NYC NOW - Morning Headlines: Federal Spending Freeze Sparks Confusion, Ex-Sen. Bob Menendez Faces Sentencing, and Proposed Tax Break for Lead Pipe Filtration

Episode Date: January 29, 2025

Get up and get informed! Here's all the local news you need to start your day: A federal spending freeze is causing confusion and pushback in New York. Meanwhile, former New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez is set to be sentenced Wednesday in Manhattan federal court after his conviction on 16 counts, including bribery and obstruction of justice. Plus, Bronx Representative Ritchie Torres is introducing a bill to provide a 20% tax break for water filtration systems in buildings with lead pipes.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Wednesday, January 29th. Here's the morning headlines from David First. News of a federal spending freeze is prompting confusion and backlash in New York. WNYC's Jimmy Veilkind reports. A federal judge is blocking a Trump administration directive to end federal payments to public programs. But State Attorney General Letitia James says New York got locked out of a system to get reimbursed for the Medicaid health program, even before the directive could go into effect.

James is among 20 attorneys general who are suing. When Congress dedicates funding for a program, the president cannot pull that funding on a whim. Governor Kathy Hockel says her administration is still evaluating. I'm not playing whackamol with every single initiative that comes out of Washington. I have to govern a state. The White House says the freeze will stop taxpayer dollars from funding diversity and environmental initiatives that Trump opposes. Former New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez is scheduled to be sentenced in a Manhattan federal court today. WNYC's Nancy Solomon reports he was convicted last year on 16 counts of bribery, obstruction of justice, and acting as a foreign agent.

The scheme involved a deal with Egypt, which gave a New Jersey businessman a lucrative monopoly to certify halal meat imports. In exchange, Menendez helped get a weapons deal for Egypt. A wealthy real estate developer who had invested in the halal business bribed the senator with gold bars and envelopes full of cash. The senator's wife, Nadine Menendez, is also charged, but her trial's been delayed until March due to her health. The senator resigned last August. Prosecutors are asking for a 15-year sentence. the Menendez defense team says that would, in effect, be a life sentence for the 71-year-old and is asking for leniency. There's an estimated 250,000 buildings in New York City served by lead pipes or suspected lead pipes. Now, tenants in those buildings could get help purchasing water filtration systems.

Bronx Representative Richie Torres is introducing a new bill today, providing a 20% tax break toward the filters. Joshua Kleenberg is with the new. York League of Conservation Voters. He says lead pipes are a nonpartisan problem. Lead is universally disapproved of by everyone in this country. This is something I would think might be palatable across the aisle, considering that it's voluntary and considering that it addresses a very important issue that red states and blue states are equally concerned about. The Biden administration set a 10-year deadline for all property owners to remove lead water lines, but it's unclear if President Trump will maintain that order.

41 degrees going up to 47 today. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. And subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. See you this afternoon.