Picking and Choosing

Bundle up, Providence: more snow has arrived. Forecasts from the Boston Globe predict up to 3 inches of snow in Rhode Island, on top of much of the remaining snow from the 25 January storm that dumped around 20 inches in parts of the Ocean State, including the state’s capital city. Many of us are still dealing with the effects of that storm: some streets remain effectively one-way, sidewalks—if even cleared—are dangerous and similarly one-way, many bus stops have become de facto snow dumps, and most bike lanes remain unplowed almost two weeks later. Being a pedestrian, cyclist, or transit user in Providence since the storm has been a uniquely degrading experience. On 28 January, RIPTA riders (including myself) at the Brook/Angell bus stop (a block from the Mayor’s residence) had to line up around and even mount snowbanks to get on and off the bus. Meanwhile, large businesses like Walgreens and Family Dollar, along with landlords across the city, neglected to clear their sidewalks despite a city ordinance requiring it.

The City’s lackluster response to the snowstorm, coupled with the bad optics of the Mayor’s decision to attend a conference in DC amid early cleanup, has drawn criticism and fury from residents and political opponents. Many have pointed out with irony that during the launch of his 2022 campaign for Mayor, the last year with a similarly challenging snowstorm, Smiley had this to say:

It would be funny that, when faced with the first storm of that magnitude, Smiley repeated the same mistakes he decried then, if it didn’t also significantly hamper Providence residents’ quality of life over the past two weeks. Smiley’s campaign on delivering the “best-run city in the entire country by focusing on what matters - simple quality-of-life issues” has fallen woefully flat in the recent snowstorm response. However, what Smiley has failed to deliver for Providence residents he has certainly sought to deliver for everyone else—large landlords, New Yorkers, East Bay commuters, and even outgoing RIDOT Director Peter Alviti. What it seems Brett Smiley fails to understand is that he does not get to pick and choose which constituents (or, many cases, non-constituents) he serves. If he is not willing to serve Providence, he should prepare to leave City Hall this year.

Providence cyclists know firsthand that Brett Smiley is no friend to them. Despite paying lip service to plowing bike lanes during his campaign, many in the city remain snowed in, and ones that are clear have largely been cleared by individuals and organizations such as the Providence Streets Coalition, not the city. The unplowed bike lane on South Water Street may call to mind a few of the contentious battles Smiley has picked as Mayor: in a 2023 forum hosted by Brown Dems, Smiley alluded to the South Water Street bike lane and proposed urban trail network in Providence as a “pet project” of his predecessor, Jorge Elorza. In 2021, under Elorza, The bike lane had faced opposition from several influential businesses and entities along the street, lamenting the loss of a travel lane. RIDOT and Director Alviti threatened to sue the City for $4.4 million over breaching a 1999 maintenance agreement with the Federal Highway Administration—a move that the FHWA declined to support, allowing the bike lane to go through.

But when the Washington Bridge abruptly closed in December 2023, an opportunity presented itself. In April 2024, Smiley’s office announced the removal of the bike lane and the addition of a second travel lane to South Water Street, ostensibly to alleviate congestion caused by the closure. The move was decried by community members, advocates, and City Councilman John Goncalves, whose ward the bike lane lies in. Goncalves and Smiley, usually allies, would go on to have a fairly high-profile spat over the removal. Councilman Goncalves had safety data on his side, while the mayor had next to no evidence that adding the lane would reduce traffic (just one more lane bro!) On top of that, the removal would have cost $750,000 in a famously cash-strapped city. The city received 294 letters opposing the removal and 1 in support (plus, of course, a ProJo op-ed from the ever-conservatively contrarian Mark Patinkin). No matter: the negotiated solution, while retaining bike lanes, would take space from pedestrians and the adjacent park to add a second travel lane—ironically, using $4.4 million in Safe Streets For All grant funds.

One must ask who this saga served to benefit: as Councilman Goncalves was apt to note, “This is about us, this is about the city of Providence, this is about our neighborhoods. It’s not about the people that are trying to rush out of the city during rush hour.” Community uproar and almost 300 letters in support, it seems, were less important than the concerns of East Bay and Bristol County (Mass.) commuters. Less important, perhaps, than leftover spite from the DOT. Or, maybe the continued opposition from Plant City owner Kim Anderson of Barrington, a regular Smiley donor who is still blaming the bike lane for the upcoming closure of the food hall. Whoever it was, Smiley was certainly not governing for Providence residents.

Housing is another sore spot for many residents, with Redfin naming Providence as the most unaffordable city for renters in February 2025. Over a period of five years (November 2019-November 2024), the median rent in Providence increased by 40%. According to Rent.com, Providence had the first and second-highest rent increases in the nation in 2024 and 2025, respectively. This reality is especially troubling in a city where an estimated 60% of residents are renters. Currently, City Council is considering a rent control proposal that would cap rent increases on many units—those landlords they allege are most likely to raise rents and unsustainable amount—at 4% a year. Smiley has vowed to veto it.

