Pigeons have the run of the city — and the State Capitol

Plus: Mayor Adams praises NYPD after subway shooting [View this email in a browser.]( Gothamist relies on your support to make local news available to all. Not yet a member? [Consider donating and join today.]( [Pigeons are everywhere in NYC. In Albany, they have the run of the State Capitol.]( [first image]( [Today's newsletter is curated by James Ramsay]( Weather: ☁️ Cloudy, with a chance of afternoon showers and highs in the mid 70s. It's Wednesday in New York, where the state recently spent $9 million restoring the Capitol's huge interior courtyard to its original 19th century splendor. Unfortunately, the pigeons are still in there. Here's how a hundred years' worth of tactics, from poison to electric shock wires to green lasers, have [failed to keep the birds from turning the hallowed courtyard into their bathroom](. And here's what else is happening: - Police said [at least 18 people were arrested last night at a protest]( at the Sutter Avenue L train station in Brownsville, two days after NYPD officers at the station opened fire at an alleged fare evader with a knife, hitting a fellow cop and two bystanders in addition to the suspect. - "I think that those officers should be commended for how they really showed a great level of restraint": Mayor Eric Adams yesterday [praised the police officers]( involved in the Brownsville subway shooting. - Brooklyn prosecutors are [planning to press charges]( against Derell Mickles, the 37-year-old alleged fare evader who authorities said "lunged" at a cop with a knife before officers began shooting. - The City Council’s ethics committee is formally investigating Councilmember Susan Zhuang, who faces separate criminal charges for [allegedly biting a police officer]( during a protest over the summer. - Immigrant rights activists and conservatives alike are criticizing the Adams administration's decision to extend its lease of Floyd Bennett Field, where the city houses nearly 2,000 migrants [in sprawling tent shelters](. - Cleanups of vacant lots by the city's sanitation department [plummeted last year]( according to the mayor’s annual management report. - The New York City sheriff's office is ushering in its largest class of new deputies ever as it looks to [shut down thousands of unlicensed cannabis shops](. - THE CITY has [a handy guide]( to what happens if Mayor Adams resigns or gets forced out of office. - Andrew Cuomo's friends are "spreading the word" that [he wants the mayor's job](. - A state judge ruled that Mayor Adams has eight weeks to comply with Hell Gate's request to see t[ext messages between the mayor and Zero Bond owner Scott Sartiano](. - As part of a pilot program aimed at easing congestions, the city's transportation department is opening three off-street "microhubs" where large trucks can [transfer e-commerce packages to smaller last-mile delivery vehicles](. - "My burps were questionable": [Here's one athlete's account]( of the NYC Pizza Run, a three-mile race that involved eating a slice of pizza between each mile. - It sounds like [some people got dehydrated]( at the Vegandale food and music festival at Citi Field last weekend. - Steve Burns of "Blue's Clues" fame [is currently living upstate]( harvesting photons, posting on TikTok and getting ready to launch a podcast. - They threw an [early 100th birthday party]( for Jimmy Carter in Atlanta. - Moo Deng [is the moment](. [“It's just unfortunate that innocent people were shot because of that. But they were shot because they had a dangerous repeated offender on our subway system.”]( - Mayor Eric Adams, commending the NYPD officers who [OPENED FIRE ON A BROOKLYN SUBWAY PLATFORM DURING THE PURSUIT OF AN ALLEGED FARE EVADER]( More from Gothamist [second image]( [‘Neighborhood navigators’ offer snacks and services to Manhattan’s homeless population]( The Manhattan district attorney's office is now funding a new program, called Neighborhood Navigators, to connect homeless people with services before they interact with the criminal justice system. [Tasers failed in two recent NYPD shootings. Problems with the devices go back years.]( Before police shot at Derell Mickles and two bystanders at the Sutter Ave. L train station in Brownsville on Sunday, officers first tried to use Tasers. The NYPD said those attempts were "ineffective." [We Rely On Your Support]( [Ex-FDNY chiefs indicted on federal bribery charges in 'pay-to-play corruption' scheme]( Mayor Adams is not mentioned in the indictment and is not implicated in the former chiefs’ purported scheme. But the indictment says his administration maintained a list that was used to fast-track projects based on requests from the deputy mayor’s office. [Washington Bridge between Manhattan and Bronx gets bus and protected bike lanes]( The improvements span from Amsterdam Avenue in Washington Heights to University Avenue in the Bronx and are aimed at making the bridge safer for pedestrians and cyclists while also delivering faster bus service. [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Twitter]( [New York Public Radio] [WNYC]( | [WQXR]( | [NJPR]( | [GOTHAMIST]( [WNYC STUDIOS]( | [THE GREENE SPACE]( Copyright © New York Public Radio. 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