NYC NOW - Midday News: Governor Hochul Proposes School Parking Cuts in SOTS Address, Manhattan Traffic Drops Under Congestion Pricing, and Mets’ Juan Soto Signing Sparks Excitement in Queens

Episode Date: January 14, 2025

In her annual State of the State address, Governor Kathy Hochul is proposing cuts to parking spots near certain city schools. Meanwhile, the MTA says 43,000 fewer drivers are entering Manhattan below 60th Street each day since congestion pricing launched. Finally, the Mets’ historic signing of superstar outfielder Juan Soto is energizing fans. WNYC’s Michael Hill speaks with MLB reporter Mike Mazzeo about the team’s ambitions to compete with the Yankees as New York’s top baseball franchise.

Welcome to NYC now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Tuesday, January 14th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. New York Governor Kathy Hokel delivers her state of the state address this afternoon. WNYC's John Campbell report. She plans to call for reducing parking spots near certain city schools. The governor wants to eliminate spots within 20 feet of cross-stead. walks near elementary schools and the five boroughs. To do that, she wants to tweak a state

law that allows the city to set its own parking rules. Pedestrian safety advocates call the practice daylighting intersections, and it's meant to improve visibility for passing motorists. They've been calling on the city to daylight all 40,000 of its intersections. Mayor Adams previously pledged to daylight a thousand intersections a year, though he's behind schedule. The MTA says 43,000 fewer drivers are entering Manhattan south of 60th Street each day since congestion pricing launched. WNIC's Ramsey Caliphate has more. Less gridlock and faster buses. The MTA says that's the takeaway from the first week of congestion pricing,

which now hits drivers with a $9 toll. MTA data shows the zone is seeing a 7% drop in traffic compared to a typical January weekday in previous years. This may not seem like a lot, but officials say it's the difference between free-flowing streets and traffic jams. It's an early, a very early sign in the right direction, according to the MTA officials. The data shows traffic is moving faster on every bridge and tunnel entering the congestion zone. And many of the MTA's buses are moving faster as well.

The MTA is not sharing how much they made from the program during its first week. 31 with sunshine right now. Sunshine in 32 for a high, gusty feeling as cold as 20 degrees. Sunny tomorrow and 33 is still feeling as if it's in the teens. And then on Thursday, mostly sunny and 30. and then mild the temperatures. There's more after the break. As speculation builds over weather first baseman Pete Alonzo will sign again with the New York Mets.

The team's owner, billionaire Steve Cohen, says he's not just building a baseball team, he's building a brand. The team is historically more associated with hard, scrabble, doggedness, than the glitz of the New York Yankees. But with the recent addition of star player Juan Soto and a push by Cohen to build a casino near city field, the long-standing culture of the Queens team could be on the verge of change. With us now to break it all down is Mike Mazzeo, baseball reporter for the Sports Business Journal. Mike, thanks for joining us here.

As I said, owner Steve Cohen is using his money in a way to build the Mets as a more prominent team in Major League Baseball and certainly here in New York. What was the lure the Mets before Steve Cohen and how do you think that's changing? Thanks, Michael, for having me. I think, you know, the Mets have a history of not a lot of success. a lot of dysfunction, a lot of turmoil, but Steve Cohen has opened his wallet, and I think it's a huge seismic shift in even New York baseball, right? He's drawn comparisons to George Steinbrenner, the owner of the Yankees, who spent a lot of money and stopped at nothing to win. I think it says

a lot about Cohen, and that it says a lot about what the Mets are going to be moving forward, which hopefully isn't that team that is, you know, a little brother in New York City. To talk about the changing culture of the Mets, we have to talk a little bit more about most recently the record-breaking $765 million $15-year deal for Juan Soto. Why was that such a pivotal moment for this team and for Mets fans? Because Soto was a player that doesn't come along very often. When you look at contracts of that magnitude, you're talking about Alex Rodriguez, Aaron Judge,

some of these players that are once in a generation. And so this Juan Soto moved getting not only a superstar, a 26-year-old in his prime player from the rival team across town that as known for winning above anything is a huge statement when they're coming off a season where they went to the National League Championship Series and surprised a lot of people says a lot about where they're going. They're going to be involved in free agents going forward. A $765 million contract. And surely there are other players on the team who are making in the millions as well. And you have to spend money. Let's acknowledge that if you want to win

in professional sports. But what about Mets ticket prices? What are you in I think, you know, they probably will continue to increase, I'm sure, and that may push them people out. I mean, you saw what they were for the postseason. You know, I think most Mets fans are happy that their team has looked at in a different light. And it has to be a positive for their business because I think Scott Boris, the agent for Soto said, you know, the surplus value of this $765 million contract is going to be a billion dollars. I don't know if the Mets agree with that evaluation, but, you know, season ticket prices are going to go up and sales are going to go up, sweet sales, you know, merchandise,

you're going to be able to play for different sponsorships that maybe didn't want to be a part of this. Now they want to get in the action with your club because they have a superstar and they're going to hopefully be a perennial contender in the National League for years to come. What does this kind of spending mean for smaller market teams in Major League Baseball

that can't match the Mets financial firepower? Some of these teams like the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox have this advantage with their local broadcast rights and the annual rights fee they get. those teams could be looking at 200 million per year. And then you have somebody like the Marlins at the bottom end that's looking at, you know, 10 to 20 million a year in their rights fees that they're getting.

So yeah, I mean, is it a question of are those teams spending? We know that baseball's revenues in 2024 or higher than in 2023. I think it was 11.6 billion in 2020. So, you know, how many of these teams want to get involved and say should there be a salary cap, a salary floor, you know, the Yankees and Dodgers having permanent stars in Otani and judge and engaging in the World Series, which maybe didn't go as long as people expected. But, you know, baseball's had a lot of wins, but there are certainly some concerns. And I think, like you said, the gap between the haves and the have-nots is right at the top of the list.

At least one new casino will be granted a license in the metropolitan area by the end of this year. One of those bidders is Steve Cohen. In terms of sports money affecting the local economy, is there any precedence for what Cohen is trying to do with what he's calling Metropolitan Park at Cityfield? Yeah, I think, you know, you can look at similar projects. The battery in Atlanta, I think, is one that speaks to mind. The Braves are going to host the All-Star game. That commercial real estate around that ballpark in the suburbs of Atlanta, I believe it's the most expensive in that area. A lot of businesses want to move there and the ballpark is the magnet in that metropolitan area. The casino, I think, is the factor that sort of separates it. I'm not sure there's a comp there. You know, if Cohen can get this $8 billion project on it, it'd be pretty incredible, whether they can, you know, withstand the parkland issue and some of the political, pushback, we'll see. But yeah, I mean, he's, again, he's invested and, you know, that process is going to play out. I think until the end of the year, it's still kind of in its early stages. Certainly there's going to be a lot of pushback from all the contenders, but certainly he would like that area to be, you know, one where people coming, not just for baseball games. There's

a casino there, restaurants, shopping, you know, you've got a 365 day attraction in that area that is not currently there with the chop shops in place. Our guest has been Mike Mazigo. Major League Baseball Reporter for the Sports Business Journal. Mike, what a conversation. Thank you. Thanks a lot, Michael. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC.

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