NYC NOW - August 23, 2024: Morning Headlines

Episode Date: August 23, 2024

Get up and get informed! Here's all the local news you need to start your day: A man with severe, untreated mental illness accused of groping women in Greenpoint for years has been ordered to stay on Rikers Island. But as WNYC's Samantha Max reports, his attorney argues he won't receive the treatment he needs there. Meanwhile, a towering climbing wall has been installed in the waters off Brooklyn Bridge Park for the North Face Climb Festival, which runs through Saturday. Finally, on this week’s episode of “On The Way,” WNYC’s transportation reporter Stephen Nessen covers New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s consideration of a different tolling rate for congestion pricing, updates on the redesign of McGuinness Boulevard in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and answers a couple of listener questions.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Friday, August 23rd. Here's the morning headlines. I'm Jenae Pierre. A man with severe and untreated mental illness who's been accused of groping women in Greenpoint for years has been ordered to stay on Rikers Island. But as WMYC's Samantha Max reports, the man's attorney says he won't be able to get the

treatment he needs there. Christopher Boissard pleaded not guilty to persistent sexual abuse and other sex crimes. Many Greenpoint residents have told WNYC they're afraid of him. But Boisard's family and his attorney say he has serious disabilities, including deafness. And his lawyer says he hasn't been able to get treatment in jail because no sign language interpreter has been available. A judge says she wants Boisard to stay in jail for now because he has an extensive history of charges and of not following court orders. The Department of Correction did not

immediately respond to questions about sign language interpreters at city jails. A towering climbing wall is in place in the waters off Brooklyn Bridge Park for the North Face Climb Festival. It's free and open to the public and runs through Saturday. The event features competitions on the 55-foot-tall wall, which more than 100 participants will fall from into the East River below. Don't worry, organizers say the water is deep enough, and there will be water safety teams on hand. There are also DJ sets and food trucks. It's the festival's second year, but it's first time in New York City. That's after runs in Chicago, London, and Shanghai.

62 degrees now it'll be mostly cleared tonight with lows around 65. It'll be sunny on Saturday with a high around 85, and Saturday night mostly clears skies with lows in the upper 60s. Stay close. There's more after the break. On WNYC, I'm Sean Carlson. It's Friday, which means it's time for on the way. Our weekly segment breaking down the week's transit news. Joining us is WNYC Transportation Reporter, Stephen Nesson. Okay, let's get right into it, Stephen.

Governor Hokel spoke at the Democratic National Convention this week. she did not focus on transportation in her address, but during an interview with Politico, she did give a bit of an update on congestion pricing. What did she say? So Politico reporter Emily Noe asked what congestion pricing would look like under a Harris or Trump administration, which is a great question that Hockel did not answer directly. She did in her response deny that this pause on congestion pricing had anything to do with competitive house races and that it was all about the drivers and how $15 is $21, much and it would hurt them. You know, she did go on to say, though, however, she wakes up every morning thinking about these six competitive House races in New York State. So it is kind of a conflicting message. You know, she did seem to be saying, though, if Democrats lose Congress, it will be impossible to get anything done. And presumably that means congestion pricing as well.

Okay. But did she give any indication when her pause might be lifted? Well, she says at the end of December or early January, she plans to have an update on. the program. You know, that is after the election as well, by the way. You know, and what she said is she's looking at different tolling rates and, you know, different than what was approved by the state legislature, the MTA board, the Traffic Mobility Review Board, and crucially, the federal government. Here's what she said. We're studying other options. We're looking at as what has happened. Even a place like London where they held up as the example of congestion pricing, they started at five pounds and they worked their way up to the higher number over time. So,

I'm looking at all the options that we have on the table. What's not clear, though, to anyone is how exactly that would work. You know, the congestion pricing law requires the MTA to raise a billion dollars a year. So if the toll is lower, how are they going to make up that difference? Would the federal government even have to reevaluate the entire plan if it's a lower toll? You know, the governor has said that all the MTA projects that were going to get funded with congestion pricing, like Second Avenue subway, new signals, you know, is going to happen. But it's not clear if there's going to be a new tax to make up for that difference.

