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☆ Congestion Pricing’s Billions to Pay for Nuts and Bolts of Subway System
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Winnie Hu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

New York City’s congestion pricing program is scheduled to begin charging tolls to drive into the busiest parts of Manhattan next month, with the aim of generating a $15 billion windfall for the mass transit system. That money would not translate into lower fares or a huge subway expansion. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees congestion pricing, has already earmarked the entire $15 billion for long-planned projects. Since congestion pricing has yet to get off the ground, the M.T.A. And now that $15 billion accounts for half the money the authority is expecting to finance its remaining projects.

Organizations: Metropolitan Transportation Authority Locations: York, Manhattan

☆ New Jersey Challenges N.Y.C. Congestion Pricing in Federal Court
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-03 | by ( Winnie Hu | Elise Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Federal transportation officials allowed New York to move ahead with congestion pricing without fully addressing how traffic and pollution would be shifted to its neighbors across the Hudson River as drivers avoid the new tolls, a lawyer for the State of New Jersey argued in federal court on Wednesday. Now, as traffic patterns change, those New Jersey communities will be forced to shoulder the environmental burdens of the tolling program while New York receives all the benefits, the lawyer, Randy M. Mastro, said in his opening remarks in New Jersey’s lawsuit against congestion pricing. “It isn’t about whether you like or don’t like congestion pricing,” Mr. Mastro said in a courtroom in Newark. The issue is whether the Federal Highway Administration “took a hard look” at the potential environmental effects. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency overseeing congestion pricing in New York, has repeatedly said that New Jersey communities were extensively studied in an environmental assessment.

Persons: Randy M, Mastro, Mr, Administration “, John J, McCarthy Organizations: State, New, Federal, Administration, Metropolitan Transportation Authority Locations: New York, State of New Jersey, New Jersey, New, Newark

☆ New York City’s Population Shrinks by 78,000
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Winnie Hu | Stefanos Chen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

City officials said that they were likely to challenge the 2023 census estimates, which they said had significantly underestimated the number of migrants and other people living in group settings, such as shelters and dorms. A spokesman for the Department of City Planning, Casey Berkovitz, said that 180,000 migrants had come to the city since the spring of 2022 and that 64,600 were still in the city’s care. City officials had previously projected that New York City would reach 9 million within two decades. Though the latest census numbers are a marked improvement over recent years, the turnaround has mostly benefited New York City’s more affluent areas, said Andrew Beveridge, the president of Social Explorer, a demographic data firm that analyzed the numbers. “But it’s the struggling people that leave for good.”Four of the five boroughs continued to see population declines in 2023, according to the latest census estimates.

Persons: Casey Berkovitz, Andrew Beveridge, ” Mr, Beveridge Organizations: Department of City Planning, New, Manhattan, Social Locations: New York City, New York

When busloads of migrants from Venezuela and Latin America started turning up on New York City streets in 2022, it spurred a crisis that has overwhelmed city shelters and incited protests over immigration policies. Thousands of Chinese migrants have also made their way to New York, with many following on the heels of migrants from Central and South America and crossing at the United States-Mexico border. Once they reach the city, however, many are tapping into long-established family and social networks in Chinese enclaves to get on their feet quickly and, for the most part, on their own. It is not known exactly how many Chinese migrants have landed in New York. But immigration court filings since October 2022 show that New York State was their top destination — with more than 21,000 filings for Chinese migrants — followed by California, according to an analysis by Julia Gelatt, an associate director at the Migration Policy Institute.

Persons: Eric Adams, Julia Gelatt Organizations: Latin America, New, New York State, Migration Policy Institute Locations: Venezuela, Latin, New York City, New York, Central, South America, United States, Mexico, California

☆ A Moonshot Plan to Fill a Cavernous, Dilapidated Armory in the Bronx
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Stefanos Chen | Winnie Hu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It has been called the world’s largest armory — a palatial fortress in the middle of the northwest Bronx, with turrets overlooking the subway station. But for nearly 30 years, the Kingsbridge Armory has languished despite grand plans by mega-developers, billionaire investors and celebrities to repurpose the 570,000-square-foot landmark. It hopes to bring high-tech manufacturing jobs, a live performance space, new businesses and affordable housing to the city-owned site. The proposed development, if selected by city officials, would be led by the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, an influential nonprofit group that has fought for racial justice, affordable housing and economic development in the city’s poorest borough since 1974. The plan grew out of years of frustration among community leaders and residents who were tired of being sidelined in previous plans for the armory.

