NYC NOW - Midday News: Report Finds Poor Conditions Delaying MTA Train Deliveries, Subway Fare Moving to $3 in January, and We Catch Up on the Mayoral Race

Episode Date: September 30, 2025

A new report says unsafe working conditions at Kawasaki’s rail car plants in Nebraska and Yonkers are delaying train deliveries for the MTA. Meanwhile, the MTA board has approved a fare hike that will raise subway and bus rides to $3 starting in January, along with ending 30-day unlimited passes and coin payments on buses. In Queens, the proposed Metropolitan Park casino has advanced to a final review round, joining three other contenders for three downstate licenses. And with five weeks until Election Day, WNYC kicks off Campaign Catch Up with Ben Max to break down the latest developments in the mayoral race.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Tuesday, September 23rd. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. Kawasaki builds the bulk of the MTA's train cars in Nebraska and delivers them to Yonkers for final assembly. But a new report says shoddy working conditions at both plants is delaying production, forcing New Yorkers to wait longer for new trains. WNMIC's Ramsey-Khalifa reports. The new report from the group, Jobs to Move America, says the workers at Kawasaki are underpaid and demoralized.

The group surveyed 180 current and former employees at both the company's plans, who say they're not paid a living wage and are constantly fighting against poor working conditions. That says Kawasaki receives billions from the MTA to build modern subway cars. The report alleges high rates of worker turnover keep delaying production of new trains. It also says worker problems have led to equipment failures. Over the last two years, the MTA has reported problems with gearboxes and signals on subway cars built by Kawasaki. A fair hike is coming to New York City buses and subways. The MTA has just approved the fare increase, which will bring the cost of a single bus or subway ride from $290 up to an even $3.

The new fare for express buses will go up to $7.25 from $7. Long Island Railroad and Metro North prices are going up by 4.5%. As we've been reporting the proposed Metropolitan Park Casino Gambling Project, I'd for Willits Point, Queens is moving forward. A community advisory committee just minutes ago voted six to nothing to advance the plan to a final round of security. Metropolitan Park joins three other casino projects, buying for three downstate casino licenses up for grabs. This is METS owner, Steve Owner, and Steve Cohen in Hard Rock Entertainment's proposal. 76 of mostly sunny now, mostly cloudy today and on warm 81.

Stay close. There's more after the break. Five weeks from today, New Yorkers go to the polls to elect a new mayor. To keep up with all the latest, we're bringing you campaign catch-up, a quick weekly look at the latest on the race. This week we have Ben Max, program director at New York Law School's Center for New York City and state law, and host of the Max Politics Podcast. Well, it's a different-looking race than it was just this past weekend. Ben, incumbent Mayor Adams pulled out of the race on Sunday, leaving Democrat, front-runner, assembly member, Zeran Mamdani,

former Governor Andrew Cuomo on the independent line, and Curtis Sliwa as the Republican. But given that Adams was polling in last place, Ben, does it really change things all that much for any of the candidates? Well, that's to be seen. I think there's a little bit of debate going on, because even though Adams wasn't exactly polling with a significant vote share, if this election winds up being close, which it could. Anything helps tip the balance possibly. And the other thing is

that Adams dropping out of the race contributes to a narrative that Andrew Cuomo is certainly trying to achieve, which is that this is really a one-on-one race between Andrew Cuomo and Zeramamandhi. As you got at, Curtis Lewa was still in the race, the Republican nominee. He doesn't seem to be going anywhere. But Adams dropping out absolutely as voters start to really pay attention in the final weeks gives more of an impression that this is again a one-on-one race like it was in the primary, but we have a different electorate here for the general. Can Slewa withstand the pressure from Trump and billionaire Bill Ackman to get out of the race? You know, Curtis Slewa is a character unlike any other. So I take him at his word at the moment that the only thing that gets him out of

this race is some sort of unfortunate incident where he meets his demise. He's been talking about that. I wouldn't say that otherwise. But, you know, the other billionaire that's really perhaps the most important voice here is John Kata Matidis, who pays Curtis Llewa's salary for his radio program. But Curtis Llewa is a singular character in New York. It's part of what makes this election so interesting, but he's also a big problem for Republicans who want to see Zoraam Dani defeated, in part because he's not really a traditional Republican, and he even says, I'm not the MAGA candidate in the race. So how much influence they have over him really seems limited at the moment. But, you know, everybody says they're not dropping out until they do. Now, during the primary campaign, Ben, it was Cuomo

