On this edition of Pags' Perspective, I break down the chaos taking place in New Jersey with the potential NJ Transit strike, which would be the first in nearly 40 years if the transit agency and Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers cannot reach an agreement by midnight tonight, May 16th, 2025.
I also talk about the recent issues affecting Newark Liberty International Airport and its airspace, the responses from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the FAA regarding this, as well as Newark Mayor Ras Baraka being arrested at an ICE Detention Facility last week.
Intro: Origami Angel - Thank You, New Jersey
Clips of Joe Piscopo with Ryan Pagano and Jack Ciattarelli courtesy of The Joe Piscopo Show on AM 970 The Answer.
I also talk about the recent issues affecting Newark Liberty International Airport and its airspace, the responses from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the FAA regarding this, as well as Newark Mayor Ras Baraka being arrested at an ICE Detention Facility last week.
Intro: Origami Angel - Thank You, New Jersey
Clips of Joe Piscopo with Ryan Pagano and Jack Ciattarelli courtesy of The Joe Piscopo Show on AM 970 The Answer.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Pag's Perspective with your host Ryan Pagano. Thank
you New Jesse myself. Did someone please explain to me
what the hell is going on in New Jersey these days?
(00:27):
It's like the state has descended into a level of
aerarchy that we haven't seen in a long time. Well,
with a New Jersey transit strike potentially happening, Newark Airport
falling to shit, Newark's mayor being arrested at a nice
detention center. It's just so much craziness going on there
that from the outside looking in, as a native born
(00:48):
and raised Long Islander, I feel like I gotta talk
about this because I don't think I've ever seen a
level of chaos as bad as this, so many of
these potential issues happening all at once, I don't think
I've ever remembered a time ever, not even just in
New Jersey, but in any state. So I wanted to
start first with what is the most imminent, and that
(01:09):
is a potential New Jersey transit strike that can start
as soon as tonight if New Jersey Transit Management and
the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Union cannot agree on contract
negotiations by midnight tonight. So as of the time we're
recording this, it's about less than eight hours away, so
there is still time to get a deal done. But
(01:30):
New Jersey Heights just preparing for a strike in the
worst possible way. It would be the first major rail
strike for the company in over forty years. Now, if
you've walked around a New Jersey Transit station anytime lately,
even New York Penn Station where I was just at
earlier today commuting here to work, you might have noticed
some screaming red signage warning of these deep service cuts
(01:53):
starting at midnight Friday if there were to be a strike,
and not even just a Penn station, but also at
the Port Authority Bus terminal where New Jersey Transit buses
run out of stating quote due to a potential rail stoppage.
MG Transit strongly advises all trained customers to complete their
travels and arrive at their final destination no later than
eleven to fifty nine pm on Thursday May fifteenth. Now,
(02:17):
this from a sign on a TV monitor in the
Port Authority Bus terminal in Midtown. Shout out to the
New York Post by the way, because let's be real,
this long Islanders's not go to the Port Authority bus terminal,
So how would I even know about this in the
first place? Right, Yes, So, assuming a deal cannot get
reached by midnight tonight, New Jersey Transit engineers are just
(02:37):
going to walk off the job and leave potentially thousands
of people stranded at wherever the final stop is going
to be come midnight tonight. Which it really is crazy
to think that something like that would happen. Yet somehow
it isn't far fetched given New Jersey Transits recent track
record as far as delays and customer satisfaction though. I
(02:59):
mean literally, just look at Frank the Tank's Twitter and
you'll see what I mean. Heck, you can even go
all the way back to twenty seventeen when Frank gained
mainstream notoriety.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Josey Tragic is the absolute lost. I'm not gonna get
to my game now because you are incompetant.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Man.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Look, you could say what you want about Frank. In
the end, that clip never gets sold anyway. Like I said,
it's just crazy that something like that would happen. But
I can't blame the engineers here, the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers Union. They say they're walking off the jobs because
they want parody with Amtrak and the MTA, especially the MTA,
who make way more per hour compared to New Jersey
(03:39):
Transit engineers, where their hourly rate starts at thirty nine
to seventy eight an hour. They're Long Island Railroad counterparts,
for context, making forty nine to ninety two an hour
and Metro North getting fifty seven to twenty an hour.
