Midday News: MTA Reports Worst Summer Subway Delays Since 2018, Tariffs Drive Up Cost of School Supplies, and Catholic Charities Director to Step Down

Janae Pierre: Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC., It's Tuesday, September 2nd. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill.

Michael Hill: New MTA statistics show subway service was in the pits this summer. Major incidents that delay at least 50 trains hit their highest level in June and July since 2018. That was when former Governor Cuomo put the city's transit system under a state of emergency because it was breaking down so often. Riders don't need data to tell them things are bad. Nicole Strutpak commutes From the West 4th Street subway station and says this summer was rough.

Nicole Strutpak: I take the subway pretty much every morning to work.I take the F line. I can't even tell you how many times I've been late to work because of it.

Michael Hill: MTA officials say several isolated incidents complicated commuting, including a major storm that flooded parts of the system and a power outage that hammered service for several days. The agency is investing billions to upgrade aging infrastructure behind many of those delays.

Many organizations that donate school supplies to kids for the upcoming school year say they're being forced to rethink their strategies because of high prices. Economists say President Trump's 30% tariffs on China are affecting nearly every item a child needs for school. Sapreet Saluja is executive director of the nonprofit New York Care. She says this year they've had to make some hard choices.

Sapreet Saluja: For example, if students were going to get six pencils, could they get four? Could we get more out of that? The basics all needed to be there, and they also still needed a good quality backpack that could last them the school year.

Michael Hill: Saluja also says the number of people requesting help from her organization has gone up this year. 73 and mostly sunny. Sunny and 78 today. Tomorrow sunny in 79 with a calm wind.

Janae Pierre: Stay close. There's more after the break.

Michael Hill: For decades, Catholic Charities of New York has been providing support to the neediest New Yorkers, no matter their religion. This year, its longtime executive director is leaving his post. We thought it'd be a good time to talk to Monsignor Kevin Sullivan amid change at the organization. He was born in the Bronx and raised in Yonkers, and he's been the head of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York since 2001. Monsignor Sullivan, thank you for joining us this morning.

Monsignor Kevin Sullivan: Michael, thank you so much for having me.

Michael Hill: Monsignor Sullivan, you've also seen tragedies during your tenure. The September 11th attacks, COVID's deaths and sickness, just to name a couple. You also work in public policy. For example, you've been part of the Council Speakers Coalition on Homelessness. What do you think is the most consequential policy you helped get approved?

Monsignor Kevin Sullivan: One of the things that we have done that I think is really important for us as New Yorkers, we have said as New Yorkers, we're going to be a welcoming city, and well, we should, with the Statue of Liberty in our harbor. Whatever the federal policies have been, and some of them at the moment, quite frankly, are really, really problematic and unacceptable, but New York City tries to step up to the plate.

Whether it be by providing good information or services to people who feel endangered, I think that's one of the major policy initiatives that I'm proud of a New Yorker that we respond to, and as Catholic Charities, that we've been a major part of.

Michael Hill: The head of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, J. Antonio Fernandez, will succeed you. He's described as a veteran social services leader. What do you think is the biggest challenge he'll inherit?

Monsignor Kevin Sullivan: It is the issue of affordability and the issue of decent jobs. They are related. We work with a lot of people who struggle. I can share with you what most of the people who are having a hard time making ends meet. They want a decent job so that they can provide for their families. They don't want a handout. They want to earn their keep for themselves and their families.

How that ties into affordability is when you look at the price of food, when you look at the price of rent, those decent jobs have to pay an increasingly higher salary in order that New York can be affordable for not merely the rich, but for working class people who want to raise their kids and their families. Here. He will have to deal with how does Catholic Charities respond in trying to deal with the fact that so many New Yorkers are struggling to pay the rent to meet other basic needs.

Obviously, somebody coming from a different part of the country has to get to know New Yorkers. You know what I say, we welcome people. So many young people come to New York to kind of make their careers here. We welcome people from other parts of the country. I would say, however, the most significant challenge that he's going to face is he better learn how to be a Yankee fan very, very quickly.

Michael Hill: Not a Mets fan?

Monsignor Kevin Sullivan: No, no. I'm not for neutrality in this. I was born in the Bronx. I am a Yankee fan.

Michael Hill: [chuckles] I have to ask you something serious, though, here about what you said about affordability. Now, Catholic Charities, of course, does not create jobs the way you probably would like it to, and no other nonprofit really can on the scale that you would want them to. In terms of affordability, especially when it comes to housing, what would you recommend? How do you make housing more affordable?

Monsignor Kevin Sullivan: Well, I think we have some very good policies in New York. I think we have to continue to build more affordable housing, and New York City has to figure out how to do that more quickly. We at Catholic Charities have a number of projects that we would like to build, but it does take too long with the bureaucracy of New York City to get from the planning to actually get the shovel in the ground.

One of the things that should be done is we need to streamline the bureaucracy in New York City. We need to make more capital funds available so that projects can get in the ground. We have a lot of nonprofit groups and religious based nonprofit groups that are ready to move, but we need some help in doing that in addition. While we build the housing, we just have to make sure that people who are in their housings don't lose it.

There have been a variety of city programs, state programs that have provided rental assistance based on somebody's ability to pay. Those rental assistance programs are critically important, especially as the federal government has made almost unavailable the Section 8 vouchers. We need to step up as New York State has to some extent and New York City with providing some assistance so people can pay their rents.

Michael Hill: Our guest has been Monsignor Kevin Sullivan. He's the Executive Director of Catholic Charities and will transition to a new advisory role at the nonprofit this month. Monsignor, pleasure. Thank you.

Monsignor Kevin Sullivan: Hey, Michael, thank you so much.

Janae Pierre: Thanks for listening. This is NYC Now from WNYC. Check us out for updates every weekday, three times a day for the latest news headlines and occasional deep dives, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back this evening.

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