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Janae Pierre: Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Thursday, March 13th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill.

Michael Hill: New York and New Jersey are suing the United States Education Department over cuts the agency says will reduce its staff by half. A coalition of about 20 states filed a lawsuit today in Massachusetts federal court. It argues the cuts, which are set to take effect March 21st, would cause immense damage to students, teachers and others. They want a court to block those reductions. A veterinarian hired by the NYPD has a history of keeping bad records and being dishonest about his care of animals. WNYC's Ben Feuerherd brings us the story.

Ben Feuerherd: Dr. Camilo Sierra has a $740,000 contract with the NYPD. He provides veterinary services for horses in the police mounted unit. Sierra used to work at horse racing tracks. Records show the New York Gaming Commission fined him at least seven times in that role and suspended him twice. He was cited for a number of infractions, including using a fake horse name on a prescription and lying about examining three horses at Aqueduct Racetrack. The New York State Office of Professional Discipline also fined him and placed him on probation. Sierra says the infractions are common in the racing industry.

Michael Hill: The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment. New York's Department of Health is reporting a case of measles in an unvaccinated child younger than five in Suffolk County. It's the third case identified in the state this year, two in New York City. Three other cases reported in Bergen County, New Jersey. That was in January. Officials say anyone who visited the Cohen Children's Medical Center emergency and pediatric floors on March 3rd through the 6th has potentially been exposed. 47 and partly sunny right now, partly sunny today, cooler than yesterday, 49 for a high, mostly sunny tomorrow and mid-50s. Then on Saturday, late morning drizzle at a high of 60.

Janae Pierre: Stick around. There's more to come.

Michael Hill: President Trump's top immigration officer met with Republican lawmakers yesterday in Albany, but WNYC's Jon Campbell reports the recent arrest of a pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University gave the visit some heightened tension.

Tom Homan: Let's talk about the green light law. Let's talk about your governor.

Jon Campbell: Tom Homan is surrounded by Republicans in a crowded conference room at the New York State Capitol. He's touting some GOP bills that would force the state to cooperate with immigration officials, but he's also there to make a threat.

Tom Homan: New York state, you got to change the sanctuary status. If you don't, get out of the way, because we're going to do our job.

Jon Campbell: On the other side of the door, a couple dozen Democratic lawmakers and staff are hoping to give him a piece of their mind.

[chanting]

Jon Campbell: After 10 minutes of chanting, someone spots him.

[chanting]

Jon Campbell: Homan is chomping on an apple. He gives the protesters a smirk and a wave. He stays silent as Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani gets in his face. The media savvy Queens Democrat is running for mayor and confronts Homan about the recent arrest of a pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University.

Zohran Mamdani: Do you believe in the First Amendment? What charges did you detain Mahmoud Khalil on? Do you believe in the First Amendment, Tom Homan?

Jon Campbell: Homan gets into an elevator and the chaos quickly subsides. I spot Bronx Senator Gustavo Rivera, a Democrat who was among the protesters.

Senator Gustavo Rivera: We saw him walking by eating apple that was probably picked by an undocumented person.

Jon Campbell: Homan exits the building without incident, and police make no arrests. John Campbell, WNYC News.

Michael Hill: Federal government has not charged Khalil with any crime. It's described his activism as broadly antisemitic.

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Sean Carlson: On WNYC, I'm Sean Carlson. Officials in New York often use lofty language to describe the importance of the subway system to the city. Phrases like backbone, lifeblood, and economic engine are regularly found in public statements from governors, mayors, elected officials across government. Our next guest used to run New York City subways, and she says if the city really wants its subway system to thrive, it has to stop burying its most intractable problems underground.

Sarah Feinberg is the former interim president of the MTA's New York City Transit Division, and she made her case for the subway in a recent op ed published in the policy journal Vital City. Sarah, the headline of your piece reads, "Want to fix the subway? Stop asking it to be what it's not." What is being asked of the subway right now?

Sarah Feinberg: That's right. The point that I try to make in the opinion piece is the subway's job is hard enough as it is. It's to move 8 million people safely and efficiently from one place to another. It does that quite well generally. What I'm saying is we shouldn't also ask it to be a place where people can be housed, where they can sleep, where they can probably need to get some mental health assistance. We should just ask it to move people from one place to another. We shouldn't put all of our other problems on its shoulders.

Sean Carlson: How did issues like homelessness, or mental illness, or drug use become as prevalent as they are on the subway?

Sarah Feinberg: Inevitably, we know that some of this came up during the pandemic. We know that folks who were regularly receiving treatment and may have had a place in supportive housing, a lot of folks lost access to a lot of that during the pandemic. I think some folks had trouble returning to it. We also know we've got more of a homeless population than we've had in recent years. There's all kinds of reasons why we are where we are, but my point is New York's a big city. We can deal with these problems outside of the subway system, just like we wouldn't try to deal with these issues on the median of a highway or at an airport because it's not safe. I'm saying let's get it out of the system and deal with all of these items, top side, as it were.

