NYC NOW - Midday News: Columbia Professors Sue Over Federal Cuts, Newark Debates Ironbound Redevelopment, and Hochul Presses Trump on MTA Funding

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

Columbia University professors are taking the Trump administration to court over hundreds of millions of dollars in revoked federal funding. Meanwhile, officials in Newark are weighing a major housing development in the Ironbound and not everyone's on board. Plus, Governor Hochul and top lawmakers are pushing President Trump to help cover the MTA's budget gap. WNYC's Jon Campbell explains why that may be a tough sell.

NYC, how I see, NYC. Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Wednesday, March 26th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. Columbia University professors are suing the Trump administration for cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding in response to the schools handling a pro-Palestinian protest, Two groups representing the professors want a federal judge in Manhattan to restore the money, which they argue was canceled without following the proper steps. University leadership last week said it would acquiesce to demands the White House made of Columbia to restore the money. Columbia will alter its campus security and protest policies and install new leadership of its Middle East Studies Department.

The administration has not yet said whether it will restore the money. City officials in New York say they are excited about a problem. plan to build four high-rises with 1,400 apartment units in a vacant lot in the Irnbound. The two-and-a-half-acre lot has stood vacant for the past two decades and was once home to a storied restaurant called Iberia, but not everyone's on board with this plan. Joseph Delafavov is the former executive director of the Ironbound Community Corporation, and among the critics of the development, Delafov says it will drive up prices when many are already struggling to afford housing.

This is how gentrification, you know, starts pushing displacement. The proposal includes 280 units of affordable housing for people making $40,000 to $100,000 a year in New Jersey. The median income in New York is around $36,000 a year. 48 with clouds down a slim chance of afternoon showers, sunshine, low 50s, winds become gusty, And then tomorrow, sunny, low 50s for a high, gusty on opening day in the Bronx. Stick around. There's more to come. On WNYC, I'm Sean Carlson. Governor Hulkel and top state lawmakers are trying to figure out how to pay for billions of dollars in improvements to New York City's mass transit system.

And now they're leaning on President Trump to step in. The governor and the leaders of the state Senate and Assembly sent a joint letter to the president and congressional Republicans. They made the case that the feds should pay a bigger share of the MTA's construction costs. But if they're actually counting on more federal money, they probably should not hold their breath. Joining us from the state capital in Albany is WNMI C reporter John Campbell. So, John, tell us more about this letter. What are the governor and legislative leaders looking for? And do they actually think they're going to get it?

Well, Sean, I mean, at the most basic level, they're looking for more money. The federal government gives the MTA billions of dollars in grants for what's known as it's capital plan. That's the list of construction projects for the MTA's bus and rail systems, much of which is really, really old and in need of repair. And this letter from the governor and the legislative leaders, it makes the case that it's not enough. They feel like the state is actually owed more federal money for that capital plan, which costs about $65 billion and is way underfunded right now. That said, even one of the leaders who signed that letter, he doesn't actually think the feds are going to pony up.

Here's what Assembly Speaker Carl Hasty said about it earlier today. As I told you, I expect nothing, and maybe they'll surprise me. Now, Hasty pointed out in that letter that the MTA gets a little less than a fifth of federal transit funding, which, you know, that sounds like a lot, but the MTA has a little more than two-fifths of mass transit riders nationwide. So from that perspective, it doesn't really line up. And what does the Trump administration have to say about this? Do they have any surprises up their sleeve? Sean, this may surprise you, but they don't seem to be into it.

It's shocking, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, he responded with a long post on social media. And the first word was outrageous with an exclamation point. He said the MTA already gets billions from the federal government. That includes about $13 billion for the last capital plan. and he pushed the transit agency to realign its capital plan to have more anti-crime projects in the subway system. You've got to remember the Transportation Secretary's been battling with Governor Hockel and the MTA for a while now.

He's trying to halt congestion pricing in Manhattan, which helps fund the MTA. That said, the governor and the president have met twice in person in recent weeks, and they've been trying to negotiate some sort of agreement on a number of issues, including MTA funding. So I wouldn't completely close the door on any surprises at this point. Now, John, we got to say that amidst all of this, a state budget deadline is in a week, and there's still this huge hole in the MGA's proposed capital plan. So something has got to give here, right? Yeah, that's absolutely right.

I mean, the state is anticipating $14 billion from the feds for the next capital plan. And even with that money, the plan is still billions of dollars short. So Governor Hockel and legislative leaders are negotiating behind closed doors. they're trying to come up with ways the state can make up the difference. And that's almost certainly going to have to come from some sort of new tax or a new fee or an increase to a current tax or fee or some sort of combination. MTA chairman Jano Libre was actually at the state capital today to meet with lawmakers. He says he came away confident that the governor and the legislature will fund the plan

even if they don't know how they'll do it yet. This is not news that they sit at the table. and there's sometimes high-stakes drama. How do they want to raise revenue for the things they prioritize? But the key is that they're going to do it, and I've heard that from all three leaders. Now, John, you reported that the governor is eyeing a possible tax hike on New York City businesses to pay for this?

Is that still on the table? As far as we know, yes, it is. That would be a hike in what's known as the payroll mobility tax. That's a tax on employers in the MTA service area, 12 counties, New York City and its suburbs, basically, and it helps fund the public transit system. Sources with knowledge in the negotiations have told us that that's one of the options the governor has put on the table to hike that tax, but only on New York City employers and only those with large payroll, say maybe $10 million or more in annual payroll. That's facing some pushback within the New York City business community. They say the MTA is a regional asset, even a statewide asset, funding it should.

shouldn't fall on New York City alone, but that payroll tax has been a huge political liability at times in the suburbs in particular. And the governor's approach would essentially take that off the table. John, in the last 30 seconds we have here, we mentioned that the state's fiscal year begins on April 1st. There's supposed to be a budget in place by then, given the ballet. Maybe that's too graceful. Maybe it's more like a rugby situation in trying to get this done on time. Do you think that we are actually going to get a budget done on time? It's not looking good, Sean.

I mean, Governor Hokel hasn't had an on-time budget since she took office in 2021. It's not looking like this year is going to be any different. There's a lot of outstanding issues left to be negotiated. I'd expect lawmakers to pass a short-term extender at some point, either later this week or maybe early next week. That is WNYC's John Campbell. Thanks so much. Thank you. Thanks for listening.

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