It doesn't really sound like anything that isn't unreasonable or
anything like that. They just want their salaries to be
more on par with their New York counterparts, especially when
(04:03):
Metro North operates trains on the Port Jervis Line in
New Jersey Transit territory, they share tracks with NJ Transit,
which has just added more fuel to the fire solely
based on geography. Now, there haven't been any updates as
of today, as spokesman for NJ Transit Management saying there
were no updates to report this afternoon, but they did
(04:24):
confirm that negotiations were ongoing, so I'm sure at the
time I'm recording this, that they are still talking down
in Washington, d C. To mediate amid these failing contract negotiations.
So I just hope, for the sake of my New
Jersey brothers and sisters listening to this, that they can
get a deal done, Because if you know anything about
(04:44):
the Northeast Corridor rail network spanning from Washington, d C.
To Boston, one of the first things you will remember
is that it is the busiest section of rail in
the United States. New Jersey Transit, of course, operating right
along that. A potential strike would impact some three hundred
and fifty thousand commuters working in Jersey and the city
(05:05):
who rely on the nation's third largest transit system, providing
nearly a million weekday trips. The transit agency urging people
to work from home if possible, But what about the
blue collar workers? What about the media folks who don't
necessarily have that luxury of being able to work from home.
You know, you got to get around somewhere. Now. I
(05:26):
will give New Jersey Transit some credit here, not a
lot of it, but I will give them some credit
for their contingency plans that they have already made pretty clear.
Should their engineers walk off the job tonight. NJ Transit
planning to increase bus service, saying it would add very
limited capacity to existing New York commuter bus routes near
rail stations, and we'll contract with private carriers to operate
(05:50):
bus service from key regional parking rides during weekday peak periods,
which is at least some consolation, not like it's going
to be able to handle anywhere near the same number
of passes that would rely on all those trains going
into and out of New York. They will also have
some additional plans in case the strike were to last
Monday morning that charter buses would run from four satellite
(06:11):
lots around New Jersey, with two of them going directly
into Manhattan to Port Authority. Buses from the Secaucus Junction
train station and the P and C Bank Guards Center
in Holmdel will go straight to Port Authority. They're also
going to have buses at the Hamilton rail station that
would take passengers to Newark Penn Station, where they can
of course connect with the Path to get them to
the World Trade Center, and also buses picking up passengers
(06:34):
at the Woodbridge Center Mall will take them to the
Harrison Path station, which like Newark Penn also will connect
people to the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. New
Jersey Transit also not offering crosshnor tickets at these park
and ride locations. Also for those going to the airport,
Port Authority is going to be operating a free shuttle
bus service from Newark Penn to those that got to
(06:57):
go out of Newark. Not that I would really see
a reason why people would even want to go out
of Newark in the first place, but stick a pin
in that for just a moment, because we will be
coming back to Newark later. But also props s Amtrak
as well for continuing to offer service to and from
Newark Airport at Penn Station. Of course, you need an
Amtrak ticket to access the service, with Port Authority buses
(07:20):
also being available, so they are adequately prepared for a
strike to go down Friday, potentially into the weekend. Now,
for all I know, this could be meaningless at the
end of the day if they were to reach a
deal regardless of whether or not there is a strike,
though the impact is certainly going to be felt either way,
already causing disruptions in New Jersey transits normal operation. The
(07:42):
agency is saying Monday that it would not offer train
and bus service to MetLife Stadium tonight and tomorrow night
for the Shakira concerts that are scheduled to take place there.
So while Shakira may say the hips don't lie New
Jersey Transit and their engineers, they certainly are not lying either,
and just a huge blow to those that rely on
(08:03):
public transit to get to MetLife, especially those coming from
New York City, especially those coming from Long Island. Like, listen,
we're going to MetLife for any concert or football game
or whatever's going on over there, most of us are
taking New Jersey Transit because, let's be real, we're not
dealing with the traffic, especially since it's during rush hour,
and if I'm being honest, I'd much rather just pay
(08:24):
for a New Jersey Transit train ticket as opposed to
dealing with all the tolls to even get to the
damn stadium in the first place. It also isn't known
at this point how long service to and from MetLife
would be affected, but it also is pretty noteworthy that
Beyonce is scheduled to perform there next week May twenty
(08:44):
second through May twenty ninth, so potential huge disruption could
be in play for those of you looking to see Beyonce.
