NYC NOW - November 15, 2024: Morning Headlines

Episode Date: November 15, 2024

Get up and get informed! Here’s all the local news you need to start your day. New York Republicans in Congress are weighing new ways to kill congestion pricing now that Governor Hochul plans to launch the tolls with a reduced, $9 dollar price tag. Then, a New Jersey Congressman says Amtrak and New Jersey Transit will get more than a hundred-million federal dollars to improve their infrastructure. And finally, President-Elect Trump has nominated a new leader for the federal prosecutor's office that took down New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez and encouraged the indictment of Mayor Adams.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Friday, November 15th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. More now about congestion pricing. New York Republicans in Congress are weighing new ways to kill congestion pricing. Now that the governor has plans to launch the tolls with a reduced $9 price tag. This week, Republican Hudson Valley Congress member Mike Lawler,

recently reelected, joined others from his party and sending a letter to President and like Trump to kill the plan. If Trump can't do it, Lawler says a Republican-controlled House could try. If the president is able to take executive action to withdraw the approval, that obviously would be one avenue. Legislatively, absolutely, we're going to pursue every avenue we can to stop this. This wouldn't be the first time New York Democrats in Congress led the charge to nix another version of congestion pricing back in 1977. Back then, they passed a federal act to prevent tolls from being implemented on the bridges crossing the east in Harlem rivers. A New Jersey Congress member says Amtrak and New Jersey Transit will get more than a hundred

million federal dollars to improve their infrastructure. As W&MIC's Julia Hayward reports, it comes after another summer of hell for riders. Congressman Frank Pallone says the 112 million will go toward improving rail services along the Northeast Corridor. It includes money for fixing up the power lines above the trains, which often got snarled with NJ Transit's equipment this summer, causing massive shutdowns that stop service in and out of New York for both train systems. There are also funds for fixing up a power substation and improving signaling, also both issues in the summer's meltdowns amid record-breaking high temperatures. The federal funding is the result of calls from elected officials, who demanded refunds for riders and a federal investigation into the state.

transit issues. President Trump has nominated a new leader for the federal prosecutor's office that took down New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez and encouraged the indictment of Mayor Adams. Trump says he's nominating Jay Clayton to lead the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. Clayton led the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Trump's first administration. It's not yet clear what the change in leadership would mean for the office's highest-profile investigations such as prosecuting Adams for allegedly taking political favors. Trump has said he finds those charges very suspicious and thinks Adams was targeted for insisting on more Biden

administration helped to deal with migrants sent to the city. It's Friday. That means it's time for a weekly segment of On the Way covering all things transportation. That's after the break. It's time for On the Way. Our weekly segment on all things considered breaking down the week's transit news. And what a week it's been. Joining us is WMYC's transportation reporter Stephen Nesson and editor Clayton Guse. How's it going, gentlemen? Hello, hello.

Well, in case you haven't heard, congestion pricing is coming back. It's a favorite topic here on this show. So I'm sure you've got the latest, guys. What can you tell us about the plan? So here's the nuts and bolts. The original charge, as many people remember, was $15 a day for vehicles to enter the zone. That's Manhattan below 60th Street. Now it's $9. And across the board, all the previous rates are being cut by 40%. So that means the overnight tolls are now $2.25. Large trucks like these multi-unit trucks, the sightseeing buses, they're going to be charged a peak toll of $21.60. And smaller trucks, including include pickup trucks and vans with modified beds. They'll pay 1440 during peak hours. There are also some exemptions, people who won't have to pay the toll or people getting

discounts against it. It's basically the same breakdown that the MTA approved before, but I'm sure everyone like us has forgotten over the last five months what that looks like. So a lot of municipal vehicles doing official city business won't have to pay, but if you're a teacher or police officer driving to work, you're still going to have to pay. school buses will be discount will be exempt and then you'll get a credit a toll credit if you already pay the port authority to cross the hollandle lincoln tunnels same if you already pay to cross the queen's midtown or broken battery tunnels you're going to get a discount on the toll but really the whole point is that

this is a pretty significant reduction to what the mTA already approved it's still more than drivers are paying now to enter the central business district which is zero yeah so If the toll rate is cut, does that mean then that the MTA will get less money for its projects that were supposed to be funded with congestion pricing? So this is where we get a little bit into the spin zone. Hocal folks from her budget office say, no, the MTA will still get the $15 billion it was supposed to get from the original congestion pricing plan. And how is that? Well, here is high-ranking Hocal aide, Catherine Garcia, to explain it. We're required to give the MTA basically a $15 billion credit card.

