NYC NOW - Midday News: NJ Teacher Charged Over Threats, PATH Fares Increase, Ticket Fee Proposed to Support Parks, and Eli Manning’s Case for the Hall of Fame

Episode Date: January 13, 2025

Schools in Montclair, New Jersey, were closed Monday due to a threat against a district staff member. Police say they’ve arrested a teacher and charged him with making terroristic threats on social media. Meanwhile, PATH fares have increased for riders traveling across the Hudson River Also, the Center for an Urban Future is proposing a surcharge on sports and music tickets to increase funding for public parks. Plus, former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2025. WNYC's Michael Hill speaks with New York Daily News columnist Gary Myers about his prospects.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Monday, January 13th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. Police in Montclair, New Jersey, say schools in town were shut down today because of a threat against a district staff member. But they say there's no danger to students. The police department says a teacher who's on administrative leave has been arrested in charge with making terroristic threats against the other staffer on social media. Other charges are pending.

Police say the teacher was placed in custody at around 8 o'clock this morning after being found at a residence in Philadelphia. More to come on this. Taking the path train across the Hudson is costing a bit more. WNIC's Phil Corso has more. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has raised the price of a single ride from $275 to $3. The first fare increase for the system in over 10 years.

Prices for 10 trip and 30-day passes. are also going up. This follows last weekend's toll hike on Port Authority bridges and tunnels, coinciding with the launch of the MTA's congestion pricing program. Drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street now face a $9 toll under the new congestion pricing rules. The fairs went up yesterday. Public parks cover 14% of New York City's land, but get a tiny fraction of the city's multi-billion dollar budget. Now the Center for an urban future wants lawmakers to add a small surcharge to sports and music tickets to boost the park's budget. The group says even a 1% surcharge could raise almost $40 million a year, which could lead to

fixing busted water fountains and opening bathrooms. The Parks Department says it appreciates the spirit of the report and is always looking for new ways to generate revenue. 40 and partly sunny now. Mostly sunny today and 43 and gusty tomorrow. Mostly sunny, turning colder, a high of 32 and feeling like the mid-teens. Stay close. There's more after the break. New York Giants fans don't have a whole lot to cheer about these days, but 17 years ago, in Super Bowl 42, the Giants unexpectedly won the Super Bowl,

upsetting Tom Brady and the Patriots Dynasty. Four years later, in 2012, they did it all again. The quarterback for both championships was Eli Manning, who as of this year is eligible for Football's Hall of Fame. But is he a Hall of Famer? That has sparked quite a debate. Let's talk about this now with Gary Myers. He's a former New York Daily News columnist. He's also one of the people who will be voting on number 10, whose fate will be revealed February 6.

Gary Eli Manning is a prominent former quarterback for the Giants, and it's probably one of the better-known players, even to non-football fans. So why has deciding on Eli's fate been so complicated? You know, I've been on the committee for about 15 years now, and I am, anticipating the most contentious discussion that we've ever had. I think it's strictly because he had such a interesting career, which has really polarized the voters in that postseason, he was a tremendous player. He won two Super Bowl's, has two Super Bowl MVP's, the regular season, which obviously makes up, you know, an overwhelming majority of his career. He had a 500 record.

He threw a lot of interceptions. It was never really consistent. one of the two or three best quarterbacks in any particular year. So you have voters who are saying, wait, if we're judging a guy strictly on, you know, the entirety of his work, how is Eli Manning a Hall of Fame room when he's only a 500 quarterback? Conversely, when the biggest game, as you mentioned, in America is on the line, twice in Super Bowl 42 and 46, Eli really showed up. The underdog giants, how advantageous is that? Well, I do anticipate, and I know I will speak up for Eli.

in the meeting. And what I'm going to say, quite frankly, a little preview is, how else will you define a Hall of Fame quarterback than not once but twice in the Super Bowl with the Giants trailing and the game on the line? He went down and took the team on a winning drive to get the touchdown that got the Normandy trophy. Isn't that the very definition of a Hall of Fame quarterback?

Does longevity factor in Eli play 210 straight games, third longest in NFL history? Does that matter? Yeah, I mean, you hear a lot of players and coaches say, you know, the best ability is availability. And Eli never missed a game because of injury, which is startling considering, you know, the pounding that he took, especially the second half of his career. And then in his final year, when Pat Schumer was the coach, and Daniel Jones was a rookie, and the Giants had gotten off to a poor start, they just decided that was the time to make the transition from Eli to Daniel Jones. But, you know, he never lost his job, or missed a start, rather, because he was hurt. And, boy, I don't know that there's any other quarterback that you can say that about, especially someone who made over 200 starts in his career.

Fan perception of Eli Manning, does that have any impact on you, the other voters, as to whether Eli gets in and gets in now? You know, giant fans love Eli. He is a hero to them, and you can just tell any time he gets introduced at MetLife Stadium for any event, he always gets the biggest ovation. Around the country, they don't feel that way about him. They tend to look at his career and say, you know, like we've mentioned, just an average quarterback with, you know, mediocre stats. So whether those voters ultimately represent that feeling will determine whether Eli gets in. A guest has been former New York Daily News columnist Gary Myers. He's also on the Pro Football Hall to Fame selection committee. We'll find out if Eli Manning made it into the Hall of Fame or not as well as the rest of the class of 2025 on February 6th. Thank you, Gary. Thank you very much, Michael.

Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC. Check us out for updates every weekday, three times a day, for the latest news headlines and occasional deep dives. And subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back this evening.