But if that strike is going to drive down the
prices of tickets for Beyonce at MetLife. Maybe that would
be my chance to take my mother to go see
Beyonce at Met Life. You never know. Now, if that
were the only big thing going on with the state
of New Jersey, then the podcast would pretty much end
(09:06):
right about here, because it's not the only big issue
that has been plaguing the lives of New Jersey Heights recently.
Newark Liberty International Airport has been dealing with a ton
of issues, a ton of disruptions over the past few weeks.
You have tech outages, air traffic controller shortages, and runway
construction going on. You combine all three of those at once,
(09:28):
and what do you get. Scores have canceled and delayed flights.
It got absolutely exposed the other week that the technology
that these controllers are using has just been outdated by decades,
and it's something that Texas Senator Ted Cruz weighed in on,
calling it a multi year failure. United Airlines's biggest airline
(09:49):
by far, they have a hub in Newark Liberty. They're
reducing the number of flights temporarily while the FAA meets
with airline executives to figure out how the heck, they're
going to run operations smoothly while also at the same
time reducing the number of flights. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy
stating today he's looking to reduce takeoffs to twenty eight
an hour for now, and he's also considering pay incentives
(10:10):
to air traffic controllers as a potential solution for the
staffing issues in these towers. Now, these controllers controlling the
Newark airspace, they're based out of Philadelphia now. They used
to be based out of Long Island Garden City, to
be exact, for the longest time, until the FAA moved
them to Philadelphia to let the New York air traffic
(10:30):
controllers worry about their own air space with JFK and
LaGuardia and even MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkama. This took place
just last year, and to my understanding, Duffy in the FAA,
they're looking to move some of those controllers back to
Long Island where everything was working just fine. We didn't
have any issues there just when they moved down to Philadelphia.
(10:52):
Now everything's suddenly going to hell and back. Now the
FAA's staffing target of controllers serving Newark it's about it's
eight and do you want to know how many are
actually employed to serve Newark twenty two So for those
of you who are math nerds, that's about a third
shy of the FA staffing target. And I wish I
(11:13):
could say that this issue could magically solve itself overnight
with some new hires, but it's far from an overnight process.
The transition from onboarding to getting cleared to serve in
the towers, it's a very long one. It's not something
that's magically gonna happen overnight. It's why, unlike most Democrats,
I didn't blame Donald Trump for the fatal American Eagle
crash near DC's Reagan Airport in January. God rest all
(11:36):
those souls, by the way, especially when it was revealed
that the Reagan Tower, like Newark, had staffing issues at
the time of the crash, and not to mention, it
took place like a week after Trump was inaugurated for
the second time. So if anything, if you're really looking
for a president to blame his predecessor, blame his predecessor. Also,
(11:56):
for those of you asking, by the way, Newark isn't
the only big city dealing with these air traffic controlling issues.
There's been similar issues in Denver over the past couple
of days as well, so this isn't just a Newark issue.
It's now unfortunately becoming more of a national issue. But
back to Newark and touching on the tight staffing that
they've had, it's been severely disrupting their operations, especially this
(12:17):
past week Monday, limited staffing forcing the FAA to prevent
flights heading to Newark from leaving their point of origin.
A lot of delays at the airport too, averaging about
an hour forty minutes and in some cases lasting as
long as seven freaking hours. So jeez, it's insane. And
at some of these points too, there were as few
(12:38):
as three controllers working when the staffing target was fourteen
fourteen and they only have three people working these towers.
I could count that on one hand, even if it's
Damn Chubb's doing the counting. Happy Gilmore reference by the way,
Yeah I went there. But you can't expect much success
(12:59):
when only in the amount of controllers I can count
on one hand have to deal with their radars and
other technology crapping out and not allowing them to communicate
with pilots who you know are in flight looking to
land in Newark. This is just such a big topic now.
