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Welcome back to Power in Politics. I'm Heather Fordham. A transit program that offers half price rides to low income New Yorkers has expanded, but data from City Hall shows not everyone who qualifies is taking advantage of it. That's why city leaders voted to pass a bill to make enrollment easier, streamlining the process for those who are already signed up for. Certain government assistance like SNAP benefits. City council member Crystal Hudson, who represents District 35 in Brooklyn, joins us now to talk about the changes and to discuss the big push to prevent the sale of certain Class 3 e-bikes here in the city. Council member Hudson, thank you so much for taking the time. I want to start off talking about. Fair fares legislation, um, you put forth a bill that would expand the enrollment process for these discounted transit rides for low income New Yorkers. Tell us a little bit about what this looks like for people who do qualify for the fair fair fare program and want to get enrolled. Yes, thank you so much for having me. Um, I, you know, wanted to make it easier for people who receive public benefits to receive those benefits, and I think it's really important that when we know people are qualified, uh, or eligible, um, to receive certain benefits that we make it as easy as possible for them to do so. And so what fair fares, um, what this bill does intro 248, um, with regards to fair fares is that it will. Essentially fast track first time applicants who we already know are either receiving SNAP or cash assistance. I believe earlier this year when the program was expanded, the enrollment numbers were still pretty low, with about 40% of people who are eligible actually taking advantage of this program. So do you think that was a lack of knowledge from people knowing, or just that the enrollment process was so bureaucratic that it was a lot of hurdles for people to get through? To sign up, I think it's a number of things. I think, um, probably all of the above and also, um, you know, some of the people who qualified, um, aren't necessarily using transit every single day and so they may not have found it to be, um, a program that they wanted to enroll in and so with the expansion of eligibility what we were able to do is qualify more people who might have, you know, regular. Full-time employment who really were just over that threshold or that eligibility previously that now can also take advantage of this program. And so I think what what we're hoping for is that with the marketing, you know, that the city is already doing, in addition to expanded eligibility and now an even easier way to enroll in the program, we'll see an uptick in those that are taking advantage. And what's the current timeline for DSS to update their system so that when people are enrolling, it's a smoother process? Like how, how soon can people be auto enrolled into this? There's going to be a bit of a phase in, but in about 6 months or so, once the bill is in full effect, then people should start seeing a change. With this change, how do you plan to reinsure people who have mixed immigration status or may be undocumented that are using this new system that will not put them at any risk for, you know, getting Any concerns that they might have regarding their status. Yeah, I mean, that's why we made the change from automatic enrollment to um an opt-in option. And so, again, the goal is to make sure that as many people as possible have a much easier time enrolling in the benefits that they're entitled to, and that includes everyone. There was a big hearing at City Hall about this historic package of bills presented, 23 bills in regards to cracking down on e-bike safety for everybody. Involved riders, walkers, drivers, um, you have a specific bill that would prevent the sale of Class 3 e-bikes. Explain to people who may not know what is a Class 3 e-bike and why is it important for them to be banned here in New York. Yeah, so, um, a Class 3 e-bike is an e-bike that goes over 20 miles an hour and so What we're trying to do is get all of those high-speed e-bikes off of our streets, um, and, you know, bring everybody into compliance. So I have two bills actually. One is the, uh, sale, the ban of the sale or rental of Class 3 e-bikes, uh, which really would penalize the, the sellers, the retailers or wholesalers, wherever folks are getting those bikes from. Um, you know, should they not comply, and, uh, the other would be phased in in a couple of years, um, that gives, you know, mostly delivery workers an opportunity to make the, the switch, um, and that would then ban the use of the bikes. But our, our belief is that, uh, after 2 years or more, Potentially, um, and we're still finalizing the bill, um, but after 2 years or more, a lot of these bikes, um, only last about 1.5 or 2 years, and so there's gonna be a natural decline in those types of bikes. And then if the only ones you're allowed to buy are, um, the class 2 e-bikes, then we'll see a, a, a sort of natural progression into that. What have your conversations been like with people who use e-bikes, uh, groups that are, you know, like transportation alternatives who are in support of these e-bikes, as well as businesses that sell them? What have they been like in developing this legislation? Yeah, we've been working with um a lot of advocates across the board and I think ultimately what everybody agrees on is making sure that our streets are as safe as possible for every everybody who uses them, whether you're a pedestrian, a cyclist, um, or otherwise, and you know, we wanna make sure that we're also uplifting the delivery workers. And the realities that they face and they should not have to choose between their livelihood and their safety. And so, um, I do think it's, you know, incumbent upon, uh, government to make sure that we're creating, um, the laws and the policies that would allow, uh, these workers to both be safe and So, um, maintain their livelihood. What is your vision of what e-bikes would look like here in New York City, let's say in 2 years from now, when, if and when all this legislation goes through to create safer streets? Well, we're trying to create a system that wouldn't have e-bikes that go faster than 20 miles an hour on our streets. Up next, our conversation with council member Hudson continues as we discuss how she's working to secure funding to finalize a deal that could bring more affordable housing to Brooklyn. That conversation when Power and Politics returns after this.

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Welcome back to Power and Politics. Affordable housing remains one of the biggest challenges facing New Yorkers now. Brooklyn council member is taking her request directly to City Hall. Our conversation with council member Crystal Hudson continues as she's asking Mayor Zoran Mogdano. For $1 million to help get an affordable housing development across the finish line, you recently posted on X writing to Mayor Mom Donnie about requesting $1 million to get an affordable housing project across the finish line. In your district, tell us a little bit about what this project is, how many houses it would unlock for families, and the importance of getting it off the ground. Yeah, it's a $65 million project, um, and it was short of, you know, just $1 million. I've contributed a million dollars to it, and I was hoping the mayor could match that million dollars, um, and he, and he has thankfully. Uh, I think it's really important that we continue to invest in affordable housing and deeply affordable housing. This particular project will have roughly 100, um, units. Uh, it will include a set aside of about 15% for formerly homeless families. Um, it will include, uh, units where the area median income will go up to 80%. So there's gonna be a, a, a good portion. Of units that will be set aside for families making 30 to 50% AMI and then from 50 to 80% AMI and you know this is the type of housing that uh we know New Yorkers need and want um and that is also housing that reflects the needs of the local community there in Crown Heights and so um I'm really grateful that we now have a fully funded project um from you know assistance from the administration. from myself and the city council and also from the nonprofit developer Asian Americans for Equality. And so I'm really excited to see this project finally come to fruition. I know this is all just starting to get in motion, but what would the timeline look like for bringing these units online? I think, you know, construction would start in the next couple of years and Uh, the, the last million dollars was really needed because it's going to be, um, a passive construction, um, development, and so, you know, making sure that it is, uh, addressing climate needs, making sure that it's environmentally, um, sound and considerate, um, making sure that it's the type of, you know, uh, uh, real, uh, development that, um, meets needs across every sort of aspect of, of housing development. You can find these conversations and more political news making headlines across New York City on News12.com and by downloading the News 12 app. I'm Heather Fordham and thanks for being with us here on Power and Politics. We'll see you next week.

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Office of Community Safety Commissioner Dr. Ayesha Delany-Brumsey and Brooklyn Council Member Crystal Hudson join the show this week.

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