NYC NOW - April 12, 2024: Morning Headlines

Episode Date: April 12, 2024

Get up and get informed! Here's all the local news you need to start your day: New York City Chancellor David Banks says he’s been called to testify in Congress about anti-Semitism in public schools. Meanwhile, the city of Newark, New Jersey, is stepping up enforcement of its curfew for minors starting this Friday. City officials warn that if you’re under 18 and out after 11 PM, they’ll take you off the streets. Finally, on this week’s segment of ‘On The Way,’ reporter Stephen Nessen and editor Clayton Guse discuss Mayor Adams’ decision not to ride the subway, New Jersey Transit’s approval of a 15% fare increase, and answer listener questions.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Friday, April 12th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. New York City Chancellor at Schools Chancellor, David Bang, says he's been called to testify in Congress about anti-Semitism in public schools. I am more than willing to be at the table and to express what we have done and what we plan on continuing to do to meet this moment, even as our world finds itself fraught with challenge. Chancellor Bank says he was invited under threat of subpoena to appear before the House Committee

on Education and the Workforce. That's the same committee that grilled Ivy League leaders in December. Bank says he has been working with administrators to convene productive dialogues about Israel's war on Hamas. He says the effort began after students organized a protest at Hillcrest's high school in Queens against a pro-Israel teacher. The city of Newark, New Jersey is stepping up enforcement of its curfew from minors, starting tonight. City officials say if you're younger than 18 and out after 11 at night, they'll take you off the streets.

They say they'll make exceptions for teens going to and from their jobs. The rule does not apply if you're within 100 yards of your home. A first offense means police will escort the teenager home. If police find them outside again within six months, they'll go to a juvie office for parent or guardian pickup. The city says it will not prosecute the teens, but repeat offenders may lend their parents or guardian in a meeting with the state's child protection authorities. 58 with clouds out there now. Shower's likely today, maybe a thunderstorm or two, mostly cloudy on this Friday, 65 for a high and gusty, and then tomorrow mostly cloudy in mid-50s, Sunday, increasing

clouds and up near 70. Up next, our weekly transportation segment on the way. That's after the break. I'm Sean Carlson for WNYC. It's time for on the way. Our weekly segment on all things considered breaking down the week's transit news. Joining us is WNIC Transportation Reporter Steven Nesson and editor Clayton Goosa. First up this week is Mayor Eric Adams' comments on Tuesday. He said it's not realistic for him to ride the subway to City Hall every day.

This is like one of my favorite New York stories, the commuting habits of the mayors here in New York City. It's been a political third rail for decades and decades. What do you make of those comments, Clayton? Well, he certainly rides the subway more than de Blasio. His predecessor who famously would be chauffured by police detail from the Upper East Side Gracie Mansion to Park Slope at the YMCA, back to City Hall. Bloomberg was much more visible on the subway, he would, but he would also get, you know, driven to an express stop, but really publicized him riding it. I mean, Adams might have a point in saying that it's not always realistic for a mayor who has a schedule about town to ride the subway to work every day. But at the same time, he also has a much easier experience driving than anyone else.

He has a police detail that kind of lets him get where he needs to go very quickly. But as a lot of people have been pointing out, there is political value a lot of the time for mayors to be seen riding the subway, especially when they're pushing for reforms, pushing for more policing and pushing for a lot of things. they don't control the MTA, but there is a value in them riding the system like a majority of the rest of the city. Also this week, NJ Transit's Board of Directors approved a 15% fair hike, and it's the first increase in nine years. It's part of an effort to close a looming budget gap for the long troubled transit agency. Stephen, tell us how much commuters might pay, and what is Governor Murphy saying about it? So a 15% fare increase would mean, you know, a one-way trip from Princeton Junction to Penn Station, New York, would go from 16. to more than $18.

This plan also calls for killing the Flex Pass program, which some folks might take advantage of where you can buy 21-way tickets at a 20% discount. That's cut. You know, this still requires the state legislature to approve it, which our New Jersey reporters tell me is almost certain. And this hike would go into effect July 1st. You know, but even with this fair hike, Governor Murphy will have a budget gap on his hands at NJ Transit.

So he has another solution. he wants to reinstate a tax on corporations that make more than $10 million. That money would go to New Jersey Transit, and it could bring in $800 million a year. Here's Governor Murphy speaking last night on WNYC. And there's no one magic one solution on NJ Transit, and there isn't for any big transit company right now in America. They're all in a whole, particularly post-COVID. But there has not been a fair increase in the first six years of our time. There were 38% increases in the last administration.

This is the first increase in nine years. You know, it's worth noting the MTA here in New York. For its part, just resumed its biannual fare hikes, which are typically 4%. Last year was 6%, which is an outlier, is making up for a COVID-era hiatus. But, you know, critics of Governor Murphy say, like environmentalists and transportation advocates, they say, you know, the administration has been starving New Jersey transit of funds. Meanwhile, it's spending $10 billion on a highway expansion project. Murphy responds to that by saying, well, by the time it's completed, there'll be electric cars on that roadway.

So every week in Gothamist's On the Way newsletter, we answer a question from a curious commuter. We haven't gotten to some in the past couple weeks only here, so we're going to knock out a few right away here, okay? First up is KB in Queens, who asks, why do trains go so slowly over the Williamsburg Bridge? It takes seven minutes to go from Marcy Avenue to Delancey on the M train. Clayton, why do trains crawl over the crossing? It's not an accident, and it actually goes back to 1994. when there was a crash on the bridge. A motor man on the J train fell asleep, crashed right into an M train.

He died. Several other people got injured. In the aftermath of that, they said, hey, we're going to limit the speeds so that there's more of a fail safe in case of an incident. And they just didn't just limit the speeds there. Across the subway, they slowed them down more than they maybe should have. Last five, six years, they've sped things back up in parts of the system. Not on the Williamsburg.

Still going to be slow, but it's for safety. Okay, Stephen, next up, Jennifer and Brooklyn asks, is the MTA planning to adjust rush hour trains when fewer people commute because they're working from home. There's a lot fewer people commuting now on Fridays, for example, than before the pandemic, but Tuesday and Wednesday trains are crowded. It's true. The pandemic and remote work that came with it really did change the way New Yorkers use mass transit. The subway system and the buses still haven't recovered. You know, ridership is still down by 30% from what it was before the pandemic.

We're kind of stuck at that, I think, at the moment. But let's just say, you know, point this out. this is not as new as people would think the commuting patterns. You know, data shows even before the pandemic, Subways saw fewer riders on Mondays and Fridays than on Wednesdays. Still, MTA officials have said they've addressed the changing travel patterns over the last year by increasing midday service on the B, C, D, J, and M-lines, and adding more weekend service on the three and five trains.

They claim to have increased our train service midday as well. That was under some contention from some lawmakers. I myself am a regular R-Train rider and can confirm that midday service has improved recently. You can keep up on the latest in New York City Transportation News by signing up for our weekly newsletter at gotthmus.com slash on the way. You can even send in a question about getting around New York City. Maybe Stephen and Clayton will answer it on the air.

Stephen Clayton, thanks to you both. Thanks, Sean. Thank you. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday three times a day. for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. See you this afternoon.