NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: Transportation Secretary Addresses Government Shutdown at Newark Airport, the Fight Over a Kindergarten Program Emerges in NYC’s Mayor’s Race, and Republican Nominee Ciattarelli Plans to Gut NJ’s Affordable Housing Laws

Episode Date: October 6, 2025

U.S. Transportation secretary Sean Duffy is blaming Democrats in Congress for the federal government shutdown. Meanwhile, after Zohran Mamdani said he’d cut gifted programs for kindergartners, Andrew Cuomo said he’d expand them. And finally, New Jersey’s GOP candidate for governor, Jack Ciattarelli, has pledged to overturn a 50-year-old set of landmark court rulings that require each of the state’s municipalities to build affordable housing.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy addresses the government shutdown at Newark Airport. A fight over a kindergarten program emerges in New York City's mayor's race. And Republican candidate for governor, Jack Shidorelli, plans to gut the state's affordable housing laws. From WNYC, this is NYC now. I'm Jene Pierre. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is blaming Democrats in Congress for the government shutdown. On Monday, Duffy appeared at Newark Liberty International Airport. He says it's causing air traffic controllers to be distracted because they're required to continue working even though

they're not getting paid while the shutdown drags on. They're not just now thinking about the airspace and the jobs they have to do in these towers or tracons or centers across the country. They're thinking about, am I going to get a paycheck? Newark Airport became the focal point of the country's outdated air traffic control systems earlier this year. After, several system outages left controllers blind to the location of incoming airplanes. The issues, which date back to the Biden administration, but have persisted under President Trump, led to widespread delays at the airport. A new flashpoint has emerged in New York City's mayor's race, the fight over the future

of gifted and talented programs for young children. The program has always sparked controversy. WMYC's Jessica Gould is here to discuss how the candidates differ on this hot-button issue. All right, Jess, so Zoroamam Dani said he would eliminate the GNT track for kindergartners. What's up with that? He says that rising kindergartners, and just so we're clear, we're talking about four-year-olds when they're still in preschool, are too young to be both evaluated and then separated out for this accelerated program. So he'd end the tier of the program that starts in kindergarten, but he hasn't suggested any changes for the entry points for older elementary.

students. Okay. And what do his opponent, Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa have to say about this? They both really seized on this. Both Cuomo and Slewa say they want to expand the programs. And Cuomo is promising to expand gifted and talented programs in every borough. And how does G&T work right now? So it's the same curriculum that's used for general education classrooms, but at a faster pace. So these rising kindergartners that we're talking about, They used to get in according to their results on a standardized test, but that was really controversial. Many educators and parents opposed assessing four-year-olds just through an exam. So now rising kindergartners are evaluated for admission by their preschool teachers who recommend if they're ready.

After that, kids can apply based on their report card grades. There are some gifted programs that go through middle school, but all in all, the G&T programs only serve a tiny fraction of the overall city public school students. I mentioned that this program has always sparked controversy. Why is it such a hot-button issue? School integration advocates say these gifted programs really exacerbate segregation in the school system, and New York City's public schools are notoriously segregated.

In G&T, 70% of students in the gifted classes are white or Asian, even though white and Asian students only make up 35% of total enrollment. And I'll just say when I started covering education, advocates told me that you could walk up to a school and pick out G&T classrooms by looking at the racial makeup, because it's that stark. Now, towards the end of his administration, and under a lot of pressure at the time to fight school segregation, former mayor Bill de Blasio announced this plan to eliminate and replace gifted classes. But there was a lot of pushback, especially from many members of the city's Asian community, who were already upset with

de Blasio for his effort to get rid of the standardized admissions exam for specialized high schools. For many families, these gifted programs are seen as a critical pathway to both selective high schools and strong colleges. Gifted programs in selective high schools can be a wedge issue politically, especially in the Asian community. And it was notable to me that after Mom Donnie said he was in favor of getting rid of the kindergarten track. Cuomo talked at length about expanding GNT at an event in Chinatown. That's WNYC's Jessica Gould. Jess, thanks for your reporting. Thank you. New Jersey's Republican nominee for governor, Jack Shidorelli, says he wants to scrap the state's

