{"id":1220,"date":"2025-10-17T20:00:51","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T20:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globaltaalenthq.com\/?p=1220"},"modified":"2025-10-20T08:53:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T08:53:38","slug":"mamdani-rips-trump-after-order-to-halt-work-on-nyc-busway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globaltaalenthq.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/17\/mamdani-rips-trump-after-order-to-halt-work-on-nyc-busway\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani rips Trump after order to halt work on NYC busway"},"content":{"rendered":"
New York City mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani (D) ripped the Trump administration\u2019s order to halt work on the city\u2019s bus system, the latest in a series of orders<\/a> targeting city infrastructure projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe Trump administration is once again seeking to meddle with our streets to make buses slower, worsen congestion and pollute our air,\u201d Mamdani wrote<\/a> on the social platform X.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), a division within the U.S. Department of Transportation, sent a letter to the city\u2019s transportation agency Friday with a \u201cdemand\u201d that it \u201ccease and desist all activities\u201d to implement its 34th Street busway project.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sean McMaster, the FHWA\u2019s administrator, cited concern with a \u201clack of coordination\u201d between city and state agencies behind the request to halt the project. He criticized the city for moving forward with the project despite the FHWA\u2019s concerns.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is unacceptable and puts at risk decisions regarding pending and future Federal-aid projects,\u201d he wrote in the letter. <\/p>\n Mamdani, who swept the city\u2019s<\/a> June Democratic primary, has run a campaign centered on affordability, with free buses being one of the centerpiece promises of his mayoral run.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMaking buses free doesn\u2019t just provide economic relief but also public safety,\u201dMamdani said<\/a> during a Thursday New York City mayoral debate<\/a> against former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (I) and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.\u00a0<\/p>\n He added that New Yorkers deserved more \u201cthan the slowest buses in the country,\u201d referencing one city bus line\u2019s average speed of 4.5 miles per hour.<\/p>\n The federal government\u2019s demand to halt the project is the latest in a series of attacks by the Trump administration against city funding and projects.<\/p>\n Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought wrote on X<\/a> in early October that the administration had paused $18 billion in federal funds from New York City due to \u201cunconstitutional DEI principles.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The administration has also cut funding<\/a> to the city\u2019s education system for not adhering to anti-transgender bathroom and locker room policies, prompting a lawsuit<\/a> from New York City\u2019s public schools. Previously, the administration cut<\/a> \u2014 then restored \u2014 $187 million in Homeland Security and counterterrorism funding for the city and New York state.\u00a0<\/p>\n