Brian there on WNYC.

So a few big local mass transit stories in the last few days.

Congestion pricing to enter Manhattan below 60th Street did not end this weekend as President

Trump and his transportation secretary had demanded that it must. A lawsuit and negotiations over

the issue are underway instead. Also knew a court filing in that lawsuit showed Mayor Adams to

apparently be taking a stronger pro-c congestion

pricing position than he has before, and Trump's Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced

that the federal government is taking control away from the MTA for the redevelopment of

Penn Station. Now, Governor Hokel hailed this as good news.

She thanked the president for taking on the responsibility. Her hope is that it'll save New York

a lot of money and maybe make the renovation go quicker. Officially Amtrak, which is federal

controls Penn Station, though the MTA is its biggest tenant and has its biggest

population of riders. But the article on Gothamist about this by our transportation reporters,

Stephen Nesson and Ramsey-Kalifah, is headed Trump Station. Feds take control of Penn Station

rebuild, kick MTA off the project.

And I have the same question that the headline implies.

Is the federal government taking responsibility for this at a time when it's looking to spend less money on things?

Because Trump is out to buy naming rights?

Maybe I'm just making this up in my head, but planting his name brand forever on millions of people's commutes, the former Penn Station, and planting a thumb in the eye of the city that has largely rejected him.

In the bargain, with us now is WNYC and Gothamist Transportation Reporter Stephen Nesson, who also co-authors our weekly transportation newsletter,

called On the Way. Hey, Stephen. Hello, Brian. So tell us about this letter that MTA chair

Jan O'Leber received on Thursday. Well, it came from Kyle Fields, who's actually the chief counsel for the Federal Railroad Administration.

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