NYC NOW - Morning Headlines: NJ Transit Strike Ends With Tentative Deal, Cash Program Helps Prevent Youth Homelessness, and Queensboro Bridge Adds Pedestrian Path

Episode Date: May 19, 2025

New Jersey Transit trains will resume service Tuesday morning after the agency reached a tentative agreement with its locomotive engineers union, ending a multi-day strike. Meanwhile, a nonprofit program aimed at preventing youth homelessness by offering one-time, low-barrier cash payments is showing early signs of success. And in Queens, the Department of Transportation has converted a traffic lane on the Queensboro Bridge into a dedicated pedestrian path.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Monday, May 19th. Here's the morning headlines from David First. New Jersey Transit trains will be rolling again tomorrow morning. After a strike that started Friday morning by the agency's locomotive engineers brought rail service to a standstill. The union reached a tentative deal with New Jersey Transit last night, ending the first major rail strike. in the state in more than 40 years. Here's New Jersey Governor, Phil Murphy. This is a very good day for New Jersey.

The sound that you probably hear is the sound of our state's commuters breathing a collective sigh of relief. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen says the deal includes long overdue wage increases. Engineers haven't had a raise in six years. New Jersey Transit says it needs an extra day to inspect tracks and prep equipment, so commuters are being urged to work from home today if they can. A new idea to stop young people from entering a homeless shelter appears to be working.

WNYC's Karen Yee reports. Last year, a nonprofit wanted to try a new approach to prevent youth homelessness. Why not give people at risk of losing their housing one-time cash payments with few strings attached? Early results show giving young people agency to spend money where they needed it worked. The aha moment of this works. Larry Cohen founded Point Source Youth, a national group fighting youth homelessness, that launched the program in seven states, including New York.

In the city, 97% of the young people who received the cash say they were stably housed after a month. They received an average of $3,700 that they spent on housing, food, transportation, or cell phone bills. Cohen says more data is coming, and he plans to expand the program this year. now have their own walkway on the Queensborough Bridge. For years, they've been sharing a single lane with cyclists. But as of yesterday, the Department of Transportation has converted one traffic lane into a dedicated pedestrian path. Transportation Alternatives spokesperson Alexis Sledge says advocates have been pushing for this change for years. With this additional space for pedestrians to have their own space,

it's going to make it substantially safer for those who are biking on the North Outer Roadway to have space to bike, to pass each other, The bridge has become increasingly popular with cyclists with more than 2 million crossings recorded last year. And a reminder, New Jersey Transit Service is still not running this morning following the strike. Service will return tomorrow. 58 degrees, it will be sunny and breezy today with the high of 73. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC. Check us out for updates every weekday.

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