NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: NYC’s Bus Lines Get Bad Report Card, Mayoral Candidates in Talks With Trump Advisers, Why Getting a COVID Shot Could be a Hassle, and a New Sound at Subway Stations

Episode Date: September 4, 2025

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is out with a new report that grades city bus lines. Plus, the New York Times reports that President Trump's advisers have discussed offering jobs to Mayor Eric Adams and Republican Curtis Sliwa to get them out of the mayoral race. Also, shifting federal guidance of vaccinations could make getting a COVID shot more of a hassle this year. And finally, Lifelong New Yorker Chloë Bass turns the MTA’s public address system into art.

New York City's bus lines get a bad report card. Two mayoral candidates are reportedly in talks with President Trump's advisors, why getting a COVID shot could be a hassle this year, and a new sound at subway stations. From WMYC, this is NYC now. I'm Jenae Pierre. It's the first day of school for New York City students, but they're not the ones being graded today. City buses are. You heard that right.

City controller Brad Lander is out with a new report that grades city bus lines. More than half of the lines scored a D or below when it comes to how often buses arrive on time, bus speeds, and how frequently they run with delays. Manhattan had the worst scores, with three quarters of the lines getting a failing grade. Lander says the MTA should focus on improving the worst lines. This is our effort to help provide a report card system that helps us get out of life in the slow lane. get those buses moving faster. The transit agency didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The report comes as Democratic mayoral nominee Zeramamam Dani calls for free buses. Lander has endorsed Mumdani and says the proposal could help improve the performance of city bus lines. Is a false shakeup coming to the New York City mayor's race? The New York Times is reporting that President Trump's advisors have discussed offering jobs to Mayor Eric Adams and Republican Curtis Slewa to get them out of the race. That would then boost Andrew Cuomo's odds of winning the contest over current frontrunner, Zeramam Dani. Mayor Adams did not deny the talks, but he says he's still focused on running for re-election. My rules was the same from the first day I was elected.

I don't talk about private conversations. And so you know that. Many of you had private conversations with me that you never heard again. I am not going into private conversations. And no matter what happens right now, I'm the mayor of the city of New York. Adams was in Florida earlier this week on what he said was a personal trip. Former federal prosecutor and independent candidate Jim Walden also dropped out of the race on Tuesday. Planning to get a COVID shot this fall, well, that may be a hassle for most New Yorkers.

We'll explain why after the break. Stay close. New York doctors and pharmacies are starting to field more requests for COVID shots after updated versions of the vaccines were approved by the Food and Drug Administration last week. But shifting federal guidance could make. making the shots more of a hassle. WMYC's Caroline Lewis has been reporting on some of the issues patients and health care providers are navigating, and she joins us now. Tell us about the shots that were approved just last week. What did the new FDA guidelines have to say about it?

So the FDA approved updated COVID shots from Pfizer, Moderna, and Novavax with formulations designed to target the changing COVID strains that are in circulation. But there are some new limitations. And importantly, these limitations are being put in place as the Trump administration is also broadly overhauling the federal public health infrastructure and, you know, planting some questions about vaccine science. Under the new FDA guidelines, COVID shots have only been approved for people over 65 and for younger people who have conditions that put them at higher risk for severe symptoms. Now, that could be a broad swath of people, according to the CDC, that put people at higher risk include HIV, asthma, diabetes, some mental health disorders,

and federal health officials also say anyone can get a COVID shot if they consult with their doctor. But after talking to health care providers in New York, I'm seeing there could be some real hurdles to getting vaccinated this year that we're not there in the past. What kind of hurdles are we talking about here? Well, let's start with pharmacies. In New York State, pharmacies that want to administer vaccines need to have what's called a standing order. That's basically a blanket prescription to give a shot to anyone who qualifies for it. And that can come from the local health department or certain medical providers.

But it has to be based on the vaccine recommendations from the federal advisory committee on immunization practices. And this year, the advisory committee has not issued its federal recommendations on COVID shots yet. And that has basically paralyzed a lot of local pharmacies. National chains are figuring out their own workarounds like CVS, and Walgreens both said they will start offering the new COVID shots in New York, but patients have to get a prescription from their doctor, something that has never been required in the past. So when can we expect the recommendations from the advisory committee? Well, that committee is scheduled to meet later this month on September 18th, so we could have

their recommendations after that. But I think there's this general concern among doctors and health officials that federal guidance is falling out of step with recommendations from major medical groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics. The AAP categorizes all children between six months and two years old as high risk for COVID and recommends they all get vaccinated. It also recommends COVID vaccination for any child whose parents want them to have the shots. And so there are these like sort of new conflicts. And given all the confusion, New York City and state health officials say they're still figuring out what their guidance on COVID vaccines will look like. I think one big question is if health care providers do veer away from federal guidance on COVID shots, will

health plans still cover them? One pediatrician told me it's unlikely doctors are going to order a big supply of shots if they're not sure they're going to get reimbursed by insurers. Have you talked to any patients who are trying to navigate this? Yeah, I spoke to several parents who are eager to get their kids vaccinated against COVID, say they've done it in the past or are trying to get them vaccinated for the first time. Some say they've already. reached out to their pediatricians, but have struggled to get concrete answers on what their policies on COVID shots will look like. I think people are still figuring it out. That said, vaccination against COVID was already not super widespread before these issues came up. Only about

15% of kids in New York State got last year's COVID shots. And it's important to note these are not shots that are required for kids to go to school. Yeah, you know, Caroline, with that in mind, And how are we doing on school vaccinations or childhood vaccination more broadly going into this new school year? So New York is actually doing really well, especially compared to the rest of the country. I think that's one bright spot. Vaccination rates among kindergartners declined nationally last year with more kids in other states claiming exemptions to vaccine mandates. But New York is just one of a handful of states that does not allow any religious exemptions. That's a measure that was put in place in 2019 after a major measles outbreak in New York City.

But still, I think doctors are worried that federal messaging and policies around vaccines could erode people's trust. And certainly city and state officials are trying to keep kids on schedule for their vaccines even before they enter school. That's WMYC's Caroline Lewis. Subway announcements aren't always the easiest to hear. If you're passing through the system this month, WMYC's Ryan Kylath reports, you might want to listen more closely. Imagine this. It's Hump Day. You are hauling your way across the vast expanse of Atlantic Avenue Barclay Center.

Somebody's on the speaker squawking about something. But wait. What's this? What we hear changes how we feel. How we feel changes what we do. And what we do changes the world around us, This is a new MTA arts project called If you hear something, phrase something, something. It's by the artist Chloe Bass, a New Yorker whose family has been here since before the subways were built.

Multiple announcements will play in 14 stations across the four boroughs serviced by the subway. Some are poetic. Others sound like overhearing someone else's conversation or first-person stories. In English and Spanish, bungla and Mandarin, Arabic and Haitian Creole. It's my hope that this project actually gives people back a little bit of their interior life in public space. Bass worked with the MTA and the arts nonprofit creative time for two years to make this happen. For example, they had to test the sound on every kind of speaker the MTA uses. Of course, when her dad heard about the project...

He laughed at me because he said, why would you even do that? No one can hear the announcements on the train ever. If you hear something, free something runs through October 5th. That's WNYC's Ryan Kylath. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. I'm Junae Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.