NYC NOW - Morning Headlines: NJ Drivers Struggle to Find Parking in Upper Manhattan, Eli Manning Misses out on the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the MTA's Big Ask in Albany

Episode Date: February 7, 2025

CORRECTION: A previous version of this episode did not include our weekly transit segment, On The Way. It has since been updated. Some New Jersey drivers are struggling to find parking in Upper Manhattan following the implementation of congestion pricing. Plus, former Giants quarterback Eli Manning misses out on the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Finally, we dive into the latest transit news in our weekly segment On The Way.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Friday, February 7th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. Some New Jersey drivers say they're having a hard time finding free parking in Upper Manhattan since congestion pricing launched last month. WNMIC's Ramsey-Kalipa reports from the streets of Washington, Hines. The MTA predicted congestion pricing would steer more drivers uptown to avoid the fees

imposed on drivers below 60th Street. But data from the traffic analysis firm InRix shows traffic is actually moving faster in neighborhoods around the George Washington Bridge over the last month. Still, New Jersey drivers like Evelyn Gonzalez, who regularly visit the area, say it's now harder to find a place to park. Usually when I come up here, it's easy for me to find parking. Now there's no parking. I'm not going to spend. money on a garage. It's just not a win-win situation. It's horrible. Many locals disagreed,

saying the struggle to find parking is nothing new. New York City's administration for children's services is reminding New Yorkers with babies about some sleep safety tips that are especially important during the winter months. Among them, babies should never sleep with loose

blankets, quilts, or comforters. The agency warns that could lead to suffocation. It also says adults and babies should never sleep in the same bed so that adults don't accidentally roll onto the infants. According to the agency, the best way to keep an infant warm is putting them in a wearable blanket, a sleep sack, or an extra layer of clothing. City officials also say that anyone with out-heed should tell their landlord or call 3-1-1. Eli Manning is a beloved retired New York Giants quarterback and a two-time Super Bowl

champion over the New England Patriots. But one thing he is not, at least not yet, is a hall of Famer. The Pro Football Hall of Fame Committee has voted not to induct Eli Manning this year. Former sports writer Gary Myers is on the selection committee. He says he voted yes, but some of his fellow committee members were not convinced. A lot of them expressed the opinion that Eli didn't measure up to what their standards are for a player to get in on the first year they're eligible. Eli Manning led his team to Super Bowl wins against the New England Patriots in 2008 and 2012. My critics say he was never considered one of the greats in his playing days. Manning will be up for vote again next year.

39 and clear, mostly sunny and a steady 35 but gusty. Tomorrow's slim chance of afternoon snow just above freezing, below freezing overnight with three to five inches of snow and sleep. It's Friday. That means it's time for a week. segment of On the Way, covering all things transportation. That's after the break. I'm Sean Carlson for WNYC. It's Friday, which means it's time for On the Way, our weekly segment breaking down the week's transit news. Joining us as WNYC's transportation reporter, Stephen Nesson and Ramsey Caliphay and

editor Clayton Goosa. It's a big day on the beat up in Albany. MTA chair General Lieber appeared before the legislature today, making his case that lawmakers should fund the agency's $65 billion capital plan. Steven, what's the tea on that? Well, he fielded questions from lawmakers, lawmakers, for nearly three hours. Wow. Excuse me. And they asked about everything from how the agency does projects more efficiently.

That's a very much on-topic question to maybe off-topic questions like, why isn't, why isn't my bus faster? I mean, fair. Neighborhood concerns. Yeah. But the chair was ready to defend the agency's next five-year capital plan and its performance, quite frankly. And that five-year capital plan, he needs state lawmakers to cover about half the cost.

And at one point, to make his case, he pulled out a framed photo. He says he keeps in his office. It has the cover of the two tabloids, the post and the news, from the summer of 2017, that is, during the summer of hell. It's people standing 40 deep on a platform in Washington Heights. They can't get anywhere because the subway system fell apart. Enough. So we've tried not funding the MTA Capital. That's where it brought us.

Basically, he's daring lawmakers. Go ahead. You don't want to fund us? This is what will happen. He also got scolded for having that. You're not supposed to have props. It's kind of fun. But he's making a tricky argument.

He's doing a bit of a tap dance here. He has to make the case that he needs to solve the system and solve the system's problems while also telling people that he's a worthy steward of taxpayer dollars. This is a $65 billion. land to save the subway. He needs lawmakers to cover at least half of that. You know, that'll come through bonds, but they need recurring revenue. And there's a lot of reasons for the state of the subway. There's been disinvestment. There's been mismanagement by the MTA. There are a lot of fingers to point at people that brought us here. But it's no doubt a historic appearance

today. Never before has a MTA chair gone to Albany and said, I need this much money to save your mass transit system. All right, well, brass tax. How are they going to pay for this? You've reported that this would have to come in the form of new taxes, right? Do we know what new taxes we're talking about? That is the question. As we reported last week, there's some ideas floating around Albany.

