NYC NOW - March 28, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: March 28, 2024

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is looking at ways to help prevent supply chain disruptions resulting from the collapse of Maryland’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore earlier this week. Also, more than 50 new English learning centers are opening across New York City to support immigrant New Yorkers to learn the language and connect to city resources. Finally, in a historic moment for the country's largest public transit system, the MTA Board gave its final approval to congestion pricing on Wednesday, tolling drivers who enter Manhattan south of 60th St. WNYC’s Michael Hill speaks with MTA Chair Janno Lieber about the plan.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Thursday, March 28th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is looking at ways to help prevent supply chain disruptions resulting from the collapse of Maryland's Francis Scott Key Bridge this week. New York Governor Kathy Hogle and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy have directed the authority to assess its resources to assist Maryland by accepting cargo that's being blocked from Baltimore's harbor by the fallen bridge.

The 1.6-mile-long bridge collapsed after a cargo ship rammed into it early Tuesday morning. As you've been hearing, two people's bodies have been recovered, and four others still missing are presumed dead. More than 50 new English learning centers are opening across New York City to support immigrant New Yorkers who are learning the language. They'll also help immigrants get connected to city resources. The commissioner of the mayor's office of immigrant affairs, Manuel Castro, says the centers will also be a place to build community.

Immigrant communities are also able to connect with local institutions like the libraries and our local community-based organizations and build community there and find other supports that might be available to them through these partners. 50 degrees with light rain right now. Opening day for Major League Baseball, but the Mets have postponed their game. They will play at City Field tomorrow afternoon. The Yankees are playing in Houston at 410 this afternoon. We will have periods of rain today, a high of 52.

Tomorrow, cloudy, then becoming sunny, mid-50s, and gusty sunshine this weekend. Stay close. There's more after the break. It's a historic moment for the city's largest public transit system. The MTA Board has given its final approval to congestion pricing. That's the plan to toll drivers who enter Manhattan, south of 60th Street. The board held its final vote yesterday. The plan has been decades in the making. MTA chair, General Lieber, joins us now. Would you give us a quick rundown of how this

toll structure works and why the MTA is tolling drivers south of 60th Street in Manhattan? Good morning, Michael. Glad to be with you. Yeah, the motivation for this is pretty straightforward. New York has the worst congestion of any city in the United States. It is costing us. billions economically. And it's time to do something about it. And congestion pricing is a proven strategy that's been tried out very successfully in London and Stockholm. And we also see all kinds of European cities taking action by increasing parking fees and so on in the center city. This is our strategy for dealing with congestion and improving transit because the revenue from it is going to go to build the transit system and make it better.

We'll get to that in just a second. When do you expect the tolls to go into effect? The projection right now is sometime in June. In a couple months, we have to finish up some litigation. Our friends across the river in New Jersey have decided that they want to get involved in what should be a New York City and New York State sovereignty issue. This is an initiative made a law by the state of New York back in 2019, but we have to get past that litigation.

But we've got the infrastructure and the cameras and the back office system ready to go, and we're planning to start it up in June. What's your response to comments like Governor Phil Murphy in New Jersey, who says the MTA is balancing their books on the backs of New Jersey commuters or Congress member Josh Godheimer, who says the program is just an attempt to cover up the MTA's historic mismanagement? Listen, you know, we can throw tirades back and forth, but the bottom line is New York has a congestion problem that's harming our economy, that's bad for our air quality, that leads to traffic

violence, and we're doing something about it. New Jersey has had tremendous problem, even getting their New Jersey transit system funded at all. They have not made it a priority. We make transit a priority in New York because, as I say, for New Yorkers, transit is like air and water. We need it to survive. 90% of the people who come to the Central Business District of Manhattan take transit. So it makes perfect sense to take the revenue from an initiative that's going to decrease congestion, which has its own benefits, and take that money to put it into transit to make it even better. How are we making it better? Investing in elevators so all of the system is accessible. modern signaling so we can run more trains safely closer together. Zero emissions buses so we don't

have diesel fumes fouling our air. New York is already the greenest city in America because of our mass transit system. We want to make it even greener and cleaner. Chair Libre, you got to know this, that there are plenty of people out there who listen to this or have some skepticism about how the MTA is going to use this money. How do you respond to them? Listen, you know, it's time to start judging the MTA by the projects that we've been completing in the last few years rather than projects that were begun under, you know, Governor George Pataki 20, 25 plus years ago. We completed that L-Train project that everybody was so worried about on time and $100 million under budget, the $2.5 billion third track project on Long Island,

which has allowed us to increase Long Island Railroad Service by 40 percent. So people get into the city, easier. Again, on time and hundreds of millions of dollars under budget. MTA is actually become a first class developer of projects and we're going to use the money. Well, I'm looking forward to the day when everybody can get on the MTA system because there's an elevator if you're a parent with a stroller, if you're a senior with mobility issues. That is a huge investment for New York and we're thrilled to be making it. Will any of the revenue be used for subway safety to enhance safety and prove it? That's a really good point. You know, right now we have to deal with not just the statistics of subway safety, which have been headed in the right direction, but the perception of a lack of safety.

So we've got to invest in making the whole fair control area harder for people to get through. There's no question that we've had an upsurge in fare evasion post-COVID, and it's time to push back on that. We've got a mayor who values transit safety. He himself was a transit cop. He's putting more cops not just into the same. system in the subway system in general, but specifically at the fair array, we are actually investing in new fair control technology, aka new turnstiles to push back. We got to stop people coming in, in part because it's not fair to others, but also because that's a place that you can actually

stop people who want to do harm to other riders and something's being done about it with some of these investments and also putting more cops in the system. I love that. Chair Lieba, you grew up in New York. What does this mean for you personally to be in charge of the MTA as it's finally passing congestion price? We have just a few seconds left. Yeah, I mean, listen, I think the message here is we can still do big things in New York. We can still take action to control our own destiny.

We're not just victims of what's going on around us. We've got to make a better city. These are big decisions. And I actually think that remember all the controversy about when Mike Bloomberg, you said no more smoking in bars and restaurants, how controversial that was. I'm actually optimistic that when we implement this, it's not going to be as big a deal that New Yorkers are going to adjust and we're going to have a better transit system and less traffic, and that's good for everybody. MTA chair, Janelle Labor, thanks for coming on Morning Edition. I hope you come back and talk to us again.

You bet. Thank you, Michael. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day. For your top news, news, head. lines and occasional deep dives. Also subscribe wherever you get your podcast. We'll be back this evening.