But what started out as a lovefest for transit that will improve the lives of tens of thousands of New York\u2019s long-suffering bus riders quickly became a very public display of disaffection for former Mayor Eric Adams \u2014\u00a0who famously promised he\u2019d be a \u201cBus Mayor,\u201d then turned out to be<\/a> the very opposite<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mayor Mamdani\u2019s DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn, who hailed the MTA as his agency\u2019s \u201cpartner,\u201d but said the feeling is mutual.<\/p>\n \u201cWe stand shoulder to shoulder with you,\u201d Flynn said. \u201cYou\u2019ve always prioritized the needs of bus riders, and now you have a partner at the city level who does as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Me-ow! But MTA CEO Janno Lieber also had his claws out for Adams and the way he ran DOT.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t long ago that we were with this DOT team and the mayor in the Bronx, kicking off the belated, bus lane installation on Fordham Road,\u201d Lieber said, referring to an event with Mayor Mamdani \u201cI said it then, and I\u2019ll say it again: it\u2019s fabulous to have partners who in government who are ready to do what\u2019s necessary to make the streets really, really receptive to buses. It\u2019s a long overdue commitment to build bus lanes and busways and to install more [enforcement] cameras, more traffic signal prioritization and everything that\u2019s going to make buses faster.\u201d<\/p>\n And in case anyone missed what Lieber was saying, he doubled-down: \u201cWe haven\u2019t always had this partnership. It\u2019s not a secret. And that obviously made MTA mission to speed up service very, very difficult. After all, buses can only move as fast as the traffic and the street configuration allows.\u201d<\/p>\n So how much faster will buses move through Flatbush Avenue? Well, on this one, DOT wasn\u2019t talking. An original presentation<\/a> to local community boards mentioned that perhaps bus speeds might improve by 20 percent, and the DOT press release pointed out that prior projects have been successful, citing a 43-percent increase in bus speeds on 161st Street in the Bronx.<\/p>\n But on Tuesday, Flynn and others declined to answer Streetsblog\u2019s simple question: \u201cCare to make a prediction for Flatbush?\u201d<\/p>\n But Lieber promised that the plan \u2014\u00a0which, for now, includes protected bus lanes and boarding islands, plus lots of pedestrian space \u2014 will be a bus revolution for Brooklyn.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t beat the impact of dedicated bus lanes,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a happy day for the 130,000 plus riders who travel this corridor every day.\u201d<\/p>\n The project will be built in four phases, but will be done this year.<\/p>\n And for all of you who love a good ceremonial groundbreaking photo, here\u2019s your moment of zen:<\/p>\n In other news:<\/p>\n With Gov. Hochul failing to convince lawmakers about her efforts to lower auto insurance premiums by depriving some crash victims of their ability to be compensated for their life-altering injuries, now she looks like she may want to lower auto insurance premiums by preventing the insurance companies from raising them whenever they want. (Gothamist<\/a>)<\/p>\n Speaking of insurance, money really opens doors in Washington, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n I was glad to meet with Uber\u2019s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi yesterday to discuss ways to support the rideshare economy and lower auto insurance costs for everyone. pic.twitter.com\/BZOX7CfL3y<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Congresswoman Laura Gillen (@RepLauraGillen) April 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie can\u2019t seem to support basic technology to keep our roads safe from recidivist speeders, but President Trump seems to like the idea. (Road & Track<\/a>)<\/p>\n Speaking of Speaker Heastie, street safety advocates and their allies in government will rally to demand Heastie\u2019s support for the Stop Super Speeders bill at 10 a.m. at City Hall.<\/p>\n Will Staten Island ever get a restored North Shore railroad? (Advance<\/a>)<\/p>\n Don\u2019t walk to the World Cup! (WPIX<\/a>)<\/p>\n Everyone is upset that Caputo\u2019s Bake Shop on Court Street has closed. But, as Crain\u2019s reports<\/a>, the owner did not blame the bike lane!<\/p>\n What\u2019s next for Citi Bike? Dockless?! (Zag Daily<\/a>)<\/p>\n Cars! They do the damndest things! (Like turn over all by themselves!) (News12<\/a>)<\/p>\n Finally, as we previewed yesterday, Greenpoint lawmakers are upset at the upcoming weekend outages of the G train, as the Post reported<\/a>. Council Member Lincoln Restler had a presser at Nassau Avenue with Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who said the World Cup summer \u201cshould be a boon for the local economy, but that\u2019s impossible if North Brooklyn and Greenpoint are cut off from the rest of the city.\u201d But we asked MTA CEO Janno Lieber about it at the aforementioned Flatbush presser and he was downright pissed at Restler. \u201cCouncilman Restler had to leave the celebratory press conference here to go beat up on the MTA,\u201d he started. \u201cBut this is the reality of the generations of neglect of the MTA\u2019s core infrastructure: It turns out that tunnel under Newtown Creek between Greenpoint and Long Island City needs a lot more work than was originally thought. So that is why we are having to do extra weekend shutdowns and get the work done. \u2026 We\u2019ve got to give them better service, even though it is inconvenient to ride a bus instead of the subway.\u201d DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn declined to discuss whether the shuttle bus service during the outage will be sufficient or just stuck in traffic. (The Daily News<\/a>, amNY<\/a> and Gothamist<\/a> also covered.)<\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Flatbush-Avenue-center-running-bus-lane.png\")
This design is close to the kind of bus rapid transit that is standard in most modern cities. Department of Transportation<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/shovels-13-rotated-e1777428899182.jpg\")
All together now: We love a good ceremonial ground-breaking. Photo: Gersh Kuntzman<\/p>\n