NYC NOW - July 29, 2024 : Evening Roundup

Episode Date: July 29, 2024

Rents in New York City continue to reach new heights this summer. Plus, WNYC’s Michael Hill talked with Mayor Sheena Collum of South Orange, New Jersey about chaotic delays impacting NJ Transit riders. And finally, congratulations to Queens’ own Lauren Scruggs! She’s bringing home Silver after Sunday’s Olympic fencing final in Paris.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Jenae Pierre. It's not just temperatures going up this summer. Rents in New York City continue to reach new heights. A new report from real estate platform, Zumper, finds the median asking rate for a one-bedroom apartment in the city is $4,350. That's a record high and 9.1% higher than a year. ago. Some urban areas in the Midwest and South are also recording higher annual rent price growth. That's due to limited supply and high demand. But Zumper says New York City still has the most expensive rental market in the country.

NJ Transit has experienced epic train failures lately, and commuters are feeling the brunt of it. After the break, a conversation with the New Jersey mayor who wrote an excuse note for those late to work, And who's to blame? Stay close. The delays just keep coming for New Jersey transit riders. Heat, among other issues, has caused late trains and cancellations day after day across the state's commuter rail system. The weights have been long enough that one local mayor has taken matters into her own hands. Sheena Cullum is the mayor of South Orange, New Jersey. She recently penned an open letter that was an excuse note to employers across the region

as more and more riders face train delays. WMYC's Michael Hill talked with Mayor Cullum about her letter and the chaotic transit delays in her state. Mayor Cullum, I suspect you must have been pretty frustrated with the delays in cancellations to write this letter. Absolutely, Michael. Beyond frustrated. You know, normally our residents are Jersey strong, and right now they're feeling just Jersey exhausted is probably the best way to put it. They're not getting the help that they need. And right now I feel like I've got to do anything and everything to try and assist them right now. You write that your town in Maplewood, New Jersey, right next door, held a forum for commuters to talk about these issues. What did you hear from your constituents about how these delays are having an effect on their work lives?

So about four weeks ago, this was on June 26. I called our federal reps, our state reps, our county reps. All local officials from South Orange and Maplewood showed up. And we said, we're going to have a meeting with commuters to understand what's, really happening on the ground. Over 200 people pre-registered in a matter of 48 hours. They joined the call. It was great to have that level of government interest at all levels from our elected officials. And they were just desperate. Every story just like, you know, stung you in the heart is people being stuck on trains while it's 100 degrees outside. Really a safety issue of what's happening in

Hoboken with the delays in cancellations. First, people are being rerout. then they get to their location and it's a standing room only inside of a train. We had one woman who said she's pregnant and she called New Jersey Transit Police because that was a situation she was dealing with that day. And it was just hours of listening to these stories and parents saying that they're late to pick up their children when they're supposed to be getting them from after school programs. I mean, it's hitting all aspects of the livelihood of our residents here, and South Orange has 2,500 commuters a day. It's really an untenable situation. What about on the other side, Mayor? What have you heard from people who run in companies

or businesses, employers? You know, it's funny you should ask that because the reason the letter came about was just in pure desperation. I asked our commuters, we have this very active Facebook group. You know, would something like this help you at all, or am I being silly? Because if I am, I'm just going to delete this post and pretend it never happened. I was surprised to see over 100 people say, yes, anything would be able to help. From those individuals, what they said was they shared the letter or they shared some news articles about the letter and that their employers were very, very understanding, that they were aware of what was going on.

But ultimately, you can't expect that. And another threat online, one of our residents shared that one of her close friends was denied a job in the city because of the unreliability of New Jersey. Jersey transit. And so we're not getting the short-term relief. I mean, fortunately, we've heard all the wonderful things about the Gateway Tunnel Project, the $16 billion, but that's 10 years away. Our residents, our riders, our commuters, they can't wait that long. Fixing the problems facing New Jersey Transit, as you know, is an onerous task. At least it seems that it is. But in the short term, what do you think officials at the agency or even the state can do to

ease some of the difficulties, some of the challenges? Some of the challenges. it's facing writers. You know what, Michael, it's not the first time we went through this. In 2017, you know, dubbed the official summer of hell, it just seemed like there was so much more care for commuters. The communications game was up significantly. They added bus service. They added ferry service. There was cross-honoring on all forms of ticketing, right? It was a way to say to commuters. We know this is very difficult. We're here for you and we're doing everything financially also to try and assist you. And that doesn't exist right now. It doesn't seem that level of energy is there, that level of desperation that I think commuters are hoping to hear from, you know,

one of the world's largest, you know, public transit services. There's a lot of concern about ADA compliance when it comes to public transit. And you must be wondering about those who have disabilities and have health issues and trying to get about using NJ Transit. Actually, I have firsthand experience of this. In South Orange, we do have ADA accessibility. And what's happening right now, it disproportionately impacts seniors and also people with physical disabilities because once they board a specific station because they know that they have the appropriate accommodations, when these cancellations and these delays occur, first, you're standing the entire time. It's not like the luxury of a lounge to wait for, you know, what the next train may be, moving them over to different locations. And some have also been stuck at stations that don't have those accommodations. And locally, how that normally plays out is that you'll have first responders or your fire department come out and lift people. And that's completely demoralizing when you think about it. I mean, so many of our commuters are able-bodied. You think about people going into the city. They walk very briskly.

That's not the case. We have so many of our elderly people who need special accommodations who rely on public transportation, and they're not getting these services. And I think they're getting lost in this conversation. What are you hearing from NJ Transit or state lawmakers, those who have oversight? What are you hearing that gives you any assurance that this is being addressed, that they're being worked on, and that a fix is either imminent or in the long term? I am not optimistic in the least bit. I've been, I guess the best word is stalking this issue for the past two months. And it seems like that game of everybody kind of pointing fingers and asking for more. And really what we're hearing is about audits and like, you know, we're going to understand the situation a little bit better. You know, this is a deferred infrastructure that's finally being addressed. And, you know, our residents and commuters really don't care about those items. They need to get to. to and from work today. That's Mayor Sheena Cullum of South Orange, New Jersey, talking with WMYC's Michael Hill. Before we leave, shout out to Queen's native Lauren Scruggs, who's bringing home silver after Sunday's Olympic fencing final in Paris.

The 21-year-old Harvard student from Ozone Park is now the first black fencer to win an Olympic medal in an individual women's event for the U.S. Scruggs took silver after losing 15 to 6 in the final. against teammate and Kentucky native Lee Kiefer, who took the goal. Queen's Boer President Donovan Richards says Scruggs will be honored

when she comes back home to Queens. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. Catch us every weekday, three times a day. I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.