MTA chair Jan O'Leber added that this December, the MTA is expected to approve its next capital plan, and that will require far more than $15 billion from congestion pricing, and that's also going to need the state's support. All right, from the rails to the roads, Mayor Adams gave an update this week on the redesign of McGinnis Boulevard. That's the major roadway that runs through Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It's been pretty contentious. Tell us the latest on that. So this is a roadway, and just to remind folks, this is where a beloved teacher was killed in a hit-and-report.

run in 2021. The DOT is supposed to be redesigning it. You know, hundreds of people have been injured on that roadway over the past four years. It's fast. There's four lanes of traffic. So they came up with this plan and the DOT, the Department of Transportation, was going to remove one lane of traffic in each direction and add a parking protected bike lane. But then last year, at the final hour, Mayor Adams and the DOT announced they were not going to remove that lane of traffic after all. Instead, they're going to allow. parking in one of the lanes of traffic overnight instead. This did not go down well with local politicians, local residents, even some local businesses. They said it was sort of the worst of all

world sort of plan. But the city said it's only going to reconfigure half of McGinnis Boulevard from the Pulaski Bridge to Calliore Street, and they're going to study how it goes over the course of the year. Well, that year is up and they've decided, actually, we like it. It works pretty well. They're going to continue doing it from Calier Street to Meeker Avenue. And that was the announcement this week. This isn't just about transportation policy, though, right? The Adams administration was accused of doing this at the behest of some long-time donors, right? That's right.

There's a family, the Argento family. They own a company called Broadway Stages that reportedly did not like the new plan and urged the mayor's close advisor, Ingrid Lewis Martin, to not move forward with the DOT's plan. You know, this is the same advisor that was involved in the killing, reportedly, of other transit improvement projects like the bus lane on Ford. Road. City Hall didn't exactly answer this question directly. They referred us to DOT, which said it's a good safe plan. And a spokesperson for Broadway stages says the parking on that roadway is still badly

needed in the neighborhood. Now, every week in Gotham is on the way newsletter, we answer a question from a curious commuter. But this week, during the last few weeks of summer, we reached deep into the bag and pulled out a few questions. I'm excited about this because I love hearing folks questions. Carrie Lowe from Brooklyn writes, loved your piece on the ridiculously hot subway cars on the one line. Folks should read that if they can. Carrie says, I'd love to hear you cover the opposite problem. Too much AC.

Do cars not come with a thermostat? That's right. Well, Carrie, it is a tough time of year when we're sort of going between super hot days and then cooler days again. So we're sorry to hear that you're feeling a little too cool these days, Carrie. But the MTA tells me that subway cars do have thermostats, and they're either set to 72. 5 degrees or 75 degrees Fahrenheit. And the agency says the temperature actually depends on the length of the subway car. And just like your thermostat at home, it is triggered when it exceeds that temperature and the air conditioning comes on.

Next up, Adrian Gonzalez from Brooklyn writes, am I wrong to notice that there are more delays today for unplanned or urgent maintenance? And if that's true, what's going on? So I did ask the MTA about this. And they reported that because fewer people are wrong. riding the subway during the summer, they do increase the amount of track work, even during, you know, busy commuting hours during the summer. G train riders know this well because of the rolling shutdown to install modern signals on that line. There's also been work on the Franklin Avenue shuttle.

And, you know, the MTA, to be fair, didn't quite exactly address Adrian's question about the unplanned and urgent maintenance, but spokesperson Kayla Schultz says, quote, you know, the MTA has been increasing the level of detail included in service alerts, which may make it seem like there are more service changes than usual, but it's really the MTA continuing to improve and increase its customer communications. So they're just doing a better job of letting you know. However, we did dig a little bit into the stats, and we have previously reported that the weekday subway delays were up during the first four months of this year, a 30% increase from the previous year. And a lot of those delays were attributable to infrastructure and equipment issues.

Okay, finally this week, we have a question from Brian Hoberman from Manhattan. A bit of a cynical question. Subway platform trash cans all say, you can it, we recycle it. Does the MTA really recycle their trash? And if so, how and where? Well, Brian, the MTA tells us that after trash is collected, it is sorted for recycling at a waste removal site in the Bronx. So you can continue using the trash cans with a clean,

conscience. 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. 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.