NYC NOW - August 29, 2023: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: August 29, 2023

Service on the 1,2 and 3 subway lines are back up and running, after a water main break disrupted the morning commute for more than 300,000 New Yorkers. Plus, WNYC’s Sean Carlson talks with Laurie Wheelock, executive director of the Public Utility Law Project of New York, about ConEd’s recent rate hikes. And finally, WNYC’s Precious Fondren goes shopping at Find Me Now’s sample sale and learns more about the trendy clothing brand and their hardcore fans.

Good evening and welcome to NYC Now. I'm Jene Pierre for WNYC. I want to thank the men and women behind me employees who turned out starting at 3 a.m. this morning to restore service in the 1-2-3, which we did just before 11 this morning. We begin in Manhattan, where the 1-2 and 3 trains are back up and running after a water main break in Times Square flooded the tracks early Tuesday morning. MTA President Richard Davies says a river of water flowed into the subways for about 90 minutes before crews were able to stop the leak.

We believe 1.8 million gallons of water entered our system. Approximately a million were pumped out by our normal pump rooms. He adds that roughly 300,000 commuters had their routines disrupted. The cause of the problem was a broken 20-inch pipe that was installed all the way back in 1896. Stick around. There's more after the break. You may have noticed a recent hike in your gas and electricity bills.

And it's not just because you're running the air conditioner nonstop these days. It's because utility company, Con Edison, heighted electricity rates this month by more than 9% and gas rates by more than 8. For more on these rate hikes, WNYC's Sean Carlson talked with Lori Wheelock, executive director of the Public Utility Law Project of New York. Can we start by talking about what these utility bill hikes are and what customers can expect? So under the new rates, the average electric customer should see about $17 more a month. And for people who heat their homes, their apartments with natural gas, could see on average about $41 more a month. And if you just have cooking gas with Con Edison, that could be as much as $6 more a month. Con Edison actually has to ask New York State to increase their rates.

They have to actually do a filing that explains what they're going to use. their increased funds for, you know, is it infrastructure, labor costs? And then they actually go through a proceeding. So it's a long process to really review what they're asking for and ultimately what they'll end up getting. Con Ed, as you said, is a regulated utility company. It basically runs a monopoly over New York City's energy. So how normal is this or not normal is this hike? Con Edison was last approved, a rate increase in January 2020 right before the pandemic. And we saw, you know, anywhere from $5 more a month, you know, for electric customers to maybe $11 or $12 more if you were heating with con ed gas. But these are almost double,

we're triple that. And so it is, it's concerning because, you know, we're still coming out of the, if we call it the endemic. There's still a lot of financial struggle. And this summer, I mean, we've heard from people all over, not just the city, but New York State, who We're spending more time inside because of the smoke from Canada or the heat waves. And so people are really starting to notice these costs on their bill and they're worried about it. Let's talk about what Con Ed is because, sure, we live in a capitalist society where theoretically, if you don't like the service or you get your rates hiked and you're paying too much, you can say, well, I'm going to go to the other one and maybe they're paying less. what's the deal with con ed why can't we do that and what is its role as a utility company and monopoly basically con edison is a regulated utility and so with the state there's almost this

this deal right you are the name in town when it comes to electric service for you know new york city and long island as you get that monopoly status con edison is going to be heavily regulated um they're allowed just in reasonable rates but they must provide safe and reliable service. The Public Service Commission, which is the seven-member body that is appointed by the governor, they oversee all the utilities. That is their mission. They're looking for this strike and a balance. And for that balance, you know, Con Edison is given this monopoly status. And I guess, as you said, the money that they're raising here by hiking these rates and the way that they are is going to improving, as you said, things like infrastructure

and things like that, right? So theoretically, making service better for customers? Exactly. And so usually when the company files and we become a party and we're going through and we're trying to see, okay, where is this money being directed to? We're really concerned about consumer protections. So we want to know how many employees do they have. How's the customer service? And something that we are really happy that came out of this proceeding was that the company agreed, you know, not to terminate customers when it's 90 degrees or higher out. Where we're a little concerned, you know, still is with the overall. cost. It's still very high. And then also encouraging and urging Con Edison to go out and apply for the federal funding. Our hope is that they can actually go and offset some of these capital costs. If folks are listening right now and they're hearing these numbers about how much their electric bill is going to go up and they're saying, oh my God, I'm not going to be able to afford that. Is there anything that they can do? If you are low income and you're on Social Security income or SNAP food benefits. We can get you into this discount program that helps lower your bill every month.

So we've been helping customers look to see if they're in that discount. And then, you know, on top of it, energy efficiency is extremely important. Helping people take control of their power usage, trying to lower how much electricity they're using will help them ultimately lower their bills. That's Lori Welock, executive director of the Public Utility Law Project of New York, talking with WNYC's Sean Carlson. And finally to Queens, where a mother-daughter duo and their clothing brand,

Find Me Now, is making waves in trendy New York City spaces. The brand was born in 2021, and it's quickly found a following among young, fashionable New Yorkers. Now, celebrities like Siza have been known to wear their designs. WNYC's precious Fondren

went to a sample sale to hear more about Find Me Now and their hardcore fans. It's a lot of, An hour before doors officially open for the Find Me Now sample sale, and around 60 people, mostly women who appear to be in their 20s, are lined up outside the fashion label's creative studio in Long Island City on a Thursday afternoon. Jordan Bernstein and her friend Elri Pierce are among the first to arrive. They've been following the brand on Instagram since last year. So we came here like an hour early because we thought there was going to be a line because they were like first 30 people gets a tote bag.

They're hoping to get a deal on some of their favorite items. Today, shirts that normally sell for over $100 are going for $30. I took off of work for this, so I'm going to spend some money, but I probably, like, $100 is my max. Buy Me Now is a women's Ready to Wear brand that makes everyday staples for playful yet chic looks. That can range from maxi skirts and button downs to mesh blouses, knitted crop tops, and sheer dresses, with prints that fans say are just the right amount of wacky and zany. They have this pleaded purple dress, and purple's my favorite color, and it was nice and flowy, and everyone just looked so beautiful in it, like, online,

and so I bought one. Stephanie Wilson started the company with her mom, Sue Peck. Wilson says their success is a dream come true. At the end of the day, my mom is in her 60s, and I'm in my 30s, And we make clothes for ourselves, we make clothes that we like to wear, you know, things that will last a long time in our closet that are comfortable and that bring us joy. Wilson says as the brand grows financially, adding more sizes is a priority. They currently have around six sizes for most items, ranging from extra small to extra extra large. Making sure that our customer feels like they are seeing in our clothing as well is so important.

So that's why whenever we have photo shoots, we are shooting. on multiple body types, skin tones, just to make sure that our customer really feels seen. Pierce says she loves how the company uses models that make it easy for her to assess what clothes might work for her body. It's really nice to see different body types in different clothes because that's something you don't always see, and then you don't know what you're going to look like in the clothing,

especially when you're ordering something off of online. The Queens-based company says it's trying to make clothes that truly fit all women. So far, it looks like customers are listening. You can learn more about Find Me Now on our news website, Gothamus. That's WNYC's precious finder. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. Catch us every weekday, three times a day. We'll be back tomorrow.