NYC NOW - September 5, 2024: Morning Headlines

Episode Date: September 5, 2024

Get up and get informed! Here’s all the local news you need to start your day: MTA Chair Janno Lieber says the agency’s crackdown on bus fare evasion has led to an 8% increase in riders paying since last Wednesday. Meanwhile, a federal judge has temporarily reinstated education council member Maud Maron, who was accused of making “derogatory” comments about a student. Plus, the New York Liberty announced ticket prices for lower level seats will rise next year.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Thursday, September 5th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. The MTA's latest enforcement blitz against fare evasion on buses is about a week old, but Chair Janelle Lieber says it's already working. He says the agency saw an 8% increase in riders paying their fair share since last Wednesday. That's when the MTA and the NYPD began to deploy more police officers and enforcement agents on city buses.

Labor says the initiative has targeted 49 bus routes so far and that it's crucial for agency finances that more people pay. The MTA estimates nearly half of bus riders skipped a fare during the first three months of this year. Transit is one of the very few things that makes New York affordable. It is one-seventh the cost of opening an automobile, and I'll be goddamn. if I let this system go down because people just figure, I don't want to be the sucker who doesn't pay because I saw five people walk in the gate in front of me. Labor didn't specify how many tickets were issued to fare evaders on buses during the first week of that blitz. A federal judge has temporarily reinstated a Manhattan Education Council member

who had been accused of making derogatory comments about a student. W.MIC's Charles Lane reports. Mon Marin has stirred up controversy more than once. She pressed the city to bar transgender girls from playing sports with girls' teams, but education officials say they removed her from the board for another reason. They said she made offensive comments about the anonymous author of a student newspaper op-ed. The judge said this was likely a violation of the First Amendment. Marin said she was thrilled to be returning. The whole point of the First Amendment is so that you can say,

things that other people don't want to hear, particularly those with the power to silence you. Marin's opponents said she largely controls the District 2 board because so few people vote. District 2 serves much of the Upper East Side and Lower Manhattan. The New York Liberty says ticket prices are going up next year. Fans with season tickets in the lower bowl at Barclay Center will see their season seats increase by almost 60%. Liberty CEO, Kea Clark says the increase is due to higher demand and resale prices on the secondary market. Also, the league has become way more popular in the last couple years. 64 and clear right now on this first day of New York City Public Schools, sunny and 76 today.

Tomorrow, partly sunny and 78. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your time. top news headlines and occasional deep dives, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. See you this afternoon.