NYC NOW - November 18, 2024: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: November 18, 2024

The MTA board approves the revised congestion pricing plan. Plus, the FDNY is creating a task force to address the rise in city brush fires. And finally, WNYC’s Tiffany Hanssen and Elizabeth Kim discuss President-elect Trump’s choice for the next U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. I'm Junae Pierre. Congestion pricing took another big step forward Monday. The MTA's board officially signed off on the tolling plan, which is set to launch on January 5th. Most motorists entering Manhattan south of 60th Street will pay a $9 daytime fee. That revenue will then be put towards maintaining the city's vast public transit system. The approval comes more than five months after Governor Kathy Hokel paused the tolls, which the MTA previously planned to launch with the $15 base price.

The MTA board also approved a plan to eventually return to that higher price, but not until 2031. Now, the MTA just needs the federal government to sign off on the new fees. And transit officials say that needs to happen before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. During his campaign, the former president pledged to terminate the program if elected. The FDNY is creating a task force to address the rise in city brush fires. WMYC's Catalina Gonella has more. The brush fire task force will include fire marshals, fire protection inspectors, and tactical drone units. They'll focus on rapid responses to brush fires,

investigating causes with advanced drone technology, and preventing future fires. This comes after a historically dry October and November. The fire department responded to 271 brush fire citywide in the first two weeks of this month. That's a new record and a sharp increase from the typical 200 fires seen in all of October during the past three years. President-elect Trump wants to tap the former chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as Manhattan's top federal prosecutor. More on Jay Clayton and what has appointed? would mean for New York City after the break. President-elect Donald Trump says he wants Jay Clayton to be the next U.S. attorney for the

Southern District of New York. Clayton does not have a prosecutorial background, but his appointment could mean big things for New York City, including who's at City Hall. For more, my colleague Tiffany Hanson talked with WMYC's Elizabeth Kim. Clayton is not a career prosecutor, so just outlined for us who is this guy? Clayton was previously the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees Wall Street. He was picked for that role in 2017 under then President Trump. He has also worked as a high-profile corporate attorney here in New York City.

In terms of how this pick is being received, so I reached out to multiple legal experts, including former prosecutors. And they only had good things to say. John Coffey, who's an expert on securities law at Columbia University, told me that Clayton is competent and he has a sense of balance. He brings expertise, obviously, when it comes to financial cases, which is a big part of the Southern District's portfolio. And particularly on the heels of some controversial picks by Trump, you know, I'm thinking about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health Secretary, Matt Gates, for Attorney General. This selection is seen not only as a normal pick, but a really good one. So we talk about those picks, Liz.

You mentioned RFK Jr. Matt Gates. I'm just wanting to remind listeners, these are picks, right? Congress does have to confirm these picks, including this pick for the SDNY. That's absolutely right, Tiffany. He does have to be confirmed. But they don't see him like having a problem getting past the Senate. All right. When we talk about the Southern District of New York, that's really a legal term, right? It's basically refers to an area of Manhattan, the Bronx, some of the suburbs of north of the city.

So talk to us about why this particular prosecutor position is so significant. The Southern District is considered one of the most prestigious and also powerful federal prosecutor offices in the country. It has a history of aggressively prosecuting financial crimes on Wall Street and also public corruption. And it's a office that's known for splashy cases. Damien Williams, who Clayton would replace, he won a conviction on Sam Bankment Free. That was the founder of the crypto exchange, FTX, and he was accused of swindling billions from his customers and investors. Damian Williams also convicted New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez on corruption charges. Now, that case, if you remember, involved hundreds of dollars worth of bribes, according to prosecutors,

including the infamous bars of gold they found in Menendez's closet. And of course, there's the case against Mayor Adams, who was accused of taking bribes and illegal campaign donations from Turkish officials. Have we heard from the mayor on this? The mayor was asked at an unrelated press conference what he thought of the pick and he did not comment. What could it mean for the case against him? It's still all speculation at the moment, but legal experts say that there's nothing in Clayton's history that would suggest he would approach the case in a partisan way. For one thing, it's almost unheard of for federal prosecutors to drop charges before the case goes to trial. But there's concern in part because there has been signaling by President-elect Trump that he thinks the case against the mayor was politically driven by his criticism of Biden's handling of the migrant crisis.

And Adams has himself said the same. So there's been this question about whether Trump might direct the Justice Department to be more lenient on Adams or even let the case go. And there is precedent. Under the first Trump administration, the U.S. attorney at the time, Jeffrey Berman, said he was pressured by Justice Department officials to go after Trump's enemies. Berman, similar to Clayton, was considered a qualified appointment to lead the Southern District. But just because you're qualified doesn't mean you're not going to be tested in that role. That's WMYC's Elizabeth Kim talking with my colleague Tiffany Hansen.

Thanksgiving is around the corner, and we're asking our listeners to share their special Thanksgiving traditions with us and the stories behind them. Here's Tim Harper from the Upper West Side. For decades, we've had a tradition that we always serve heart attack in a pan. Proper name is corn spoon bread, but it's a lot like what it sounds. It's corn, corn, cornmeal, cream corn, cream cheese, probably a lot of butter too. I'm not sure, but it's unbelievably good and it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it. Sounds delicious. That's Tim Harper from the Upper West Side.

Thanks for sharing that tradition with us. You can share some of your unique holiday traditions with us as well. Send us a brief voice memo at your voice at WNYC.org. We might play your story on this podcast. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday, three times a day. I'm Junae Pierre. We'll be back.

tomorrow.