Organizations: Kingsbridge Armory, Northwest Bronx Community, Clergy Coalition Locations: Bronx, Kingsbridge

New York City saw its biggest single-day snowfall in nearly two years on Tuesday, breaking its longest streak on record without significant accumulation, the National Weather Service said. As of 7 a.m., 1.4 inches of snow had fallen in Central Park, according to the weather service — with 0.4 inches falling Monday evening, before midnight, and one inch after. That broke a streak of 701 days without meaningful snowfall, which in New York City is measured by at least one inch falling in Central Park on a given day. The last time there was significant snow in the park was Feb. 13, 2022, when 1.6 inches fell. At least another inch of snow was expected by the end of Tuesday, with some neighborhoods expected to see up to three inches, according to the weather service.

Organizations: National Weather Service Locations: York City, Central Park, New York City

☆ Many Older Immigrants in New York Are Struggling: ‘I Have No Future’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-13 | by ( Winnie Hu | Jeffrey E. Singer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Many of these immigrants said they never expected to grow old in the city and, after years of saying “I’m leaving tomorrow,” are simply not prepared for that reality when it comes. Some are still chasing the American dream long after their prime working years. Older immigrants have largely propelled the rapid growth of the city’s 65-and-up population to 1.4 million, according to a census analysis by Social Explorer, a data research company. In 2022, there were 713,000 older immigrants, a 57 percent increase from 2010. During that same period, the number of U.S.-born older residents rose 25 percent to 678,000.

Persons: “ I’m Organizations: Social Explorer

Under an elevated subway track in Queens, Victor José Hernández was whipping up the pepitos that he had perfected at a street cart in Caracas, Venezuela. Just steps away, an Ecuadorean restaurant now displays a big Venezuelan flag and offers karaoke with Venezuelan love songs. And the line for arepas and cachapas (sweet corn cakes) spills out the door of a Venezuelan cafe. Though New York City was built on immigrant neighborhoods — Chinatown, Curry Hill, Little Italy and Little Haiti, among many others — it has never had a Venezuelan neighborhood. Historically, the city’s Venezuelan population was tiny and overshadowed by much larger Hispanic groups, including Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, immigration experts said.

Persons: Victor José Hernández Organizations: New, Puerto Ricans Locations: Queens, Caracas, Venezuela, Roosevelt, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Corona, Venezuelan, Little Venezuela, New York City, Curry Hill, Little Italy, Little Haiti

New York is on the verge of becoming the first U.S. city to charge drivers for entering its busiest areas, but it is following three cities overseas where such tolling systems have become a way of life. London, Stockholm and Singapore all went ahead with congestion pricing while it was still just an idea in New York, one that stalled for years amid opposition from many commuters and elected officials. The three cities have become real-life testing grounds for congestion pricing. But carrying out congestion pricing has not been easy and the fees, which have risen over the years, continue to draw complaints from drivers and from civic and business leaders. Now, these cities’ experiences provide a glimpse of the challenges that lie ahead for New York.

Organizations: New Locations: York, U.S, London, Stockholm, Singapore, New York

Still, in 2005, an M&M balloon swung out of control from sudden wind bursts and hit a light pole in Times Square, injuring two people. After that, city officials mandated anemometers — instruments that measure wind speed and direction — along the route. This year, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had to schedule the installation of congestion pricing tolling equipment for after the parade. Orlando Veras, a Macy’s spokesman, declined to discuss the cost of the parade, saying only that it was the department store’s “gift to the city and the nation.”Ydanis Rodriguez, the transportation commissioner, said the city’s efforts were well rewarded. “The joy and the smiles that the Macy’s balloons inspire on Thanksgiving morning brings out the kid in everyone who watches this parade — and I am no different,” he said.

