NYC NOW - April 26, 2023: Midday News

Episode Date: April 26, 2023

PATH train service is back after a switch failure this morning suspended service and left some commuters stuck on the train, Governor Kathy Hochul is trying to crack down on illegal cannabis shops in her proposed state budget...which is already weeks late, and Mayor Eric Adams is reversing some of his planned cuts to New York City’s public libraries. Finally, a new report by the Fund for New York City shows half of New Yorkers don’t earn enough to meet their basic needs, up from 36% in 2021. WNYC’s Sean Carlson sits with race and justice reporter Arya Sundaram to discuss.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Wednesday, April 26th. Here's the midday news from Lance Lucky. The Path train service is back after a switch failure this morning, suspended service, and left some commuters stuck on the train. The agency let commuters use their path tickets at Newark Penn and New York Penn stations, as well as the Hoboken Station, to get on the New Jersey train. transit train instead. They'll continue to cross on her tickets until 1230. Governor Kathy Hokel is trying to squeeze a proposal to crack down on illegal cannabis shops into the state budget, which is already weeks late. Hockel says she hopes to move quickly on the issue to give licensed dispensaries a better chance to succeed.

As soon as we get that done, the better because as we continue to stand at more legitimate operations. They need to know that their investment of time and energy is going to be worthwhile for them ultimately. The governor introduced a bill last month that would raise the fines for illicit shops up to $10,000 per day for illegal sales. It would also give state agencies more latitude to enforce cannabis and tax laws. Hockel is still in talks with lawmakers about what enforcement should look like. The latest budget extension lasts until Friday. Mayor Eric Adams is reversing some of his planned cuts to New York City's public library. but New Yorkers could still see reduced services at their local branches.

Adams issued a statement this morning saying the city had achieved its targeted budget savings, quote, without taking a single penny from our public library systems. But a spokesperson for the New York Public Library says libraries still face a $36 million deficit. The mayor's expected to release his executive budget later today. It's the next step before a final budget deal is reached with the City Council next month. NYC. On WNYC in New York, I'm Sean Carlson. A new report out today shows half of New York City households do not make enough money to meet their basic needs,

and that's up from 36% in 2021. Researchers from the United Way and fund for the city of New York found the cost of living in the city has more than doubled since the year 2000, while wages have not kept up. With us now to talk about the findings is WO. NYC's Arias Sondram. Hello, Ariya. Hi, Sean. So what does this report have to say about the cost of living? What is it? It's a number that the report authors calculated based on the cost of everyday basics,

like housing and food, but also other categories like childcare, transportation, taxes. And it also doesn't include public benefits like food stamps or private donations, like from food pantries. It also varies a lot depending on location and family composition. So for a single adult, it's about $50,000. across the city and more than 75,000 in northwest Brooklyn and downtown Manhattan. And for an hourly wage, that translates into more than $20 an hour across the city and nearly 36 in those pricier areas I just mentioned. And meanwhile, as a reminder, the minimum wage at this point is still just $15 an hour.

And now for a family of four, that's two adults, a kid in school, and a preschooler. That's over $100,000 a year. And like you said, the cost has skyrocketed in the last. two decades, according to this report, and fewer New Yorkers can really keep up. There's probably no easy answer to this, but why has the cost of living risen so much? At least in the last few years, the author said the lingering effects of the pandemic, you know, from higher costs to job loss, made things worse, especially for people of color. But the problems go back even further.

The head of the United Way, Grace Bonilla, said past mayors felt a real need to attract employers by learning out-of-towners rather than people already living here. So the rental market transformed to cater to this growing professional class, you know, more luxury high rises, higher rents because, you know, they could afford it. And she said there's also this trend of focusing on retroactive rather than preventative solutions, like paying for the shelter system instead of programs to prevent homelessness. The report found that among people of color and other groups, the outlook is even bleaker. Can you walk us through those findings? Less than a third of white households are struggling to meet their basic needs. That is, they make less money than what it costs to live here.

But that number shoots up to nearly 60% or more for black, Native American, and Latino households. And immigrants are also worse off. You know, less than half of U.S.-born households aren't earning enough compared to nearly two-thirds of families who aren't citizens. Also families with children, especially toddlers. And single mothers for the worst of any group. Yeah. Four and five don't make enough to cover their basic needs. and those rates are even higher for black and Latino mothers.

So, Ari, New York City will soon be publishing its own true cost of living, much like the report we are talking about right now. Did Benia have any takeaways for how the city should approach that and what should come next? Right. You're talking about the ballot initiative that was passed last year with overwhelming support. Benia said she hopes the city's metric is actually transparent and honest, instead of glossing over inconvenient truths. But like so many others in the anti-poverty world, she was thrilled about the possibilities.

And here's how she put it. It starts to really crystallize the gap between what folks are getting today versus what they're actually spending, whether it's housing food or any of the other really expensive things that put us in a vulnerable situation. New hires could use this new metric to bargain for higher wages. And anti-poverty nonprofits want to use the number to push for higher income cutoffs for public benefits like food stamps and Medicaid.

And right now those programs are generally based on the federal poverty line, which advocates say is just outdated and far too low at this point. WNMIC's race and justice reporter, Ariya Sunderam. Ari, thanks so much. Thanks, Sean. 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.

More this evening.