boasting if elected he would know how to challenge Donald Trump. Now he's relying on Trump's support to remove Sliwa and to beat Mamdani on November 4th. How much is that a winning formula in a city as blue as New York. This is such a key question. I think the influence of Donald Trump and his allies in this race, even to the degree that they nudged Eric Adams out, we don't exactly know how much influence they had over that decision. Eric Adams, as you got it, was polling so low that he probably saw no path to victory, and that was the key part of his decision making. But we will see in the coming days and weeks if there was a job in the Trump administration that Eric Adams has agreed to or winds up taking. But the degree to which Zora Mamdani can use Trump's influence against Andrew Cuomo in this

race is going to be one of the important factors. How much do New Yorkers at this point choosing their next mayor really care about that in this 70-30 Democratic city where Trump got about 30% in the city in the last election? Or how much are they still really focused on nuts and bolt issues of affordability in the city, safety in the city, education housing, the list goes on. on that Andrew Cuomo is hoping to keep Trump sort of behind the scenes while also continuing to make the argument that whether Trump prefers me or Mom Donnie, I still would be best to deal with him because you don't necessarily always want to be fighting against the president is the needle that he'll try to thread here in the final weeks.

Now, Ben, Adams accuses Cuomo of instigating Adams' removal from this race and the pressure. Adams went so far as to call Cuomo a liar and a snake. Can anybody rely on Adams to endorse Cuomo in this race for November to defeat Mom Dani? This will be one of the other interesting factors down the stretch here. Eric Adams certainly harbors a lot of ill will towards Andrew Cuomo at this moment, but he may be more interested in seeing Zoraamani defeated. Part of what Eric Adams is worried about right now, we saw this in his video where he dropped out of the race is his legacy. He is now coming to terms with being a one-term mayor, but he still believes, and to a significant degree is correct, that he'll have a lot to be

proud of on policy and programs. So he's worried about protecting that legacy. He knows that Zora Mamdani coming in perhaps will dismantle a lot more of what he's put in place than Andrew Cuomo. So could Eric Adams sort of suck it up and decide to throw his weight behind and his voice behind Andrew Cuomo down the stretch, I think that's definitely possible, as much as Eric Adams probably would not like to do that. And then as you get at, there's also the outside influence coming into play. And again, that ties in with the question of where is Eric Adams heading next after these final three months as mayor? You think he's under pressure to make an endorsement, or is he going to withstand something like that and just stay on the sidelines? I think he's under,

he'll be under some pressure. People might be giving him a little time right now to, you know, sort of fully kind of grieve the end of his campaign. He's taking a little time off, it seems, as his office has said. He's got no public schedule today. So I think there will be some pressure on him again, though, as we started this conversation, remember, Eric Adams is polling so low that getting out of the race is key. An endorsement, you know, I don't know how much that moves the needle. It certainly would probably be somewhat helpful to Andrew Cuomo to get Adams behind him, especially with, again, some of those voters that were still in his corner. Part of the key, though, to this general election will be what does the electorate look like

and who can really turn out their voters? Eric Adams' ability to help Andrew Cuomo perhaps turn out some of the Democrats who are not sold on Zoraamandani to come out and still vote as opposed to staying home for Andrew Cuomo could be pivotal. Eric Adams was also polling, we saw in some of the polling, from Curtis Slewa, quite a few Republicans. So Adams could have some influence there. But again, he's been a very unpopular mayor for a long time. So his sway with the electorate is probably fairly limited. Ben, less than a minute ago. If there is a government shutdown of switch gears here, how would that

affect the mayor's race? Well, I think one of the key things it does is return voters' attention to issues of management, leadership, experience. Also, relationships with the federal government. Now there's some people questioning, of course, Zoraamamani's limited resume. At the same time, a lot of the people who are supporting him and looking at him favorably want someone in the position of mayor who will be a fighter against the Trump administration. So I think it would return voters' attention a lot to the importance of what they want to see in their mayor and the voice the mayor has related to the federal government and also being able to manage city finances, budget programs in moments of crisis.

Ben Max is the program director at New York Law School Center for New York City and State Law and host of the Max Politics Podcast. Ben, you've got to come back and see us. All right. Thanks for having me. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC. Check us out for updates every weekday, three times a date for the latest news headlines and occasional deep dives and subscribe wherever you get your podcast. We'll be back this evening.