New York City in brief

Funding for the $16bn Gateway tunnel linking New York and New Jersey remains frozen, as the Trump administration appeals a court order to release more than $200m in federal funds. With nearly 1,000 workers laid off and construction halted on both sides of the Hudson, local leaders’ hard hats and fists are up; political showmanship has once again outpaced the trains, to nobody’s particular surprise.

Manhattan’s median rent clung to its near-peak at $4,695 in January, per Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel, with Brooklyn and Queens also logging 9% annual jumps. As mortgage rates loiter around 6%, would-be buyers remain marooned as tenants, pushing lease signings above 5,000 while listings thin. New York’s solution to the rent crunch appears to be, for now, a familiar mantra: wait for Godot, or the Fed.

National Grid reports that New Yorkers shattered natural gas usage records during February’s arctic snap, with Long Island alone besting top marks six times in two weeks and Con Edison tallying its third-highest delivery day. This surge comes alongside a fresh rate hike and chilly advice—keep thermostats low and radiators clear—as the city’s phase-out of gas, once slated for this year, has been fashionably postponed until 2027.

After a record-setting cold snap left 18 dead in New York City—most recently announced by Mayor Zohran Mamdani—his fledgling administration faces a City Council grilling over whether enough was done for the homeless and vulnerable. With agencies in the hot seat (and a key commissioner abruptly exiting), we’re left to wonder if political frostbite might spread faster than the city’s warming shelters.

On New York’s annual “Tin Cup” day in Albany, Mayor Zohran Mamdani asked legislators for up to $700 million yearly to make city buses free—down from his prior estimates, thanks to unspecified savings. With a $7 billion budget gap still looming, his pitch for new tax funding and restoring the G train to Forest Hills drew polite attention but little firm support—though a World Cup free bus pilot may at least score style points.