NYC NOW - October 26, 2023: Evening Roudup

Episode Date: October 26, 2023

New York Governor Kathy Hochul's trip to Israel came to a close a week ago, but we still don't know who’s picking up the tab. Plus, New York City’s public schools with lower enrollment will have to give money back to the education department this winter. And finally, WNYC’s Michael Hill talks with the city’s Chief Accessibility Officer, Quemuel Arroyo, about the MTA’s plan to make stations more accessible by 2055.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. I'm Jene Pierre. New York Governor Kathy Hokel's trip to Israel came to a close last Friday, but we still don't know who's picking up the tab. The governor's office says a nonprofit that's active in the Jewish community is covering her costs. But Hokel and her spokesperson have repeatedly declined to say which one. Meanwhile, her office still hasn't received approval.

for the arrangement from the State Ethics Board. Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group says, that's a problem. Our recommendation would have been the governor should have cleaned us all up before wheels lifted off the tarmac. State ethics rules allow third parties to cover travel costs for government officials, so long as they're performing official duties, and it's not an attempt to influence them.

Polko spent two days on the ground in Israel. New York City officials say public schools with lower enrollment will have to give money back to the education department this winter. WMYC's Jessica Gould has the details. Schools that lose funds may have to cut after-school programs, enrichment offerings, or teaching aids. The move marks a return to pre-pandemic policy when it was routine for schools with fewer students to give money back. Schools with more students than projected receive additional funds. In recent years, the city had used federal stimulus money to keep school budget steady,

But that funding is running out, creating a fiscal cliff that's putting many popular programs, like the city's free summer school at risk. Meanwhile, Mayor Eric Adams has proposed major cuts to all city agencies to cover costs related to migrants. Details on exactly how those cuts will affect schools have not been released. Stick around. There's more after the break. The MTA is moving ahead with a plan to get elevators and ramps into 95% of stations by 2020. Leading the agency in their effort to reach that goal is Quimal Oroyo. He's New York City's first chief accessibility officer. WMYC's Michael Hill talked with him about the MTA's plan.

What's preventing the MTA from reaching this goal of getting elevators or ramps into most stations sooner than 2050? Well, we have this goal. I'll be the first to say it's a long time from now. But what's really preventing us from getting there faster is the fact that we move over 5 million people a day in over 472 stations. And everyone that tells me, come out with all the money that you've earmarked and allocated to accessibility,

you should be getting there faster. The second sentence is, but do not touch my station, not at my expense. And these are the things that we're juggling, getting people around, moving over, 5 million people daily,

while also retrofitting and rebuilding a system that's over 180, years old. But we're getting there. By the end of this next capital plan, no customer should be more than two stations away from an accessible train station. And that is huge. So we really need to contextualize the work that we are doing today in this current capital plan and by the end of the next capital plan, which again, customers will not be more than two stations away from an accessible train station. And that's going to be incredible. Just to add a little bit of context. With this promise that we've made to the public, we are installing over 10 new stations every year for the next

three decades. That's 300 stations. That alone would be the third largest metro system in the world. It's more than every station in Paris, Seoul, or the entire London Underground, and more than LA Metro, Chicago, and WMATA, all combined. More than a quarter of the MTA's current $55 billion dollar capital plan relies on money that will come from congestion pricing. There's a federal lawsuit seeking to halt or delay that. If the lawsuit succeeds, what would that mean for planned ADA projects and improvements? That's Americans with Disability Act projects and improvements. There's a lot that's hinging on congestion pricing and accessibility is one of those projects that would be impacted if we don't not see that money coming in next year. But we are moving full steam ahead

with our accessibility plan and all our other projects because we are assuming that we should prevail and that money will come through. We really aren't talking about a plan B scenario. We are being very bullish because we anticipate to move forward and congestion pricing should come through not only for the funding that's required to execute the full accessibility plan, but for all the other reasons that we've been talking about that congestion pricing will provide for the city of New York. It will be like building a new lung for the city of New York.

in addition to reducing 20 to 30% of the vehicular traffic coming into the business district. That's going to mean better bus systems, faster paratransit rides, and a better environment for all New Yorkers and tourists. So we're hopeful. What about privately owned elevators versus the ones the MTA runs? How could that be complicating the maintenance issues? And how does the city make sure it's compliant? We have a very similar technology in all of our elevators, including those in private elevators.

We have a great communication in relationship with a lot of these developers. But listen, the reality is that could always be better. And you heard Janelle Lieber talk about his experience at Barclay Center with uncleanliness, escalators that are broken

at unacceptable rates and elevators that we don't always know what's happening. We are coming after those guys. We are being very bullish and aggressive about their responsibility to maintain these assets to the same standards so we keep our own. I don't mean to interrupt.

We have a few seconds left here. Accessoride. The MTA launched an e-Hail pilot program to give Accessoride users a more flexible travel option. Would you tell us how that program works and where it stands right now? We just triple the number of participants in that program moving to 3,600 participants.

And that's a great enhancement for those riders who can utilize taxi services to get around when they have, on pursuing changes in their travel plans. Are there different challenges that come with making all MTA systems, the L.I.R, Metro North Subways, more accessible? The railroads provide a different ecosystem. The Long Island Railroad over 90% accessible.

Metro North is not too far behind. But those systems see a fraction of riderships, where we move 5 million people in the New York City transit system every day. We have about 250,000 in those other areas. So there's a lot more interface with employees. There's a lot less people. And those stations are just not as complex as the underground in New York City Transit. So there is a different in the experience.

That's Quimel Arroyo, New York City's chief accessibility officer talking with WMYC's Michael Hill. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday, three times a day. I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.