Thursday Headlines: Free Bus Fellas Edition
Streetsblog sat down with Dheraj Ganjikunta and Alex Morano, co-chairs of NYC-DSA’s new Transit Working Group, to talk about the group’s organizing push behind Mayor Mamdani’s bus plan. Their strategy is split in two: push the city’s 50 bus-priority projects to full scope and funding now, while building a rider base that can fight for fare-free service whenever the political opening comes.
They expect the fiercest resistance not from City Hall but from community boards “stacked by people who ride cars,” as Ganjikunta put it. On funding, both are careful not to pit free buses against the MTA’s operational needs, floating street-parking revenue as one possible source.
The group’s canvassing in Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights found more than 65 percent of residents they spoke to are regular bus riders, with slow, traffic-stuck buses as the top complaint. More in today’s interview.
Elsewhere in The Empire State:
- NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch skipped Wednesday’s City Council hearing on 23 e-bike proposals, and Deputy Commissioner for Legal Matters Michael Gerber opened with a 10-word statement before admitting officers can’t tell by sight whether an e-bike is legal. (Streetsblog NYC)
- A tour bus driver has been charged in connection with a deadly crash on I-490 near Rochester. (Democrat & Chronicle)
- Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and Republican challenger Joseph Hernandez, who is casting the four-term incumbent as a career politician, face off tonight at 7 p.m. in a Spectrum News debate, less than six weeks before Election Day. (NY1)
- A state comptroller’s report found Albany’s 2025 and 2026 budgets relied on unrealistic revenue and expense estimates and projected a $26 million operating deficit by the end of 2026, up from the $22 million city officials had predicted. Mayor Dorcey Applyrs releases her 2027 budget proposal today. (WAMC)
- Otsego County Democratic Chair Caitlin Ogden is challenging longtime state party Chair Jay Jacobs in a vote of state committee members today. (WAMC)
- Conservative Party leaders from across the state, including state Chair Jerry Kassar, endorsed Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne for re-election in their personal capacities, even as the county Conservative Party backs challenger Tatiana Ibrahim Brahimi. (Mid-Hudson News)
- The Economic Development Corporation board unanimously approved raising the NYC Ferry’s single-ride fare from $4.50 to $5 starting Oct. 19, along with a $1 increase for the 10-ride pack, a move officials say will bring in about $2 million more a year. (Gothamist)
- Tariffs could drive up the cost of new MTA trains and buses. (The City Reporter)
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