NYC NOW - Midday News: White House Threatens MTA Over Congestion Pricing, NYC Cracks Down on Illegal Broker Fees, and Carnegie Hall Celebrates Latin Music

Episode Date: April 21, 2025

The Trump administration is giving New York State a May 21 deadline to shut down its congestion pricing program or explain how it complies with federal law. Meanwhile, New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection is rolling out enforcement guidelines for the city’s upcoming ban on most tenant-paid broker fees. Plus, Carnegie Hall launches the “Nuestros Sonidos” festival, a citywide celebration of Latin music featuring genres from bachata to Latin jazz.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Monday, April 21st. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. Trump administration again is threatening to hold up federal money for highway projects at Manhattan if the MTA does not shut down its congestion pricing tolls. In a new letter sent to Governor Hockel today, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says New York State has until May 21st to either shut down the program or explain why the program does not break a law,

banning tolls on streets that receive federal funding. It's the White House's latest attempt to make good on a Trump campaign promise to end the tolls. Duffy had ordered the MTA to shut down the tolls by Sunday, but the agency ignored the order saying it'll only shut down the program if a judge orders it to do so. The governor and MTA have not responded to a request for comment. The Biden administration, authorized congestion pricing through a federal pilot program that allows states to collect tolls on federal highways. A new law eliminating most broker fees is set to take effect in June and the city's Consumer Protection Agency is putting some force behind the band. WNYC's David Brand reports. The City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection released a list of potential penalties for landlords and agents who illegally charged tenants a broker fee. The agency is proposing a $750 fine for a first offense, $1,800 for a second, and $2,000 for any subsequent violations.

The City Council passed the new law by a wide majority in November. It'll put an end to a uniquely New York arrangement where brokers charge would-be tenants a hefty fee to land an apartment. That fee will soon be paid by landlords. The Real Estate Board of New York is suing to try to block the law. 56 and cloudy, mostly cloudy, and 58 for a high on this Monday. Stay close. There's more after the break. WNYC, I'm Tiffany Hanson. This spring, Carnegie Hall is celebrating Latin music with a series of concerts across the city featuring a variety of genres. From Bachata to Latin jazz, the lineup Zero Zen on Music from the 1930s to today,

with, as organizers say, a focus on genres that have thrived in the U.S. The concert series is called Nuestros Sonidos, and with us to talk about it, is Adrienne Fuchs, the director of festivals and special projects for Carnegie Hall. Welcome. Thank you so much, Tiffany. It's great to be with you. So first of all, just tell us what you mean when you say Latin music. What do you mean by that? I mentioned a few genres, but it does seem sort of broad and all-encompassing. It does, and it's obviously a very broad umbrella term that encompasses various genres from Latin jazz and Latin classical music to, you know, genres we know is Mumbo, Bosphanova, Sals. et cetera, and then also genres like reggaeton or bachata and dehano music. But it's a very, what's so exciting is that Latin music is, you know, has always been a part of

when we say music in the United States. And so we really wanted to create a festival that celebrates all of these different sounds, genres, different traditions, and especially focus on those genres that have really sort of flourished here in the United States. Well, I mentioned that the title of the series is Nuestros Sonidos, Literally, it means our sounds. I'm wondering why that's the title. And maybe if you can get into a little bit of the backstory behind not only picking the title, but deciding to do the series to begin with.

Yeah, we purposefully chose a title that we wanted to somehow reflect, you know, the inclusive sort of nature of Latin music and culture in this country. And, you know, take a moment to really celebrate the fact that, you know, as I said, Latin culture has always been a part of U.S. culture. It's been a vital part of the fiber of what we consider to be, you know, U.S. culture today. And Carnegie Hall throughout its history has been a home to many different kinds of Latin artists. One of the earliest Latin artists that we had was in 1897. And so we really just wanted to make sure that we take this moment in time to celebrate the impact of Latin culture on the United States.

It's such an important story to tell. And it's, you know, as I mentioned earlier as well, it's an incredibly complex and, and, and, vibrant, you know, culture. And so we wanted to try and show the fullest spectrum of what that means and what it all represents. Well, let's talk about the concert that's coming up on April 29th. It's a Nicaraguan American soprano. What can you tell us about that? Sure. So, Gabriela Reyes is a Nicaraguan American soprano, and she's going to be appearing in recital with Andres Sare, the pianist. And it's going to be a phenomenal concert. that Gabriela has really, you know, she's a phenomenal talent. She has really come into her own in the last couple of years with various, you know, leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera. And she was also recently selected as one of the Sphinx organization's 2025 Medal of Excellence Honoris.

And so she's going to be performing a very exciting program that incorporates various pieces by Latin American composers, and then also arrangements of traditional Nicaragua folk songs. So really an opportunity for her to bring her own colleagues. as well to the Carnegie Hall State. The series has been going on for a while now, and it does continue into May, one concert that I'm looking forward to here at the end of May, which I think is probably the end of the series, and that's this Afro-Cuban music concert that you have slated with. Is it Seema Funk?

That's correct, yes. So tell us about that. So Seema Funk is, he's sort of considered a global ambassador for Cuban music and has earned Grammy nomination three years running. He is fascinating. He is a real rock star, Afro-Cuban rock star, and he is style, one can sort of describe, I guess, in the best possible way, as a combination of 70s soul and 70s funk combined with some hip-hop, and then obviously the Cuban and Afro-Caribbean influences and music. And so it's going to be a very exciting concert, and I won't be surprised if there's some dancing happening in the audience. And does that concert close out the series then?

That is, yes, that is the last concept that we have really here at the Hall as part of the series, though there are still some other partner events happening throughout the city, you know, throughout the rest of May and then beginning of June. Got it. All right. So I'm curious. Just last question. What do you think it says or what do you hope people take from the fact that, you know,

a venerated organization like Carnegie Hall presents this type of programming? I think, you know, what I would ultimately want people to experience is something. that is incredibly, you know, uplifting and joyous and celebratory and, you know, is, is reflective of Latin spirit in the best possible sense of the word. And then to really show that, you know, this has been here in the United States since the very beginning. The culture of the United States is made up of so many different influences from across the globe. And for us, I think for Carnegie Hall, we really wanted to take this season, dedicated, have this season long celebration, exploration of all of these different Latin influences, which is, you know, as I mentioned previously,

just so important and so vital to the culture that we consider to be, you know, that of the United States. Adrian Fuchs is the director of festivals and special projects at Carnegie Hall. You can find information about the upcoming concerts that we've been discussing at Carnegie Hall. It's Carnegie Hall.org. Adriane, thanks. Thank you so much. Thanks for listening.

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