Students in a statistics class at New Heights Academy Charter School in Manhattan’s Harlem store their phones in pouches at the back of the classroom on Tuesday, May 6, 2025. A statewide cellphone ban will take effect this fall. ( Photo: Amy Zimmer / Chalkbeat) NY’s School Cellphone Ban: Exemptions, Enforcement and Costs Explained Under the policy, announced last week as part of the budget deal between Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state legislature, districts... News 14 May 2025 | 05:00
Fare evasion costs the MTA $700 million a year, and the MTA says the problem is worst on buses where an estimated 40 percent skip out on paying the fare. ( Photo: Ralph Spielman) MTA Gets Full Funding as Hochul Finalizes Budget, but It Counts on Feds Paying All of Penn Costs April 28 saw an early-evening update from Gov. Kathy Hochul about the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and it was the... News 03 May 2025 | 09:40
Some state and local officials were coming up with plans on how to spend the money that the MTA could save now that the federal government is taking over the rebuilding of Penn Station. But the Trump administration is now saying they don’t plan to foot the entire bill. ( Photo: MTA) Not So Fast: Trump Admin Says It’s Not Footing Entire Cost to Renovate Penn Station When the Trump administration seized control of plans to renovate Penn Station, Gov. Hochul said New Yorkers had won a major... News 28 Apr 2025 | 12:20
Congestion pricing tolls on Second Ave. and E. 60th St.–and all tolls charging (most) vehicles $9 to enter lower Manhattan during peak hours–remain operational, despite the Trump administration seeking to force Gov. Hochul and the MTA to turn them off on April 20. ( Photo: Patricia Walsh) Congestion Tolls Stay On, Feds Threaten Highway Funds Congestion pricing tolls are still being collected, the MTA says, after the federal government sought to unilaterally shut... News 21 Apr 2025 | 05:08
The federal government wants to take over the long-stalled Penn Station redevelopment plan, taking over from the MTA. ( Photo: Keith J. Kelly) Feds Take Over Penn Station Renovation Plan The Trump administration took over planning for the renovation and possible expansion of Penn Station, shoving the MTA aside... News 20 Apr 2025 | 07:30
Mayor Eric Adams shakes hands with the Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy before embarking on a two stop subway “tour” on the B Line on April 4. Duffy, who had earlier called the subway system a “shithole” apparently did not change his tune after the ride with hizzoner. ( Photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office) MTA’s Lieber Vs Trump’s Transport Sec Duffy On April 4, US Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, rode our subway system on a mysterious ride with Mayor Eric Adams,... Voices 17 Apr 2025 | 03:18
A nonprofit known as Upper West Side Cinema Center has agreed to a $6.9 million purchase of the famed Metro Theater at 2626 Broadway. The group hopes to revive the theater, which has been closed since 2005, as a five-screen arthouse destination. ( Photo: Upper West Side Cinema Center) Saved: Metro Theater Bought by UWS Cinema Center for $6.9 Million The Metro Theater is back, after a nonprofit group known as Upper West Side Cinema Center announced that it had finally managed... News 15 Apr 2025 | 03:11
Governor Kathy Hochul, speaking at a Congestion Pricing Rally on March 21, has sent a letter to top Republicans in the Trump administration calling for the state to receive its “fair share” of federal mass transit funds. DOT Secretary Sean Duffy wants Hochul to turn off the congestion pricing cameras. ( Photo: Ralph Spielman) Hochul Pleads for More Fed Funds for MTA; US DOT Pushes to End Congestion Pricing Tolls It looks like a standoff. Top elected Democratic leaders in New York in late March pleaded with the federal government for... News 02 Apr 2025 | 05:14
Flagbearer waves to crowd at 264th St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Fifth Ave. on March 17. ( Photo: Heather Stein) Wet Weather Does Not Dampen Spirits at St. Patrick’s Day Parade There was a little bit of everything surrounding the 264th St. Patrick’s Day parade on March 17. It kicked off with an early-morning... News 24 Mar 2025 | 10:35
On her way to attend a congestion-pricing rally at West 14th Street and Ninth Avenue, Gov. Kathy Hochul rode the M14D bus with regular passengers and media representatives. ( Photo: Ralph Spielman) Trump’s DOT Head Rips Hochul Handling of Subways, Calls System a ‘Shithole’ A day after Gov. Kathy Hochul said she didn’t have to go to war with the federal government over the congestion-pricing question,... News 24 Mar 2025 | 01:20
St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church on Seventh Avenue and West 30th Street would be spared now that Gov. Hochul no longer wants to demolish the city block where it sits to accommodate an expanded Penn Station. ( Photo: Keith J. Kelly) Hochul’s Retreat on Penn Station Expansion Will Spare Entire Block from Demolition Gov. Kathy Hochul pulled the rug out from under Amtrak’s hope to double the capacity of Penn Station by tearing down the... News 22 Mar 2025 | 05:38
Grand Penn Alliance’s chief architect, Alexandros Washburn, who led the creation of the Moynihan Train Hall, outlines the plan for a new Penn Station that would move Madison Square Garden across Seventh Avenue and in its place create a green park leading to the nation’s busiest rail hub. ( Image: Michael Oreskes) New $7.5B Penn Plan–This One Pushed by Trump Allies The time has come to make Penn Station great again. That not particularly subtle message to Donald J. Trump—who routinely... News 15 Mar 2025 | 09:35
Assembly member Tony Simone (right) has an alternative Penn Station plan that will spare the block south of Penn Station from demolition. To the rear is the empty lot that once housed the Pennsylvania Hotel. Simone wants that to be a park, whereas the parcel’s owner, real estate developer Vornado, says it still has plans for future office towers on that spot. ( Photo: Michael Oreskes) New Penn Plan: 2 West Side Pols Unveil Proposal to Save Block South of Station from Teardown New York State’s plan to redevelop the neighborhood around Penn Station should be drastically revamped to provide more housing,... News 09 Mar 2025 | 01:36
Across Twelfth Avenue from the Intrepid Museum, a parking lot for museum employees and buses will be transformed into a mixed-use commercial/residential tower that will include affordable housing. ( Photo: Ralph Spielman) From Gas Tanks to Tower: Hochul Plans Housing, Intrepid Parking for 12th Avenue Parcel One of the largest undeveloped parcels of vacant land on the far West Side of Midtown Manhattan, at 621 W. 45th St., is being... News 08 Mar 2025 | 09:58
Mayor Eric Adams calls reporters “liars,” as he leaves a press conference at Bellevue Hospital Feb. 18 , where an NYPD office had been taken after getting shot. He refused to answer questions about his embattled administration, which saw four deputy mayors resign. Calls are growing for him to resign. ( Photo: Keith J. Kelly) Adams Still Feeling Pressure Even After Hochul Says She Won’t Force Him Out Turmoil continued to swirl around Mayor Eric Adams even after Gov. Kathy Hochul said she would not take the unprecedented... News 24 Feb 2025 | 03:15
