Albany approves involuntary commitment.

0:00 Speaker 1 Well, Sunday morning, three four days tell Christmas Unbelievable with us is Craig McCarthy of the New York Post, and he wants to give us an update what’s going on New York and New and Well, Craig give us give us super point.

0:17 Speaker 2 Thanks John, thanks for having me on the show. So we’re getting closer to Christmas, which means we’re getting closer to New Year, which also means that congestion pricing is going to kick in in Lower Manhattan below fifty ninth Street.

0:30 So as as we’ve known for the last few months, has been has been restarted at this new price point of nine dollars to enter. We’re at this point there’s no exemptions for any firefighters, cops, or teachers or any other groups of people that we’ve seen. You know, we’ve been told that putting the price down to nine dollars

0:53 an hour from fifteen originally kind of tied the hands for the MTA here of being able to bond out this fifteen billion dollars for all the necessary upgrades they’ve said they’ve needed. So that is on the horizon, but you know that also follows this. The last week the MTA board is now saying that they have to do

1:12 their bi annual price increases for the fares. So now the subway toll will jump from two ninety to three dollars an hour if if this is approved, which it’s it’s likely to be approved next year. I think it’s next August. It’ll be approved and there’ll be a time for public comment first.

1:31 Speaker 1 I understand. I also heard that a Governor Hokal is sending in National Guard to help with the quality of life in subways.

1:42 Speaker 2 Yeah, so this is this has been a repeated theme for the governor here that when there’s a lot of we have the National Guard that is on hand. They’re called Empire Shield. It’s the mission that has been operational for for years now, which is typically about seven hundred and fifty National guardsmen are that are assigned to the

2:01 subways or to at least transit points in New York City. So now Governor Hook is adding and calling up another two hundred and fifty guardsmen and they’re gonna specifically hit the subways and they’re going to be in there. And then it’s it’s as you said last time, much of this isn’t it’s not enforcing fair vision. It’s not. It’s

2:19 not really cracking down on the quality. If a lot of this comes from having people having uniformed soldiers there as a deterrent, as tip or soldiers or any uniformed kind of police presence as a deterrent, it’s a it’s a common strategy law enforcement is used if I guess they believe that, you know, people are less likely to

2:40 do something illegal if they see law enforcement on a platform or outside of a of a turnstile. Do you think that would help, well, it’s policing experts have said it. It works with certain things. We’ll notice in a lot of the main terminals that there’s a more least presence.

3:00 It’s it’s always yet to be decided. I think the thing that that people have been telling us and they would like us, you know, they theysed to report on and they talk to us about, is that they would like a crack down on fair evasion. And if they’re not doing this, sometimes you know, what are they doing

3:16 if they’re there, if they’re if they’re not acting as a detern if it doesn’t work.

3:20 Speaker 1 Understood anything else happening in the state. I mean Tappy hochel vetoed a lot of bills where any of them significant.

3:30 Speaker 2 We have a few bills coming up. She’s about one hundred and six bills that are sitting on her desk right now. There’s a variety of different things that are they’re coming up. That’s the deadline on that for this week.

3:41 There’s nothing really earth shattering on the desk. But we’re you know, we’re keeping our uh you know, keeping tabs on them to see if there’s gonna do any last minute vetos on.

3:51 Speaker 1 Them, understood, anything else you want to tell people? Four days before it’s Christmas, four days.

3:59 Speaker 2 Before Christmas, I mean we have a you know at this point. You last week we saw one of the last of Maror Eric Adams’s you know staff that have been in broad into this controversy has has left office.

4:13 And you know, she faced an indictment on Thursday, and you know, come the new year, it’ll be this is the administration that Kathy Hochele has asked him to do so to clear out these certain people that she, you know, believes like we’re dragging his administration down.

4:28 Speaker 1 Well. Craig McCarthy, New York Post, and thank you so much for calling in and wish you a Merry Christmas you as well.

4:39 Speaker 2 John, thank you very much for having me. Thank you