NYC NOW - New Jersey’s Lame Duck Session and Study Shows Congestion Pricing Decreases Air Pollution

Episode Date: December 11, 2025

Outgoing New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has a lengthy to-do list before he leaves office next month. Plus, a new study shows that congestion pricing has significantly decreased air pollution in New York City and the surrounding region.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is trying to push a few last bills in his lame duck session, and a new study shows congestion pricing is decreasing air pollution in the city and surrounding areas. From WNYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Junae Pierre. The New York City Council is calling for greater state oversight of the so-called med spas that are springing up across the five boroughs. The term is a mash-up. of medical and spa.

It refers to businesses offering beauty treatments like Botox, fillers, and body contouring. A city council investigation released Thursday finds that not all med spas have the medical staff and licenses required to perform these types of procedures. The council has already worked with state agencies to uncover violations at 15 med spas across the city. New York City's economy is ending the year on a positive note.

At least that's what the city's Economic Development Corporation says. Its annual report was released this week and shows the city is moreing young, educated adults from across the country and bringing the unemployment rate down from where it was just a year ago. Andrew Kimball is the president and CEO of the EDC. New York City's economy has proven itself quite resilient in 2025. The report also found office leasing rates in Manhattan easily. eclips that of other cities across the country. At the same time, the report found that low and middle income New Yorkers are struggling with affordability and that middle income families continue to

leave the city for the suburbs. Now to New Jersey, where Governor Phil Murphy is checking off a lengthy to-do list before he leaves office next month. The lame duck session is the last chance to get bills over the line that didn't get considered during the normal legislative session. And Murphy has a few top priorities. Number one is the cell phone ban in schools. That's WNYC's Mike Hayes, who covers New Jersey politics. He says 20 other states have passed legislation banning cell phones during the instructional day, including New York.

It's a short bill. It's got bipartisan support. This one should get over the line. Governor Murphy is also proposing a significant rescue package for New Jersey's struggling state health benefits plan. Mike says the governor recently pointed out that this health plan, which is available for public employees, is in a death spiral. Premiums are rising, less people are enrolling. So he's made a proposal for the administration to provide $260 million in relief so that the program can pay off loans and remain solvent.

But in exchange, Mike says Governor Murphy wants to see the benefits plan modernized and reformed the way it's governed by bringing in a commission to oversee the plan. And finally, Mike says the term limited governor is pushing the 100% clean energy act. This legislation would require New Jersey to get 100% of its electricity from clean sources like solar, wind, and nuclear. By 2035, advocates are really pushing for the legislature to pass this during the lame duck. And Murphy would like to sign it as well. That's WMYC's Mike Hayes. A new study shows that congestion pricing has significantly decreased air pollution in New York City and the surrounding region.

More on that after the break. a lot of the concerns centered on worries that it might shift the traffic and pollution elsewhere, like the Bronx, where asthma rates are already high. But a new study suggests otherwise pollution has actually dropped in New York City. Tim Fraser is an assistant teaching professor at Cornell Systems Engineering at Cornell University. He says in the first six months of the tolling program, air pollution dropped by 22% in the congestion zone below 60th Street. To put that in context, the EPA says that you really shouldn't have more than an annual average exposure to nine micrograms per cubic meter of PM2.5. That's a primary pollutant in smog.

It took us down 22 percent from 13.8. So that gets us a lot closer in Manhattan to that benchmark of nine micrograms per cubic meter. Tim says the exciting thing about the report is that pollution didn't just drop in Manhattan, but in all five boroughs. at least by 0.7 micrograms. So what does that tell us about the congestion program? That tells us that it didn't just shift traffic, but fundamentally changed how people are getting around the city, changing when delivery trucks are making their deliveries

so that we can reduce smog overall in the city. The city's drop in pollution is bigger than declines seen in other cities with congestion pricing, like London or Stockholm. Tim says the reason for this change, has to do with how densely packed New York City is. When you have that much traffic, it's not a one-to-one relationship between traffic and smog. When you have more traffic, you have more smog.

So when you can drop it just a little bit by getting those delivery trucks to reroute, that really makes a big impact for Manhattan and for the whole metro area. He says it also makes a big impact for other American cities, who can now see that congestion pricing works, and it doesn't appear to be harmful. That's a really exciting thing, particularly from an environmental standpoint. And we're very hopeful that urban planners can consider this technique for other cities to help improve the air quality. This has huge impacts for kiddos with asthma, our elders. But it also has great impacts for just the average American who's taking a jog in Central Park.

That's Tim Fraser, an assistant teaching professor at Cornell Systems Engineering at Cornell University. Before we go, some news for my fellow art lovers. Admission to PS1, MoMA's contemporary art counterpart in Long Island City, will soon become free for all visitors starting January 1st. If you didn't know, by the way, New Yorkers already get free admission to MoMA PS1 and have since 2015. It's also free for kids under 17, and as of now, a suggested donation for others. 10 bucks for most adults. But on January 1st, the museum's getting rid of that $10 suggested donation for a few years.

That's thanks to a $900,000 gift. A spokesperson for the museum says the money will cover three years of anticipated admissions revenue at PS1, or about nine days of ticket sales from the Midtown MoMA. Gotta love a free museum visit. I know I do. Be sure to plan your visit accordingly. Thanks for listening to NYC Now from WMYC. I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.