The Weekly Wrap: Congestion Pricing Faces Yet Another Challenge

Welcome back to The Weekly Wrap, our Friday roundup of stories that explain the problems oppressing people in cities and elevate the solutions that bring us closer to economic, environmental and social justice. If you enjoy this newsletter, share it with a friend or colleague and tell them to subscribe.

If your work has been impacted by the new federal administration, we want to hear from you. We’re accepting related op-eds and are open to learning more about your experience. Email us with your story.

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Trump Kills NYC Congestion Pricing Program

Nearly two months into the long-awaited, hard-fought launch of congestion pricing in Manhattan, President Donald Trump announced he had killed the scheme. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Transportation rescinded its approval of the driver toll, which is meant to reduce traffic and raise funds for public transportation.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority immediately filed a lawsuit against the DOT (a case that one law professor told CBS could land at the U.S. Supreme Court). Gov. Kathy Hochul – who had previously halted the congestion pricing plan herself – says the toll scanners will remain on. “New York hasn’t labored under a king in over 250 years, and we sure as hell are not going to start now,” Hochul said.

HUD and Federal Mortgage Insurer Face Mass Layoffs

Bloomberg reports that the Trump administration plans to play off at least 40% of workers at the Federal Housing Administration, which helps first-time buyers and low-income Americans access homeownership and has insured more than 40 million home loans since 1934. The federal agency helps homebuyers secure loans if they cannot afford a down payment or have insufficient credit and also provides mortgage insurance to protect against lenders’ losses on these loans.

The federal insurer’s parent agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is planning to cut 50% of its workforce, Bloomberg Law reports. Keep an eye out for more reporting from Next City about HUD’s future and how it will affect housing and homeless service providers. If you work with HUD, have knowledge about the Trump administration’s HUD policies, or are a service provider whose federal funding has been delayed by the Trump administration, please reach out to housing@nextcity.org using a secure device.

More Than $50 Billion Required to Rebuild Gaza, Report Finds

A new assessment from the U.N., the European Union and the World Bank finds that at least $53 billion will be needed for Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction over the next decade.

The Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment estimates that Israel’s 15-month war on Gaza (paused since a fragile ceasefire was reached in January) has led to $29.9 billion in physical damages and $19.1 billion in economic and social losses.

This includes $15.8 billion in damages to the housing sector, $5.9 billion in commerce and industry, $2.5 billion in transport, $6.3 billion in health, and more. “The loss of life, widespread destruction, and the speed of damage to infrastructure have reached levels that rank among the worst in both the Middle East and North Africa region’s history,” researchers write. “The consequences of this are expected to exert a prolonged and substantial burden on economic activities for several years ahead.”

The Environmental Protection Lawsuits Have Begun

The Trump administration currently faces more than 70 lawsuits over ending birthright citizenship, freezing federal funds, dismantling USAID and more, Reuters reports.

Now two major environmental legal challenges have been added to the pile. A broad coalition of environmental groups have sued to block Trump’s reversal of offshore drilling bans in certain coastal areas and, separately, to reinstate protections for 128 million acres of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans that Trump opened for oil leasing.

Trump Calls for Federal Takeover of D.C. Government

Following the recent introduction of a long-shot bill to abolish the local government of Washington, D.C. and enable Congress to legislate for its 700,000 residents, Trump said that federal government should take over governance of the district.

“We should run it strong, run it with law and order, make it absolutely flawlessly beautiful … make it safe,” he said. “They’re not doing the job. Too much crime, too much graffiti, too many tents on the lawns.”

Given the most serious threat yet to the district’s self-governance, local worker-owned newsroom The 51st examined the possibility of a full repeal of D.C.’s home rule.

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MORE NEWS

• The housing loophole that lets wealthy investors raise rents on poor tenants. ProPublica

• Trump to end protections for 500K Haitian migrants, paving the way for deportations. Politico

• Trump ends climate work inside DHS, the agency that responds to disasters. Bloomberg

• Mark Zuckerberg’s charity guts DEI after assuring staff it would continue. The Guardian

• Texas banned abortion. Then sepsis rates soared. ProPublica

• Trump orders General Services Administration to sell properties. The Architect’s Newspaper

• Cities are starting to backpedal on bike lanes. Momentum Mag

OPPORTUNITIES & RESOURCES

• The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund’s Descendant and Family Stewardship Initiative is offering grants to descendant- and family-led organizations safeguarding a historic Black site. Submit a letter of intention by Feb. 24.

• AARP is accepting applications for this year’s Community Challenge Grant Program for projects that help make communities more livable for people of all ages. Apply by March 5.

• The Latin American Dictionary of Urban Mobility is open to contributions on urban mobility challenges in the region. Submissions are due Mar. 10.

• The Mellon Foundation is offering general operating support for community-based archives in the U.S. and its territories. Apply by March 12.

• The Urban Institute and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation are funding efforts to collect, analyze and use data through their Local Data for Equitable Communities grant program. (Disclosure: RWJF currently funds Next City.) Submit a proposal by March 18.

• The Rx Foundation has launched a new funding cycle for its Building Capacity for Health Advocacy grants. Submit a letter of interest by March 31.

• The Livable Communities Initiative, Arnold Ventures and partners have launched a National Single-Stair Competition. Submit your design by June 30.

• Check out Next City’s jobs board for new opportunities.

EVENTS

• Tuesday, Feb. 25: Documented is hosting an in-depth look at its new Wage Theft Monitor, which tracks proven claims of wage theft filed with the New York State and Federal Departments of Labor from 2012-2024, and its potential impact on immigrant workers.

• Wednesday, Feb. 26: Tech for Palestine is launching its global Entrepreneurs for Palestine initiative to mobilize the startup world in support of Palestine.

• Thursday and Friday, Feb. 27-28: The Center for Law, Equity and Race and the Black Reparations Project’s two-day event brings together scholars, advocates, elected officials, and community stakeholders to advance the work of reparative justice. Attend virtually or in Oakland, California.