Gothamist

The future of congestion pricing in New York City is even murkier now that Donald Trump has won a second term in the White House and advocates say the coming weeks may be Gov. Kathy Hochul’s last chance to reactivate the tolling program she paused five months ago, blowing a $15 billion hole in the MTA’s budget. But if Hochul activates the tolls with the approval of the lame duck Biden administration, experts say Trump would have a hard time repealing them. https://lnkd.in/egw72zes

The future of congestion pricing in New York City is even murkier now that Donald Trump has won a second term in the White House. Transportation advocates say the coming weeks may be Gov. Kathy Hochul’s last chance to reactivate the tolling program she paused five months ago, blowing a $15 billion hole in the MTA’s construction budget that was supposed to fund transit repairs and upgrades. https://lnkd.in/egw72zes

If enacted as promised, however, the sweeping initiative would upend the lives of the estimated 676,000 immigrant New Yorkers who lack citizenship or legal status, many of whom have lived and worked in the state for years. Immigration experts say their wholesale removal would cripple the city and state’s economy. https://lnkd.in/e9bx9ZS7

Donald Trump is returning to the White House, according to election results from the Associated Press, and he’s promised policy changes in his second term that could be deeply felt in New York. Mass deportations of undocumented immigrants could place entire neighborhoods under siege. Federal funding for some of the MTA’s most high-profile transit projects could be withdrawn. And public education could be transformed by the elimination – or downsizing – of the federal education department. https://lnkd.in/dDHg9rbV

New York voters passed Proposition 1 on Tuesday, enshrining abortion rights by adding anti-discrimination language to the state constitution. The measure is New York’s response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which protected reproductive rights at the federal level. While abortion is already legal in New York, the amendment makes it harder to restrict it in the future. Dubbed the Equal Rights Amendment by supporters, the measure expands the groups covered by the Equal Protection Clause of the state constitution to include “ethnicity, national origin, age, disability and sex — including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, reproductive health care and autonomy.”

Election Day is tomorrow and we want you to be prepared as you head to the ballot box. Here’s a roundup of the key races New York voters will decide this November – and our stories on each. We also have resources on how to vote and what you need to know about elections in New York. https://lnkd.in/erfwCR_E

The subway connecting to JFK Airport. A tunnel connecting Bay Ridge and Staten Island. Northern Queens and Downtown Brooklyn linked by public transit. These all could have happened, but alas. https://lnkd.in/eNEbVvj5

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have secured roughly $344 million in federal funding to electrify infrastructure throughout its port system — one of the biggest in the country — as part of a larger goal of achieving net-zero emissions at the ports by 2050. https://lnkd.in/eGMdDjPd

New York City Council is poised to pass a law that would allow most tenants to avoid paying thousands of dollars in broker fees when renting a home, according to the bill’s sponsor. The proposed measure, which the Council could vote on as soon as Nov. 13, would shift broker fees to the party that hires the broker, which is nearly always the landlord. The Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses, or FARE, Act now has 33 sponsors, seven more than the majority needed to pass in the 51-member Legislature. The measure would lift a huge upfront financial obligation from apartment hunters who are often forced to pay a broker hired by the landlord before signing a lease. The bill’s opponents in the real estate industry say landlords could pass broker costs onto tenants anyway through higher rents. But that would not be the case for about 1 million rent-stabilized apartments where rent increases are capped. Councilmember Chi Ossé of Brooklyn, who introduced the bill, told Gothamist the legislation is a common-sense measure to shift payment to whomever enlists the broker. That’s almost always the landlord, though in some cases prospective tenants hire brokers to assist in their apartment search. “The bill simply requires that the hiring party in a rental transaction, whether landlord or tenant, pays the broker fee,” he said. “Tenants in New York City have suffered for too many decades under a system of forced broker fees.”

Congestion pricing is still paused due to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s edict, but the camera technology the MTA installed to automatically collect the Manhattan tolls has been up and running since earlier this year. So what data is it collecting? https://lnkd.in/eS3Z_K5u