President Donald Trump signed off on $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts, prompting New Jersey’s Department of Human Services to forecast a $3.3 billion federal funding loss and 350,000 state residents losing coverage—an administrative pickle worsened by new twice-yearly eligibility checks and stricter work requirements. Garden State families like Theresa Luoni’s now face the joyous prospect of navigating bureaucracy without the benefit, or the budget, for a guide.
New York City in brief
Top five stories in the five boroughs today
New York City’s officials have unveiled the first set of rules to allow backyard “tiny houses”—or accessory dwelling units—on Staten Island, the initial salvo in the wider City of Yes zoning revamp aiming to add 80,000 homes. Despite vocal local resistance, Mayor Eric Adams’ team touts technical support, low-interest loans, and the hope that new basements spark less outrage than skyscrapers on suburban streets.
Andrew Cuomo, erstwhile governor and erstwhile opponent of “Freeze the Rent” proposals, now pledges to repeal New York’s Urstadt Law if elected mayor—allowing City Hall to tighten rent controls for the first time since 1971. Critics noted that Cuomo’s sudden reinvention, like all good real-estate listings, comes with a murky backstory; still, if power shifts, tenants may at last get a taste of local flavor.
New York’s Public Service Commission has put its plans for multi-billion-dollar offshore wind transmission lines on ice, blaming President Trump’s pause on new federal permits for making the state’s renewable energy goals “impossible in the near term.” Existing projects limp on, but the broader ambition to power five million homes now languishes in the doldrums—leaving both green advocates and infrastructure contractors to watch the weather, not the calendar.
Wednesday brought New Yorkers a perfect storm of transit woes, with subway delays on five lines after a train’s brakes locked at Penn Station, while a disabled bus jammed up the Lincoln Tunnel and NJ Transit trains stalled for up to 45 minutes after an accident near Newark Airport. Even PATH riders endured setbacks, all on a day when Manhattan felt more like Mumbai—without the efficient trains.