Nothing concrete, though. Maybe an increase to the payroll mobility tax. That's the tax on high-earning businesses. They did raise it last year to fill a different gap in the MTA's budget. Maybe a tax on Amazon deliveries that's been floated. Who knows? And that's kind of the problem. The MTA expected Governor Hockel would include some kind of proposal in her state budget this year that could now be debated out in the open.

But it appears that's not what's happening, at least not yet. The group Reinvent Albany calls this a, quote, Dangerous Game of Political Chicken with the Legislature to see who will bite the bullet and propose new taxes and fees. I would say there's probably more support from the MTA that I heard today's hearing from lawmakers across the state. They all say the vast majority that they recognize the value. of funding the transit system. They know that it's going to create jobs in the state. The MTA says it'll create 73,000 jobs.

And also it'll generate a lot of money for the economy. There are places in the state that manufacture train cars. These are job creators. They say it'll create $112 billion in economic activity. And that's also with construction jobs. So, you know, many people around the state work in, you know, lawmakers work in those locations. And what's been consistent about this is, I know the MTA are very agnostic with their money.

What I mean by that is they've been really clear since they announced this capital plan. They don't really care where they get their money from so long as it gets done and that they have it for themselves. But Lieber also said today that asking for this money is nothing new. You know, every year, every five years as well, the MTA goes to Albany and asks for the same thing. I mean, look, this is a very big capital plan, $65 billion. But we also have to recognize it's adjusted for inflation. So the amount of money the MTA is asking for is about the same as the last capital plan, give or take. So of course, just to be clear, $65 billion is not chum change.

It's still a lot of money. Yeah, yeah. Well, are there any lawmakers that are like, hold up taxes for the MTA? What are they saying? Of course, of course. And it's perhaps not entirely unwarranted, but still here's Republican Assembly member Jacob Blumencrans from Long Island with a classic complaint. My constituents are sick and tired of feeling like the ATM to the MTA as far. as a lack of delivery for them in our communities, of waste, of mismanagement, and of results

that aren't seen in the communities. MTA chair, Janel Lieber responded by calling that the golden oldies of complaints about the agency. Okay. Blumencrans, for his part, called for a forensic audit of the MTA's finances and spending. MTA chair, Janelle, replied, go ahead, we did this back in 2019, and we accepted a lot of the recommendations. Take a look. You know, he also noted, Janow, that there is a lot more sense.

service to Oyster Bay in Long Island, where Blumen Cranes is representing. And he did repeat several times today that the overall MTA costs are 3% lower than they were in 2019. Meanwhile, they've added more service, and it is a large multi-billion dollar agency. Most agencies increase their costs. He said they cut it by 3%, which is, you know, not saying, is not nothing. Yeah. Yeah, if there's really two things that's true, that are true in New York City over the past, what,

70 years, it's that people are upset about raising higher taxes. We have very high taxes, and that these subways have degraded to over the years beyond, you know, from what they, from the golden age of the era when they were really kind of like the shiny example of mass transit in the world. And the MTA has a long history of distrust. When the MTA was formed in 1968 under Nelson Rockefeller, they promised about 50 miles of new tracks. We have 50 miles of new train lights. We have about eight of those. Most of those, all the rest are either kind of half dug holes in the ground. you know, good money spent, or they just never broke ground altogether.

You've seen cost overruns. You've seen budget failures. But going back to the point, Jan O'Leber, MTAHR Jan O'Leber, is trying to make the case. And he has to make the case if he wants to get lawmakers to sign up on this money, that he has reformed the agency, that he has reformed their construction practices. And he has examples to show, but at the same time, we're still looking at an agency that's facing some of the highest construction costs to build new train lines, much less upgrade the state of repair in the system that this plan aims to do anywhere else on the planet.

And I really think the everyday writer does recognize this problem. I mean, a lot of the reporting Steve and I have done on the subways. When we talk to riders, they have and share this distrust with the MTA. They feel as though they don't know where there are $2.90 going. Maybe the taxes as well, but they say they don't really see any grade or different infrastructure changes for the years that they've been riding the trains. But again, the conversation around funding the MTA is nothing new. I mean, Lieber shared his confusion with lawmakers.

today. It is a little bit of a mystery to me that every time the MTA Capital Program comes up, we treat it like, oh my God, they need a bailout. This is no different than Medicaid and education and everything else that's done in the state. Yeah, so what he's really doing is he's likening transit as an essential government service like other critical programs that we fund every year. Well, thanks, as always, to WNMC Transportation Reporters, Ramsey, Khalifa, Stephen Nesson, and editor Clayton Guse. You can stay in the know on all things transit or ask a question of your own by signing up for a week of newsletter at gotthmus.com slash on the way. Thanks so much, my friends.

Thank you. 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.