Sean Carlson: Now, these problems are not necessarily a new thing. I think most folks who ride the subway will say, "Well, these things have been part of the subway experience for as long as most of us can remember. Have we reached a tipping point now? Why is there increased urgency in this moment?

Sarah Feinberg: Look, I don't know if we've reached a tipping point. Certainly, it feels somewhat urgent to me. This is not actually a new argument for me. I've long argued that we should treat the subway as a sacred space. If we really believe what we say, which is that the subway is the single most important entity in the success of the city, and I truly believe it is, then let's start treating it like it is. Let's only ask it to do its job and let's remove the other problems from the system. Again, this is about the location and the safety of the system.

It's not about not wanting to assist those who really need our help. We are a really generous city. We are a gracious city. We put enormous amount of resources into homeless shelters and supportive housing, medical care, social services outreach, and we should continue to do that. Where are we doing it? My point is we shouldn't be doing it on subway platforms. That is not the right place for this kind of activity, and it's also not the safest place for this activity.

I make the point in the piece. The subway platforms of New York City transit are 100 years old. There's trains coming through every few minutes, and it's a high-stakes environment where we have no room for error. Let's move that activity off of the platforms, out of the stations, and onto sidewalks and other facilities.

Sean Carlson: To be fair to elected officials, Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul do talk a lot about addressing crime and mental illness on the subway, so what's the deal? Are they just not doing enough?

Sarah Feinberg: At this point in 2025, there's no shortage of elected officials who talk about it. We had a lot of folks who talk about it. I'm talking about actually addressing it, and certainly some folks have done some things. When I was on the MTA board, we put mental health teams, MTA police officers, and medical professionals into the system. Mayor Adams has put the scout teams into the system. Governor Hochul has put teams into the system. Some things are being done, but what I think is different is we've never had this attitude of, let's not do this here.

Let's bring people out of the system. Let's say, you know what? We're going to give you help. We're going to do everything we can for you, but we're not going to have this conversation on a platform. We're going to do all of this outside of the station so that we can better help you focus on what do we need to do next and how can we get you the help that you need.

Sean Carlson: When we talk about moving these things out of the subway system, we're talking about physically removing people using the subway for something other than transit. How do we do that?

Sarah Feinberg: I think the way you've described it is not-- I don't think we need to do it that way. In fact, I don't think we should be arresting people. I don't think we need to ticket anyone. I don't think we need to do any of those things. I think we just need to change our approach to how we're dealing with these problems in the subway. Literally, instead of saying, "Well, I went up to this individual and I offered him help, but he said, 'No, thank you,' and so I've moved on and I've talked to him every day for the past three months, and he's never taken up my offer of services."

Instead of that being the approach, I think the approach should be, "Sir, we're not going to continue to have you on this platform when we're moving millions of people and many children. What we're going to do is ask you to come with us outside, and then we're going to figure out the next step. You won't have to take our offer of services, but we're not going to have you here just like we wouldn't have you in the median of an interstate, just like we wouldn't have you in a bike lane."

Sean Carlson: Now, I don't want to say that that's easy, but just for the sake of conversation, like if it was that easy, how come it has not been done yet?

Sarah Feinberg: Because that's not the way we have those conversations. Look, the New York City subway system is the space that you're supposed to pay to enter, but it's certainly a public good. It's a public service. I think the system for decades has lived in this neither here nor there place. It's not as public and wide open as a sidewalk or a park, and it serves a very specific purpose, but it's certainly not a private place like the lobby of a business or a hotel or a bank where a security guard would clearly just ask someone to leave. It exists in this space in between, and so I think we've treated it as, "Well, maybe we should just let people be here if they want to be here, even if they're not using the system for transportation."

Sean Carlson: Now, you point out that law enforcement is a key component of what you're asking for and saying needs to happen, but you also note that those officers must be, "focused, engaged, and helpful and not looking at their phones in stations." Do you think that sort of a cultural shift is possible for the police department?

Sarah Feinberg: I do. Look, the point I make in the piece is law enforcement a piece of this? Sure, they are a piece of this, but we also have those who offer social services. We have security contractors. We have MTA employees. If we do end up having to depend on the police for any element of this, it doesn't help when the police are standing and looking at their phones, maybe not engaging with the public.

What we need is for folks to be engaged and vigilant and focused and really offering assistance, offering services, saying, "Sir, we cannot have you on the platform, but I would be more than happy to take you to a shelter. I'd be more than happy to walk upstairs with you. I would be more than happy to introduce you to my friend right here who works for social service agency, who's here to help." Again, the point is, is when options are narrowed, when someone is told this is not the place where we're going to do this, then generally we believe that they're more likely to take up services.

Sean Carlson: That's former New York City Transit Interim President Sarah Feinberg. You can read her piece on the subways @vitalcitynyc.org. Sarah, thanks so much for coming on.

Sarah Feinberg: Yes, thanks for having me.

Janae Pierre: Thanks for listening. This is NYC Now from WNYC. Catch us every weekday, three times a day for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. More soon.

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