NYC NOW - Morning Headlines: Con Ed Rate Hike Faces Pushback, NYC Public Housing Lags on Composting, and Booker Breaks Senate Speech Record

Episode Date: April 2, 2025

Con Edison is facing pushback for proposing a major rate hike, and lawmakers are questioning how the state approves those increases. Meanwhile, the city has started issuing fines to property owners who don’t comply with the composting mandate, but NYCHA isn’t following the rule yet. Officials say public housing compost collection won’t begin until next year. Plus, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker breaks a Senate record with a 25-hour speech protesting President Trump’s latest actions.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Wednesday, April 2nd. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. Utility giant Con Edison is under fire for proposing a big spike in its rates. Some lawmakers are also targeting the process the state uses to approve those rates. WNYC's Catalina Gonella explains. The New York Postalewan.

Public Service Commission is tasked with regulating utilities in New York. Utility companies submit proposals to raise their rates, which include the level of profit the commission will allow them to make. State Senator Shelley Mayor says the commission has allowed those figures to be too high. They're entitled to a fair return, but it can't be at a price that is unaffordable, and that's what's happened. Mayor has introduced bills to reform the process by which utility rates are set, including one that would charge the PSC with setting the rates instead of just approving what companies proposed.

Both Con Edison and the PSC declined to comment. Everyone in New York City must compost, and as of yesterday, the city's sanitation department began issuing fines to property owners who don't follow the rules, but New York City's own public housing complexes aren't even in compliance. NYCHA officials say they have no plan to offer compost collection to the agency's 500,000 tenants until next here. Domingo Morales runs the community composting group, Composting Power. He says the city needs to do more to make the program accessible for public housing residents. And how do we make sure every person in New York City, whether they're in a large building, a smore building, whether they're rich, whether they're poor, everyone in New York City should have access to this.

The Sanitation Department says it cannot slap NICHA with fines as it does with other private landlords, city agencies are not allowed to issue summonses against one another. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker has set a Senate record with a marathon speech that lasted more than a full day and a show of resistance to President Trump's sweeping actions. Booker ended his speech last night after 25 hours and five minutes. Democratic colleagues gave him a break from speaking by asking him questions. Meanwhile, President Trump is promising to roll out a set of tariffs today that he says, U.S. from a reliance on foreign goods. Senator Boker broke a record said 68 years ago by Senator and segregationist Dr. Drum Thurman of South Carolina to oppose the Civil Rights Act.

38 and clear now, mostly sunny today and a high of 49 tonight. Shower chances by 10 o'clock and overnight a low of 44. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday, three times a day. For your top news headlines and occasional deep Dives and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. More soon.