They need $15 billion in credit. And so if it takes us over a longer period of time to have the revenue, to have the income to support that, we've given them the $15 billion credit card and figuring out the back end on paying off your debt. They haven't spent any of their $15 billion yet. So Hoko also said, I should add, that she won't increase the rate that $9. toll for at least three years. But then again, her team also told me they're going to review the plan, see if it's reducing traffic like it's supposed to, see if it's raising the money that it's supposed to, and they'll reevaluate it. One interesting thing here, right? Anyone who's had a

credit card knows that if you pay it off over a longer period of time, your interest is higher. You ultimately pay the bank more for lending you the money. So that could be at play here down the road. But also, remember, this is just one piece of money coming to the MTA. They're due for a windfall of cash, not just from congestion pricing next year, but they're also asking state lawmakers for new MTA dedicated taxes and next year's budget to pay for its next construction plan. And then a lot of people forget this, but the MTA has a planned transit fair hike in the first part of next year. So even commuters on the subways and buses are going to be dinged a little bit. Yeah, yeah. Now, this plan is controversial, but

with many drivers and people who live outside of Manhattan concerned about paying this fee. I'm wondering what are you hearing from critics? Right. I mean, the criticism is abound, and it's coming in the wake of an election where two big things happen. Democrats got walloped, and cost of living was, or concerns over cost of living, was a key reason why. And Republicans are entering this new era power in Washington, and all the local ones that we've spoken to, are highly critical of the congestion tolls. maybe the biggest and most important critic is President-elect Donald Trump. He responded on

X today, as he does, and he actually started his message noting he had great respect for Governor Hockel, and he looks forward to working with her. But then he goes on to say he disagrees with her decision. He says it will hurt the city. But that's definitely a toned-down response to when he had last spring. Just before the tolls were supposed to launch, he promised to terminate them once he is in office. MTA chair, Jan O'Leber, responded to Trump today at the press announcement, appealing to him as a fellow New Yorker. I think that there's a real possibility if he takes a hard look at the issue, he will, as a New Yorker, he will understand that not only is it better because of our density, that's why the Real Estate Board of New York is here and supporting this,

it's good for our business community, and it's even better for drivers. If there is less congestion, people who have to drive for whatever reason or choose to drive for whatever reason will spend less time wasted in traffic. I think Donald Trump may understand those issues as a New Yorker. Maybe. But Republicans in Congress are also mulling legislation that would kill the program at the federal level, and that is if Trump doesn't do something by, say, executive order. There is a belief within the MTA in the governor's office that once congestion pricing is in effect, it will be harder for the federal government to kill it. That's because By the time it's in effect, they'll have signed off on all the sort of necessary paperwork,

the kind of stuff that a Trump administration would stall. Wow. All right. So in other transportation news, the Port Authority is trying to build a new bus terminal in Midtown, replacing the decrepit old facility that's hated by many commuters. But officials say they're racing to secure a federal loan for the project before Trump takes office. Clayton, what's the latest there? Right.

So anyone who's been at the Port Authority bus terminal knows it's a miserable. place where all hope goes to die. Seventh circle of health. It's lightless. It's really, it's really, it's one of the bus terminals in the world, if not the most, but it's, it's, it's really depressing. It was built in the Truman administration. The Port Authority has a $10 billion plan to replace it with a shining new terminal, lots of natural light, shiny entrance, the kind of stuff that you would expect to see that's often promised in public works in New York, but ultimately, um, uh, doesn't. doesn't get built that often in large part because of cost. So that $10 billion project,

they're banking on a $1 billion federal loan to get it going. And the people at the Port Authority this week said that they're worried that Trump would hold up that loan and they're racing to get it approved before he's inaugurated. And they're warning if that money doesn't come through, that loan, that they'll have to scale back their ambitions, not make this new terminal as shiny as they want it to be. That said, Governor Hockel has said she's had a good relationship with Trump so far, and they even talked about this project, and he seems supportive. Okay, well, we'll see. All right, so every week in our On the Way newsletter,

we answer a question from a curious commuter. This one's from Geo in Manhattan, who asks, why should drivers who don't use the MTA be forced to pay for it? Current expensive bridge and tunnel tolls are congestion pricing. You know, I hate not to be dismissive, but I hate to break it to Geo, but the real whole historical purpose of the MTA is to take driver money, and use it to subsidize mass transit. When the agency was formed in 1968,

the whole purpose was to take the tri-borrow bridge and tunnel tolls and use it to fund the subways in Long Island Railroad, which are in terrible shape. Once again, the transit plant is not in great shape. The MTA says they need more money. They need $15 billion in loans that they'll pay back with the congestion pricing money to fix a subway and to keep it falling apart.

So with nothing new, there's a historical precedent to this, Mr. Gio. Yeah. Thanks to Gio for the question. And thanks gentlemen for coming in. That's WNYC editor Clayton Gusa and transportation reporter Stephen Nesson. You can stay in the know on all things transit or ask a question of your own by signing up for our weekly newsletter at gotamist.com slash on the way. 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.