[music]

Janae Pierre: Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Friday, January 31st. Here's the morning headlines. I'm Janae Pierre.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams was back in action Thursday after three days with no public appearances. The mayor spoke to a crowd of roughly 300 faith leaders and poured cold water on recent rumors he might be stepping down from office this week in connection with his ongoing criminal case.

Mayo Adams: Who started the stupid rumor that I was stepping down on Friday? Are you out of your mind?

Janae Pierre: His remarks come after his spokesperson said he would have a limited public schedule this week to undergo some routine medical tests. Meanwhile, his defense attorney, Alex Spiro was in court yesterday in connection with the case. Adams also attended an NYPD event Thursday in addition to the Annual Interfaith Breakfast.

New details are emerging about federal agents high profile arrest of a Venezuelan migrant in the Bronx earlier this week. WNYC's Brittany Kriegsteinn has more.

Brittany Kriegsteinn: Prosecutors say 26-year-old Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco is a fugitive gang member wanted in connection with an armed home invasion in Colorado last summer that drew national attention. He's allegedly part of a group accused of kidnapping and assaulting the residents. Officials tracked his cell phone to an apartment in Highbridge where he was found with a gun in his room. Now he's facing up to 15 years in prison if convicted of an armed fugitive charge in addition to the Colorado case.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made an unusual appearance on the scene of his arrest, but Mayor Adams said there was nothing irregular about the NYPD's coordination with federal agents.

Janae Pierre: An attorney for the defendant declined to comment.

New York City Health + Hospitals is battling false social media posts claiming Elmhurst Hospital in Queens is reporting undocumented patients to law enforcement. Social media posts from the public hospital system debunk the misinformation and urge all New Yorkers to seek care without fear. The Trump administration told immigration enforcement officers last week they were no longer barred from entering so-called sensitive locations like schools, churches, and essential services. The hospital system declined to comment.

[music]

36 degrees. Some scattered rain today with cloudy skies. Expect highs in the mid-40s. Then tonight there's a chance of rain as well. Expect lows around 30. It's Friday, that means it's time for our weekly segment of On The Way covering all things transportation. That's after the break.

[music]

Sean Carlson: I'm Sean Carlson for WNYC. It's Friday, which means it's time for On The Way, our weekly segment on all things considered, breaking down the week's transit news. Joining us is WNYC's transportation reporters Stephen Nessen and Ramsey Khalifeh. Also, Albany reporter John Campbell's special appearance this week. The MTA's latest round of traffic data since the launch of congestion pricing in New York City is out. What is it showing three weeks in?

?Speaker: Transit officials are jumping for joy with this latest set of data. If you were at the board meeting yesterday, you could see how wide their eyes were. They're very excited to share this.

Sean Carlson: Big smiles.

?Speaker: Big smiles. They're already saying that these are early indications that prove that congestion pricing is achieving its intended effect, to get rid of congestion to make cars move faster in the city. The biggest takeaway is that travel times at crossings into the Manhattan zone below 60th Street have been improved. What that looks like, on average, it's between 10 to 30% faster to get around into all of those crossings. Crossings aren't the only areas where this is actually getting better. They're saying most streets within the zone, east, westbound, north, and south, are getting faster as well.

For example, it's notorious, Canal Street in Lower Manhattan. They're saying on average, east and westbound combined, it's dropped 27%. 27% faster to get through Canal Street. We're still looking to see how much revenue these tolls are getting. That number hasn't been shared yet. The MTA officials have said next month we're going to get those initial numbers.

Sean Carlson: It's not just traffic that's been impacted. Actually, transit has been impacted as well. For example, the MTA reported this week that ridership on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North compared to the same time last year does appear to be up a few percentage points, indicating perhaps people are switching to taking commuter railroads instead of driving into the congestion zone. Really, the biggest impact has been on buses. With fewer vehicles on city streets, they're actually going too fast now.

?Speaker: Woah.

Sean Carlson: Listen to MTA Chair Janno Lieber.

Janno Lieber: A little bluntness is called for here. We're seeing on some of the north-south routes that literally, buses are being forced to stop and linger for minutes at certain locations just to maintain schedule. The bottom line is we're reexamining the schedules to see if we can speed those trips up.

Sean Carlson: It's not just city buses. Buses from New Jersey are saving as much as six minutes in the Lincoln Tunnel some days. In fact, Governor Phil Murphy, who we know has sued to halt the program, is now saying that he's worried the Port Authority might not be making enough money on tolls with fewer vehicles using those crossings.

?Speaker: Wow.

?Speaker: He's asking for more analysis. It's only been three weeks. There's a lot more analysis and impacts to look at and changes in the coming weeks and months.

Sean Carlson: Well, we should say that, as our Albany reporter John Campbell reports, there might not be more analysis if President Trump just kills congestion pricing entirely. What are you hearing about the potential end of congestion pricing?

