NYC NOW - January 25, 2024: Morning Headlines

Episode Date: January 25, 2024

Get up and get informed! Here’s all the local news you need to start your day: Governor Hochul wants to increase school funding in her state budget plan. But as WNYC's Jon Campbell reports, hundreds of school districts would actually see a cut. Meanwhile, without explaination, the MTA has decided to put its much publicized “open gangway" trains on the slow track.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Thursday, January 25th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. Governor Kathy Hokel wants to increase school funding in her state budget plan, but it's WNMIC's John Campbell reports. Hundreds of school districts would actually see a cut. New York state policy guarantees schools get at least as much state funding as they got the year before, even if the state's funding formulas say otherwise. But Hockel's budget would change that. She says it would make things more equitable. Melinda Persson is president of the state teachers union.

She's not a fan. Especially in this moment right now, as our schools are sort of taking the next steps to address learning loss and recovering from the pandemic, this is not the time for us to be reneging on the commitment to fund schools. New York City schools would still see a funding boost under Hokel's plan. Hocal and state lawmakers have until April 1st to approve a final budget. The MTA is putting its much publicized new open gangway trains on the slow track. An internal memo obtained by WNIC shows transit managers a telling crews to avoid running the trains along key express tracks on the A-line. The subway cars have an accordion-style design without interior doors, which allow passengers to walk the entire length of the train. The concept is used in Paris and London subway systems, but the MTA only bought two of the trains to see how they'd work in New York.

The agency declined to explain the exact reasoning for the directive. The memo comes less than three months after the MTA had to pull nearly all of its new subway cars, including those with doors between the cars from service due to mechanical issues. 48 with rain and fog. Rain a little bit later by early afternoon, a high near 52, and then tomorrow 50-50 chance of brain and 46. Thanks for listening. This is NYC Now from WNYC.

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