It was also a big topic last week when I
filled in on the Joe Piscopost show on AM nine
(13:20):
to seventy The Answer, and on that Tuesday show May sixth,
I broke the news about a New York Post article
which detailed new audio being released showcasing the chaos in
the skies involving a United Airlines pilot and Newark air
traffic controllers. Why don't you take a listen?
Speaker 2 (13:38):
More importantly, Ryan, you have news about the airports. Can
you do anything?
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Indeed, so, this just came out a little over an
hour ago from the New York Post's Emily Crane. New
audio reveals tense moments after Newark Airport air traffic controllers
lost contact quote are you there now? This article goes
on to talk about the roughly thirty seconds of silence
(14:05):
as a United Airlines pilot and route to New Orleans,
radioing the controllers at least five times as he sought
clearance to land at the airport.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
This was the twenty eight Joe, you said April twenty.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
On April twenty and we still don't find out what
happened there, huh, And Sean Duffy on Laura Listen, I
did not, and I don't think they knew what happened,
but I think it was just some kind of glitch
that they got.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Well, like I said, they lost contact for about thirty
seconds and they knew that. Yes, thank you, Ron, it's
very good.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
That's amazing. That's amazing that that would happen.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
And thank you to Joe for letting me break that
on his show. So as the chaos continues on in
the skies, there's also more chaos unfolding with another big
national issue, which I mean really it's been a big
national issue for almost a decade now, which has been
Trump and the borders are Tom Homan overseeing the deporting
of all these illegal migrants. And if you want to
(14:58):
take a wild guest who does not like that, it
is the Democrats, especially in the Democratic run New Jersey,
with many taking to a new federal immigration detention center
at Newark's Delaney Hall last Friday to protest, and there
they were being warned to lead the facility or face
an arrest on trespassing charges. There was somebody who ignored
(15:20):
said warnings and was arrested at the detention center. But
it just so happened to be the mayor of Newark,
New Jersey being arrested. Ross Baraka was being held in
custody for a few hours before being released from prison.
This coming as he's in the midst of a run
for governor to succeed the term limited Phil Murphy and
also embracing the fight with the Trump administration over the
(15:43):
illegal immigration issue. Speaking of embracing, we're gonna go back
to the Joe Piscopos show for just a moment here,
as some of Baraka's opponents in that race, like Jack Chiarelli,
really embracing the Republican's point of view of these stems
just being absolutely crazy. And this was something that he
discussed with Joe on a show just last Tuesday.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
What are these people doing? Do we know these people?
Speaker 4 (16:06):
You've known him for years, You've served with these people
as an assemblyman.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
What are these people thinking? How are they so off base?
The Democrats in the state of New Jersey, Jack.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Joe, I don't mean to be mean spirited here, but
they've lost their minds. Let's think about this for a second.
This is a detention center, a federal ice detention center
in which illegals who committed crimes are housed. What is
there to protest? Are we about keeping our community safe?
But you know what, Joe, I hope they go back
time and time, Akain, because it reveals who they are
and how I don't touch they are with everyday New Jerseyans,
(16:37):
everyday New Jerseys and people across this country want us
to be safe again. That's what the President's trying to do,
and that's what we need governors to do.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
In partnership with the President and.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
Jack, you wouldn't allow New Jersey to be a sanctuary
state or cities.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Correct, you would make that change Jack.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Generally on day one, Joe, it's Executive Order number one.
No city will be a sanctuary city. We will not
be a sanctuary state. And my attorney Jen, we will
support me one hundred percent of that, otherwise he won't
be my attorney general.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Now, Baraka's argument is pretty understandable. He argues that Delaney
Hall shouldn't be allowed to operate due to building permit issues,
and that's why they're protesting against this. Also that the
federal government has just been targeting him and trying to
intimidate him, which is a sentiment that not only he
is expressed as he's appearing in court, but also it's
something that his wife Linda is expressing publicly. And like
(17:28):
I said, Ross Baraka in federal court today after his
arrest by Ice and he's hoping to win a lawsuit
against the federal government on account of a new video
claim which he says proves that he didn't step foot
and trespass into Delaney Hall during the protest. Either way,
it's just a very tense situation going on with the mayor.
