As solar developers prepare to shelve over 20 major New York renewable projects—jeopardizing power for 2 million homes—Assembly Member Sarahana Shrestha wants us to remember that the New York Power Authority, buoyed by $200 million budget boosts, co…
Long Island Rail Road may grind to a halt mid-May, as pay talks between the MTA and unions representing over half its workforce remain stalled—with workers eyeing a 5% raise and management countering at 3%. The MTA is threatening fare hikes and service cuts, meanwhile prepping a $550,000-a-day bus workaround for 300,000 stranded riders. Suddenly, the phrase “union express” takes on new meaning in New York suburbia.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority kicked off the first of six community workshops for the Interborough Express, a proposed rail line linking Brooklyn and Queens, in Elmhurst. If built, the IBX would trim travel times, connect 18 stations—13 with subway transfers—and potentially spare the city 22 million car miles a year. For now, locals test seat cushions while we await something more tangible than blueprints.
Governor Kathy Hochul is pushing to loosen New York’s 2019 climate law, a statute that promised to cut emissions 40% by 2030 and lower energy bills—neither of which seems imminent. Her administration has let required reforms languish, recently freezing a planned cap-and-invest program; meanwhile, lobbyists appear thrilled and bills tick upward. We await the promised climate action, though not, it seems, with bated breath.
Julie Su, New York’s new deputy mayor for economic justice, promises to swap corporate tax breaks for city-led initiatives like 200,000 new apartments and universal childcare, pursuing Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s approach to equity—minus the usual handouts to developers. With a $5.4bn deficit and Governor Kathy Hochul unimpressed by tax hikes, it seems we’re baking a bigger pie with fewer cherries for Wall Street.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is under pressure from advocates like WIN’s Christine Quinn to expand New York’s CityFHEPS rental voucher scheme, a program serving over 65,000 households but notorious for costing the city $1.25 billion last year—five times more than in 2021. Mamdani, once a supporter, now balks at ballooning costs, leaving both taxpayers and the city’s homeless awkwardly holding the voucher-shaped bag.
A Queens homeowner argues that hiking New York City property taxes will hammer low-income and minority residents already paying higher rates than their wealthier, Park Avenue counterparts; he urges Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani to instead tax billionaires—not just second-home owners—to patch the city’s $5.4 billion deficit. We suppose asking tax policy to fix inequality is the old New York hustle.
The US Supreme Court heard arguments on whether the government can revoke Temporary Protected Status for around 356,000 migrants from Haiti and Syria, whose home countries supposedly no longer meet the crisis threshold. While lawyers sparred over executive authority and judicial oversight, the justices sounded typically split—leaving us to wonder whether legal safety nets or bureaucratic tightropes will define migration policy, at least until the next administration changes its mind.
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani has launched New York’s first Office of Deed Theft Prevention, installing Peter White—veteran defender of embattled homeowners—at the helm. Deed theft, a favorite pastime of fraudsters and a headache for working-class New Yorkers (especially in Brooklyn and Queens), has swiped thousands of homes. With any luck, City Hall’s new watchdog will prove less ornamental than metaphorical locks on the front door.
