NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: Helicopter Crashes in the Hudson River, Federal Transportation Officials Release Date to End Congestion Pricing, Landlord Gets Tax Breaks Despite Crime in Building and AirBNB Spends Big in NYC Campaigns

Episode Date: April 10, 2025

According to the NYPD, first responders pulled at least two people from the Hudson River Thursday after a helicopter crash. Plus, the MTA and U.S. Transportation Department have agreed to a schedule in a lawsuit over the Manhattan tolls that shows a judge won't make any decision for another six months. Also, a Hell's Kitchen landlord is getting tax breaks despite racking up hundreds of violations. And finally, Airbnb is spending millions to back candidates for local office who support easing short-term rental restrictions.

A helicopter crashes in the Hudson River. Federal transportation officials continue fight to end congestion pricing. Landlord gets tax breaks despite crimes in building. And Airbnb spends big in New York City campaigns. From WNYC, this is NYC now. I'm Jenae Pierre. The Associated Press says at least six people are dead after a helicopter crashed in the Hudson River Thursday afternoon.

According to the NYPD, first response, have pulled at least two people from the water near the New Jersey side of the river. Witnesses who saw the crash from the Manhattan waterfront off Houston Street say they heard a big boom before the helicopter fell out of the sky and into the water. This is a developing story, but for more updates, visit our news site Gothamist. Federal transportation officials say the MTA has to end its congestion pricing program by April 20th. But in court, they're saying it can remain in place until at least October. The MTA and U.S. Transportation Department have agreed to a schedule in a lawsuit over the Manhattan Tolls that shows a judge won't make any decision for another six months.

The litigation was filed by the MTA back in February after President Trump said he revoked federal approval for congestion pricing. Still, Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy insists the MTA has a little more than a week to cancel the program. He's threatening to withhold funding from the agency if it doesn't comply. What you've done is you priced poor and middle-income families out of using American roads. The MTA is required to use the money from congestion pricing to pay for billions of transit repairs. A Hell's Kitchen landlord is getting tax breaks, despite racking up hundreds of violations that tenants say turn the building into magnets for crime. WMYC's Charles Lane went to find out why. Yvall Nata Zone lives on West 49th Street.

He and numerous other residents say his landlord has let the 14 buildings he owns on the block fall into disrepair. Windows that don't lock or close, some fire escapes are blocked, and then there are the rats. You can see the leftovers of the rat. Ew. But that's nothing. It was two inches thick. The big problem, though, is the landlord stopped fixing the doors, which let anyone and everyone get into the building. Nautazone says as the building fell into disrepair, more crime followed, both inside and outside the building, including a murder, strangulation, and dozens of assaults and thefts.

And people try to push themselves into my apartment, people that I don't know, few times. Black Spruce is the company that owns the buildings. Back in 2020, the city council struck a deal with them. If they offer most of the units up as affordable housing, they can get a tax break worth 48. million dollars over 40 years. Part of that agreement says they have to maintain the building or risk losing the tax break. But elected leaders and tenants like Natanzasans say Blackspros isn't doing this and they want the city to hold the landlord accountable. I mean, it just makes the city us blame like the landlord. Like it's their fault just as much. They pampered the landlords.

But city housing officials said revoking the tax breaks would deprive Black Spruce of the money it needs to repair the buildings. Instead, they are trying to get the company to improve the buildings by issuing violations. A spokesperson for Blacksbrose listened to WNYC's questions, but declined to comment. That's WNYC's Charles Lane. Stick around. There's more after the break. A WMYC analysis of campaign finance records finds Airbnb is the single biggest spender in New York City's 2025 campaign season so far. The company is spending millions to back candidates for local office who support easing restrictions. Airbnb and other short-term rental companies have been subject to stringent regulations since

2023. That's when a new law took effect that required hosts to register with the city in order to list on Airbnb and similar sites. That's WMYC's housing reporter, David Brand. And the law blocks payment to those hosts if they don't get that city approval. So this ended the short-term rental market in New York City almost overnight. Airbnb really wants to change those rules and they're spending a lot of money to do it. Airbnb is pouring cash into local elections to back candidates who they think are supportive of their goals.

And the company is doing this legally through super PACs. That's committees set up to support or oppose candidates or specific issues. But they don't actually coordinate with the campaign or they're not supposed to at least. There's a few involved in city races right now. Airbnb set up its super PAC called Affordable New York earlier this year and they sunk five. million dollars into it. They're using that money for what are known as independent expenditures to support candidates who they think would try to ease the short-term rental rules. And so far, they've spent about $600,000 supporting eight candidates. David says Airbnb is just getting started spending on

local races, like New York City Council. But when it comes to the mayoral race, things get a little interesting politically. So the hotel industry and its labor union are really powerful in New York City. and they consider Airbnb public enemy number one. I talk to a lot of campaign consultants about this, and they say any candidate who does receive Airbnb backing will end up in the union's crosshairs. So far, though, Airbnb is not yet backing any candidates in the race for mayor.

David says most of the candidates in the Democratic primary denounce Airbnb, saying short-term rentals take permanent apartments off the market. However, there are three high-profile candidates who haven't taken a position on it yet. former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Eric Adams, and City Council Speaker Adrian Adams. She actually supported a bill in the City Council to allow more short-term rentals for one-and-two-family homes last year. And she's still a sponsor of that bill. Airbnb's already spending tens of thousands of dollars to support her chief of staff for that Queen's Council candidate, Ty Hankerson,

who's running to replace her for her open seat. And her campaign is refusing to say whether she'd welcome the support from Airbnb. That's WMYC's David Brand. A quick heads-up before we go, we're dropping another episode this Saturday in our series looking into the turmoil that's consumed the Adams administration. This weekend, we focus on the Adams campaign and its finances. Be sure to check it out. And if you've missed previous episodes, scroll through our feed and take a listen.

You'll find the episodes dropped on the past few Saturdays. Thanks for listening to NYC Now from WNYC. I'm Jenae Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.