Smiley instead proposes simply building more housing in Providence. The city sorely needs new housing (especially in areas formerly hollowed out by surface parking), and Smiley deserves some credit for helping streamine zoning and permitting: but it doesn’t change the fact that construction takes time, and the obscene rent hikes in Providence are happening now, affecting those currently living in Providence. In an interview on GBH, Smiley recognized that long-term Providence residents have repeatedly expressed that rent is out of control—but for those “coming from Manhattan or Boston, it’s still a bargain.”

Smiley seemed to forget that he owes a duty to his current constituents, not wealthier residents of other cities to whom he tries to sell the city. Maybe he left his heart behind in the “safe escape” of his and his husband’s New York City condo. In all seriousness, it’s no surprise that Smiley would support landlord’s interests in the city: among other landlords, former mayor and major property owner Joe Paolino has made significant contributions to Smiley over the years. In return, Smiley has remained steadfastly in Paolino’s lane, whether it be giving support to Paolino’s unsolicited Downtown Beautification Plan (he like to pretend he still runs the city) that maintains all of his beautiful surface parking lots Downtown or seeking to spend millions to purchase a building from Paolino. Transit advocates are, of course, well-aware of Paolino’s contempt for Kennedy Plaza and RIPTA, and his years-long crusade to move RIPTA service as far away from his properties as possible. Shortly after a proposed a new RIPTA hub and terminal further from Kennedy Plaza but still downtown was revealed, Paolino purchased the lots it would have gone on, shutting RIPTA out or enriching himself should the project go there. When Governor McKee revealed plans to move RIPTA’s hub to Parcel 31 in I-195 District land (an area dubbed Siberia), Smiley signaled his support for the move. And during last year’s funding battle for RIPTA, where McKee and Alviti strong-armed RIPTA into service cuts, Smiley was notably mum.

Smiley’s unbowed commitment to the rogue State of Israel is also troubling, to say the least. Israel’s actions in Gaza have been described by human rights organizations and genocide scholars across the world as genocide. Here in Providence, Omer Bartov—an Israeli-American Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown—wrote a damning piece in the New York Times saying the same. Despite the increasing number of these conclusions—not to mention the hours of footage out of Gaza—Smiley spent 2025 deepening his relationship with Israel, rather than distancing himself from it. Smiley—who converted to Judaism in summer 2024—flew the Israeli flag over City Hall earlier in 2025 to celebrate Israel’s independence day, but proceeded to condemn members of City Council (including Council President Rachel Miller of stated Jewish heritage) for flying the Palestinian flag weeks later during Nakba Day, calling the act “hateful” and “divisive.” Ironically, Smiley’s office stated that one of the reasons the Mayor was not able to prevent the flag raising was because he was in Israel. Another stated reason—that Providence had no official flag policy—was ameliorated with an executive order that barred flying flags of nations not recognized by the United States, i.e. Palestine.

While Smiley and many Jewish organizations in Rhode Island are largely in agreement, not all those of Jewish heritage in the city see Smiley’s statements as representative of their beliefs. City Council chief of staff June Rose, who served as Rhode Island’s uncommitted delegate at the 2024 Democratic National Convention and, in their youth, spent a gap year in Israel, has been one of Providence’s fiercest advocates for Palestinians. Jewish Democratic State Senator Sam Bell, referencing the mayor’s collaboration with Brown University to prosecute 41 peaceful protestors in 2023 and 2024 before their acquittal, said that “when Brett Smiley persecutes people who disagree with his right-wing views on Israel, especially fellow Jews, it makes Providence a less safe place to be a Jew.”

Many of these tensions—with both a City Council that passed ceasefire and divestment resolutions and a city that voted 29% for Uncommitted—resurfaced when a piece from Current Affairs brought to light Smiley’s involvement in a December antisemitism summit for mayors in New Orleans. Alongside (now-former) mayors Bruce Harrell of Seattle and the disgraced Eric Adams of New York City, Smiley was in conference with former IDF spokespeople who sought to criminalize speech critical of Israel in the mayors’ respective cities. The summit was organized and funded by a right-wing dark-money network with ties to many of the same people that helped re-elect Donald Trump and plunge us into our current nightmare. That Smiley would accept and attend and event with these groups is despicable.

And that brings us back to today. Bike lanes still unplowed, nearly 25% of the yearly storm budget used, bus riders and pedestrians still navigating clogged sidewalks, and a city seeming to just wait until the snow melts. Who does Smiley govern for? If you’re a homeowner, landlord, or large business, perhaps this mayor has worked for you, at least maybe until this winter. But for the majority of people in Providence—from renters to small business owners to bus riders—Smiley has long shown himself to be more committed to his donors, out-of-state residents, and the political machine. We shouldn’t necessarily be surprised: Smiley was elected in a plurality, after all. But if he’s unwilling to govern for us, we must show him the door in September; and if we’re lucky, we’ll get a mayor with an actual plan for snow removal, not just words.

Many of the citations in this article relied on reporting from Steve Ahlquist, one of the hardest working reporters in the state. Please support him here!