracts. They are celebrating Adams’ executive order from last week. Each city agency must now designate a chief non-profit officer in order to ‘improve’ services to non-profits. No doubt this move in answer to the concerns of the council reps, who all have been reporting to us that the non-profits in their districts have been desperately calling them to put pressure on the city to get paid. As we have written in this space recently, delaying payments to non-profits been a problem in the past …. usually when the city comptroller is challenging the mayor for his seat, intended to make the mayor look bad.

No matter what you might think of the Biden-Harris, watching them be forced to sit right next to Trump during his inauguration speech was like watching our kids in the ‘time-out-chair.’  They’re thinking …. ‘how fast can I get out of here?’

Our Pol Position bots couldn’t take our eyes off the desperately uncomfortable scene at the inauguration on Monday. Did you all think Trump wasn’t going to be Trump, the entertainer? You all thought he was going to be gracious about the previous administration? However you all might feel about Trump or Biden, it was quite cringe-worthy to watch Biden sit there, five feet from Trump (with Harris right next to him), and hear Trump say our country will not be taken advantage of any longer.  “For many years a corrupt establishment…. (an administration) that can not manage a simple crisis at home….. All of this will change, and it’s starting today. Decline is over,” he said. “In recent years our nation has suffered greatly,” he continued. 

Numerous times through his address, when nearly everyone stood up and clapped, Biden, Harris and their spouses had to sit there and endure this. It just seemed torturous. We were actually waiting for Biden or Harris get up from their seat. How hard it must have been to sit there and have to listen to something that makes your blood boil. 

Next time sit the outgoing administration on stage, but in the back. 

And the Hamburglar wants his hat back!

By now it is pretty clear what the mayoral election field will look like this year. A crowded field of candidates clearly to the left of Adams, lining up – with the exception of Curtis Sliwa, who will hold down the right flank. With the exception of Andrew Cuomo, who, in a flash poll last week, apparently is at 35%, all the other candidates are currently polling in the single digits.

The race for governor might be getting clearer as we watch Hochul try to convince New Yorkers that the congestion price toll is a benefit. The MTA is taking an early victory lap & bow on the impact of Congestion Pricing in the ‘whole’ week it has been in service. If we believe their data, it seems 40,000 fewer cars were in the zone last week when compared to the same week last year, a 7% decrease in traffic. Last week, they say 530K vehicles entered the zone. So the toll has reduced the number of cars in the zone. 

Is that a victory?

The MTA thinks so, but we suggest the people in NYC don’t.

How many of those cars are making that left turn on 2nd Avenue at 60th Street, going into Queens – and not really adding to the traffic in the zone? Can you wait a little while longer to tell us how great the congestion zone toll is?

We can’t escape the tactic that the Governor and the MTA are using, reminding us of the recent history in the national campaign for president. While the Harris camp was holding the juice cup to our lips, convinced that the economy was fine and crime is on the decline, the Trump camp just told the country to use the ‘eye test’ to measure the state of the economy and the state of crime. The eye test won, and it is doubtful that Hochul can do some kind of magic trick to convince the voters that congestion pricing is a worthwhile investment for the individuals paying the $9 fee. The voters will say whether it’s worth paying more for goods delivered inside the congestion-pricing zone, as suppliers pass along the cost of the toll to consumers. Hochul might just be facing the same result in her bid for reelection. While Republicans like Mike Lawler and Nicole Malliotakis say they will work with Trump to stop the toll, they might gain some ground in a popular vote for governor. We don’t see Nicole running, but Lawler seems to be delivering his opinions on a bunch of talk shows as of late and he might just be convinced he has a path to victory.

It was a delight to see democratic Brooklyn Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader (by a whisker), use the phrase ‘build the economy for the working class,’ as a goal, through bipartisan legislation. We’re not sure why, but his address to congress struck a chord with many we spoke with this past weekend. Maybe it’s the way he said it …. maybe it’s because he didn’t look like a sore loser, as the democrats still don’t have control of the house. He handled it well. He grew up here, deep in Brooklyn, and his New York roots make him a leader who will do a lot more to bring the two parties together than has been done in a generation. Our sources in Congress say that he is pretty well respected by both parties. We pointed out in this column a few months ago that Jeffries has a good deal to do with Hochul putting a pause on congestion pricing. Our sources tell us that his team knew the constituents in his district are against congestion pricing. Now it’s here. Nothing has changed. Brooklynites are still against it. He could get challenged in his district in two years. We know that Trump has promised to nix CP. Jeffries could be the hero if he signs on.

Why is it that the same people who are so vocal about giving convicted criminals a second chance at rehabilitation and the best conditions at Rikers, are the same ones who object when someone like Anthony Weiner, Andrew Cuomo of Hiram Monserrate is interested in running for office again? No, they’re not all ex-cons, but you get the point. That’s the question of the week and we, at this Pol Position desk struggle with that too. When it comes to ethics should politicians be expected to be beyond reproach? We think so, but it’s just so ironic to see who comes out first. We’ll be interviewing candidates who are serious about running for office. As you are all aware, we focus on hyper-local.

If this past election season is any indication of what’s to come, people like Anthony Weiner and Andrew Cuomo (who both might run for mayor) and Hiram Monserrate (who will undoubtedly run for the city council) might just have a fighter’s chance of winning at the ballot box.