?Speaker: You're right. The president has said that he wants to kill congestion pricing, and there was some news on that. The Times first reported, and I confirmed this as well, that President Trump spoke to Governor Kathy Hochul, twice this week, and congestion pricing was part of those talks. Really, there wasn't any firm conclusion or anything like that. We do know this. They agreed to talk next week about it, too. There's more to be said here, and everybody's going to be kind of on pins and needles waiting for it.

Sean Carlson: Of course, MTA Chair Janno Lieber was asked about it this week. The MTA is not taking a fighting stance yet. He's not rolling up his sleeves. He continues to argue that Trump is a New Yorker and a businessman first, and he understands how gridlock impacts businesses with lost productivity. He thinks he'll be more amenable to congestion pricing once he understands how it works and the impacts of it. Also, we should add, late last week, more than two dozen Republicans and Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to him asking him to kill the program.

?Speaker: Really, they might be getting some help from the feds. It might be on the way. This week, our colleague Jimmy Vielkind learned that former Republican Congressman Marc Molinaro, he's a former congressman from the Hudson Valley, is likely to be tapped as head of the Federal Transit Administration. He is a vocal opponent of congestion pricing, calls it a cash grab. That administration is not in charge of the congestion pricing program directly. That would be the Federal Highway Administration. The FTA is in charge of grants for transit, which the MTA relies on for funding projects. Some of that is in the form of money that matches revenue from congestion pricing. That could certainly be used against the MTA in the weeks, months, and years ahead.

?Speaker: Just this week alone, the MTA drew down $14 million from the federal government in grants that have already been approved. The last capital plan that's just ended relied on $13 billion from federal sources. The next capital plan is counting on $14 billion. They rely a lot on this federal revenue.

Sean Carlson: Yes. Well, let's talk about that capital plan, something we've talked about here on On The Way. Governor Hochul and state lawmakers all seem to agree that they need to come up with more money for that next construction program for the MTA. John, have they given any indication how they might come up with the cash?

John Campbell: Well, Sean, not really.

Sean Carlson: Okay, simple answer.

John Campbell: Yes. The governor put some placeholder language in her state budget proposal earlier this month. I should call that a quarter-trillion-dollar state budget proposal with a T. She basically said, "Yes, the state's going to put in some money, the city's going to put in some money. The feds are going to put in some money but we need more money and we'll negotiate a way to come up with that cash for the MTA." kind of hit the halls of the Capitol, chatted people up, trying to figure out what they're weighing. State lawmakers haven't put any firm proposal out as a Democratic conference, so to speak. In general, there's a lot on the left in particular that like the idea of taxing the rich, increasing income taxes on the rich to help cover this gap for the MTA.

Hochul in the past has gone to the well of raising the payroll mobility tax. That's a tax on the payroll of businesses within the MTA region. Senate Democrats aren't big fans of hiking that tax. I asked Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins about that earlier this week.

Senator Stewart-Cousins: In the spirit of saying everything is on the table, that's certainly a conversation. I would not want to indicate that this would be the be-all and end-all.

?Speaker: Not exactly a ringing endorsement of increasing the payroll tax. Senate Democrats, they still feel these wounds from way back in 2010. That's a year after that payroll tax went into effect. Republicans really wielded it against them, won back control of the chamber that year after Democrats had control, in part by really whacking them on the payroll tax.

Sean Carlson: Well, let's switch gears a little bit. Although it's still dollars and cents we're talking about here, one of the big issues the MTA has tried to address in the last few years is fare evasion. The MTA does have some news in that department. What is the latest?

?Speaker: Well, for the first time in recent years, fare evasion is finally going down. There's a lot of ways to parse the numbers, but taking a look at subway fare evasion, it peaked in the summer of 2023 with 14% of riders skipping the fare. After, as we all reported, the surge of police, they hired those gate guards to watch the exit gates, they fixed the backcocking turnstiles, and they've even installed metal fins with spikes on top to deter people from climbing over them.

Sean Carlson: Ouch.

Stephen Nessen: The result of all that, in the last three months, there has been a drop to just 10% of riders hopping the turnstiles or fare evading. It's a huge percentage drop. Fare evasion is a $600 million to $700 million a year problem for the agency. This enforcement does cost millions in overtime and manpower, personpower. Even Hochul's new overtime patrols are going to cost $77 million. Ultimately, it's about that $700 million hole in the MTA's budget. Also, it's the culture of fare evasion that has taken root in the city.

Sean Carlson: That's WNYC transit reporter Stephen Nessen, and Ramsey Khalifeh with a special appearance from Albany reporter John Campbell. You can stay in the know on all things transit or ask a question of your own by signing up for our weekly On The Way newsletter at gothamist.com/ontheway. For our regulars, thank you. As always, John Campbell, it's always nice to talk to you as well.

John Campbell: Thank you.

?Speaker: Thanks so much.

?Speaker: Thanks, Sean.

[music]

Janae Pierre: 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.

[music]

Copyright © 2025 New York Public Radio. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use at www.wnyc.org for further information.

New York Public Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline, often by contractors. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of New York Public Radio’s programming is the audio record.