Persons: Orlando Veras, ” Ydanis Rodriguez, ” Organizations: Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Park

☆ Why Revel Shut Down Its Moped Service in New York
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Winnie Hu | More About Winnie Hu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When Revel brought 68 electric mopeds to a Brooklyn storefront in 2018, it set out to show New Yorkers that getting around the city could be fun. Riders could hop onto an electric-blue moped instead of cramming into the subway or getting stuck in car traffic. But now, five years later, the mopeds will soon disappear entirely. On Saturday, Revel — facing the proliferation of other options to get around the city and safety concerns that have kept some people away — will pull its mopeds out of New York and send them to a salvage center. It will also shut down the moped service in San Francisco after previously ending it in other cities.

Persons: Revel, “, ”, Donald Reid, Revel — Locations: Brooklyn, New York, San Francisco

☆ Turning New York’s Stately Public Library Into a Place ‘to Hang Out In’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Winnie Hu | More About Winnie Hu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The palatial Beaux-Arts library on Fifth Avenue guarded by a pair of stone lions was not where Farrah Denson wanted to be when she was a teenager growing up on the Upper West Side. She felt like she had to be on her best behavior and not touch anything. And she dreaded climbing all the steps to the main entrance. “I felt like I was going to a courthouse,” said Ms. Denson, now 34, who lives in Jersey City. “It wasn’t a place you’d want to hang out in.”Today, the New York Public Library’s celebrated research library — officially known as the Stephen A. Schwarzman building — is still as imposing as ever, set in its elegant lot in the middle of the skyscrapers of Midtown Manhattan, but it has become a far more welcoming place.

Persons: Farrah Denson, “, ”, Denson, Stephen A Organizations: New York Public Locations: Jersey City, ”, Midtown Manhattan

☆ Public Package Lockers Are Coming to New York City’s Sidewalks
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Winnie Hu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

New Yorkers who do not have a doorman or friendly neighbor to sign for their package deliveries will soon have a new option: sidewalk lockers for the public. The electronic lockers, which city officials announced on Friday, will be free to use 24 hours a day. The lockers will be monitored by surveillance cameras to deter theft. Starting this summer, the so-called smart lockers will be placed at 15 sites around the city that have not been finalized. GoLocker, a New York City company, will install and operate the units under a one-year pilot program overseen by the Department of Transportation.

Organizations: Department of Transportation Locations: New York City

☆ How E-Bike Battery Fires Became a Deadly Crisis in New York City
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Winnie Hu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

He was working in a Brooklyn bodega last August when a delivery man said he knew someone selling one for $700. Mr. Muñoz said yes. When it needed charging, Mr. Muñoz would remove the battery from the scooter and use both hands to lug it up to the couple’s third-floor apartment in College Point, Queens. A month later, the battery exploded in the living room, unleashing flames that engulfed the apartment. Mr. Muñoz screamed for their 8-year-old daughter, Stephanie, who was asleep.

Persons: Alfonso Villa Muñoz, Muñoz, Stephanie Organizations: Brooklyn bodega Locations: College Point, Queens

☆ How These Budding Entrepreneurs Won $20,000 for Their Start-Ups
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Winnie Hu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Teaching remotely, Ms. Adams put the money that she saved by not commuting toward trying out recipes for vegan muffins, reduced-sugar cookies and low-carb pizzas. A few months ago, Ms. Adams received a newsletter from her landlord, the New York City Housing Authority, which announced a new competition for entrepreneurs living in public housing. It offered cash prizes of up to $20,000 and free business development classes. “I thought it was fake,” Ms. Adams said. She called the housing authority to make sure it was real.

☆ Should New York City Have Free Buses?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Winnie Hu | Asmaa Elkeurti | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Free bus service could come to 10 bus routes in New York City under a proposal by state lawmakers to lure more riders to the city’s struggling transit system and help those who cannot afford to pay the $2.75 fare. Two bus routes in each of the city’s five boroughs would be designated for a free bus pilot program, according to the proposal, which is being pushed by state legislative leaders in budget negotiations. Though the routes have not yet been chosen, one in each borough has to serve a low-income community and the other a commercial corridor. On Tuesday morning, Mayor Eric Adams voiced his approval of the pilot program in a video posted on Twitter and Instagram by Assemblyman Zohran Kwame Mamdani, a Queens Democrat and a sponsor of the proposal.

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