affordable housing laws. We'll have more on that after the break. Housing costs are a top issue in this year's race to become New Jersey's next governor. And the Republican candidate, Jack Shidorelli, has pledged to overturn a 50-year-old set of landmark court rulings that require each of the state's municipalities to build affordable housing. Joining me to talk about it is WMYC's Mike Hayes. So Mike, what is this landmark ruling and why has it become a campaign issue? Sure. So it's called the Mount Laurel Doctrine. It's named after a New Jersey town that was part of a big state Supreme Court case in the 1970s. Now, I'll Now, spare you the details here, Janei, and just skip to the ruling, it established that every

municipality in the state must contribute its fair share of affordable housing. Now, since then, roughly 50,000 new homes have been constructed for low and middle income folks. And this year, the state's kicking off a new 10-year round of required development with the goal of building 80,000 new homes over the next decade. But you asked, how is this a campaign issue? Now, the answer to that is there are very different views on the effect that Mount Laurel has had and continues to have. So let me explain that. So housing advocates really like this doctrine.

They see it as a way to expand the availability of low-priced homes in one of the most expensive states to live in the country. And they also see it as a way to address longstanding problems of segregation in the state. Now, on the other side, you have some residents and some New Jersey town officials, particularly in wealthy suburban areas who really resent this requirement. They say they don't have the infrastructure to absorb new housing, and they don't like that it will bring more students into their schools. Now, Jack Chittarelli is really tapping into that frustration, and he really needs those suburban voters to win this election.

So here's what he's been saying on the campaign trail. We are going to stop the overdevelopment of our suburban people. The crowd really likes that, Mike. Yeah, you can tell the crowd liked what they're hearing there. So this Mount Laurel doctrine started in the Supreme Court, and Chittarelli says he's going back there to overturn it. Yes, so the thing you have to keep in mind is there's very little a governor Chittorelli would be able to do legislatively on this if he were elected. That's because he's going to be facing a Democratic legislature no matter what. So he says he's going to go to the court.

and he has vowed that his attorney general will file a lawsuit to overturn the Mount Laurel Doctrine on day one of his administration, which would be a big departure from the current administration under Phil Murphy, Jene. The state has been actually defending a lawsuit brought by 27 towns to overturn the requirement that Governor Murphy signed into law last year. That lawsuit is being led by the mayor of Montvale, New Jersey, up by the New York border. his name is Mike Gasoli. He says his town, which has just over 9,000 people in it, has to build over 200 affordable housing units over the next decade. And he says that's just not feasible. Now, this lawsuit was just dismissed by the state courts. Gasali says he's going to appeal. And if he had the support of the governor and the state attorney general under a Chittarelli administration, or if the attorney general's office brought its own challenge, that would be a really big reversal in policy. Yeah. How likely would a legal challenge be to succeed if that were the case? So legal experts I've spoken with, they say it would be a real challenge. We mentioned that the Mount Laurel Doctrine is 50 years old. And during that time, it's been reaffirmed by the state

Supreme Court. It's also been codified into state law. And the majority of municipalities in New Jersey are actually already working to meet that next round of housing requirements. Now, what Chittarelli has said is that he'd appoint state Supreme Court justices that agree with him on this issue. And the next governor of New Jersey will, in fact, get to appoint at least two new justices. Now, a couple points on that. The legal experts have spoken with, they say it would be a big departure from how these appointments have been done in the past. It's typically seen as a nonpartisan process. Second, those appointments would still have to go through a state.

Senate controlled by the Democrats to get approved. So Chittarelli may not have the option to do that. Before I let you go, Mike, I have to know what has Democratic nominee Mikey Cheryl had to say on this issue. Yeah, I asked Mikey Cheryl to respond to what Chittarelli is saying about Mount Laurel. She didn't address the Mount Laurel doctrine directly or whether she thinks there should be changes to the requirements. But she said what he's proposing is an impossible plan. and that it won't do anything to address affordability issues in the state. But the key to this election will be whether those suburban districts in the state swing Democrat or Republican. And Chidorelli clearly sees overturning Mount Laurel as an issue that speaks to those suburban voters that he's going to need to win.

That's WMYC's Mike Hades. Quick heads up, strong wins are in the forecast the first half of the week. New York City officials say gust of between. 20 and 25 miles per hour are expected, and that can cause debris and unsecured objects to turn into projectiles. Officials are warning property owners to take precautions. They're also advising residents observing the Jewish holiday Sukkot to secure outdoor huts built in honor of the occasion. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.