Good Morning, New York! More troops get deployed into the NYC Subway, the MTA OK’s a fair increase, and Hochul’s $100M settlement offer. This is your Tammany Times AM Briefing for Thursday, December 19th, 2024.

WHERE’S ERIC: No public schedule yet.

WHERE’S KATHY: In New York City to highlight the 2024 State of the State Affordability Agenda.

TIPS? Email me: [email protected]

Front Pages

Hall Monitors

— 250 more National Guard troops will be deployed to the subway system, adding to the 750 who are already there. Gov. Hochul did not release an end date to the deployment, and said their mission is to make all New Yorkers feel safer. (NY Post)

— Eric Adams is requesting a pause in his corruption case until January 20th, the same day that Donald Trump is inaugurated as President. The move by his legal team comes as Adams has increasingly been positioning himself to receive a pardon. This is a reversal of his legal team’s previous strategy, which was to push for as early a trial date as possible. (NY Daily News)

— The MTA has OKed a fair hike to $3 per swipe on subways and busses, up from $2.90. The new rates will start in August 2025. The MTA is planning to introduce more regular fare increases, and their five year plan would have the fare at $3.14 in 2027. This comes as the MTA is purchasing $1.27 billion in new train cars for the subway system. The 435 cars will include 80 open gangway cars, as the MTA looks to modernize the system across the board. (NY Post)

Capitol Gains

— As Donald Trump seeks to overturn his hush money conviction, New York Governor Kathy Hochul indicated that she would require evidence of remorse from him before considering a pardon. This statement follows a judge's refusal to dismiss the conviction, which stems from Trump's alleged falsification of business records related to a payment made to silence accusations from porn actor Stormy Daniels. (AP)

— Gov. Hochul reportedly offered New Jersey a settlement of over $100,000,000 a year in exchange for them accepting congestion pricing. In a press conference yesterday, Hochul hit out at NJ for acting in bad faith during the negotiations. Despite the potential settlement, congestion pricing has remained a line in the sand for NJ politicians, who have gotten immense pushback from residents over the additional tolls. (Streetsblog)

— Gov. Hochul will today sign the Restaurant Reservation Anti-Piracy Act into law, which will end the black market of restaurant reservations across the state. A statement from her office said that everyone deserves a fair system and “a seat at the dinner table.” The sale of restaurant reservations has become an increasingly big problem for top restaurants in recent years, especially since more have moved their systems online post-COVID. (Eater NY)

Trail Mix

— Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has said that Democrats will oppose a “clean” funding bill, and will only work with Speaker Johnson to pass a 1,500 page federal spending bill. Conservatives on the hill have met the massive bill with outrage, causing Johnson to scramble in order to find a way to keep the government open ahead of a Friday deadline. (The Hill)

— The Working Families party has a simple strategy for the mayoral election: anyone but Adams. They admit that their strategy in 2021 was misguided, and are readjusting their strategy to “actively remind people that the cannot rank Adams if they don’t want Adams as their mayor.” They will consider endorsing specific candidates on a ranked ballot only right before people start voting, and only if they feel the need to coalesce around a specific candidate. (Politico)

— Progressive allies of AOC are already pitching her for a leadership bid following her loss against Connolly to lead the Oversight Cmte. Minority Leader Jeffries said that he did think AOC would make it into the leadership in the near term, although former Speaker Pelosi has not appeared to be as favorable to AOC taking any sort of leadership role. (Politico)