This whole border issue really has been nothing but tense
(17:51):
since that first Trump administration. I'm willing to bet you
could probably feel that tension right now as you're listening
to this. Like if this tension was a block of
butter and you tried to cut through it with a knife,
the knife will break on you. That's how bad this is.
Whether it's because of alleged human rights issues getting rid
of some extra votes for the Democrats allegedly accidentally deporting
(18:14):
American citizens, or just because Donald Trump is in support
of the wall in deporting the illegals and they just
want to hate on anything and everything that he does
because of that. Either way, it's tense all around, and
I can only hope as a fellow American that these
issues resolve and that the great State of New Jersey
can get back to what they're doing, and that we
(18:34):
could focus on all these other pressing issues going on
right now that US Americans are so very concerned about.
I can only help the best for New Jersey. Whether
it's with the New Jersey Transit strikes, the air traffic
controller chaos, or even the illegal immigration issue in Newark.
There's a lot that we could only hope is resolved.
(18:56):
And that's exactly why I felt it was important to
my perspective on this as an outsider, just looking at
it from the outside ind and that's something I will
continue to do if necessary here on PEG's perspective. Now,
watch me have to make another episode in just a
couple of hours saying that New Jersey Transit and their
engineers have come to an agreement, because it's the way
(19:18):
that this always goes with this podcast. Just watch it happen,
trust me.
Welcome to Pag's Perspective with your host Ryan Pagano. Thank
you New Jesse myself. Did someone please explain to me
what the hell is going on in New Jersey these days?
(00:27):
It's like the state has descended into a level of
aerarchy that we haven't seen in a long time. Well,
with a New Jersey transit strike potentially happening, Newark Airport
falling to shit, Newark's mayor being arrested at a nice
detention center. It's just so much craziness going on there
that from the outside looking in, as a native born
(00:48):
and raised Long Islander, I feel like I gotta talk
about this because I don't think I've ever seen a
level of chaos as bad as this, so many of
these potential issues happening all at once, I don't think
I've ever remembered a time ever, not even just in
New Jersey, but in any state. So I wanted to
start first with what is the most imminent, and that
(01:09):
is a potential New Jersey transit strike that can start
as soon as tonight if New Jersey Transit Management and
the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Union cannot agree on contract
negotiations by midnight tonight. So as of the time we're
recording this, it's about less than eight hours away, so
there is still time to get a deal done. But
(01:30):
New Jersey Heights just preparing for a strike in the
worst possible way. It would be the first major rail
strike for the company in over forty years. Now, if
you've walked around a New Jersey Transit station anytime lately,
even New York Penn Station where I was just at
earlier today commuting here to work, you might have noticed
some screaming red signage warning of these deep service cuts
(01:53):
starting at midnight Friday if there were to be a strike,
and not even just a Penn station, but also at
the Port Authority Bus terminal where New Jersey Transit buses
run out of stating quote due to a potential rail stoppage.
MG Transit strongly advises all trained customers to complete their
travels and arrive at their final destination no later than
eleven to fifty nine pm on Thursday May fifteenth. Now,
(02:17):
this from a sign on a TV monitor in the
Port Authority Bus terminal in Midtown. Shout out to the
New York Post by the way, because let's be real,
this long Islanders's not go to the Port Authority bus terminal,
So how would I even know about this in the
first place? Right, Yes, So, assuming a deal cannot get
reached by midnight tonight, New Jersey Transit engineers are just
(02:37):
going to walk off the job and leave potentially thousands
of people stranded at wherever the final stop is going
to be come midnight tonight. Which it really is crazy
to think that something like that would happen. Yet somehow
it isn't far fetched given New Jersey Transits recent track
record as far as delays and customer satisfaction though. I
(02:59):
mean literally, just look at Frank the Tank's Twitter and
you'll see what I mean. Heck, you can even go
all the way back to twenty seventeen when Frank gained
mainstream notoriety.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Josey Tragic is the absolute lost. I'm not gonna get
to my game now because you are incompetant.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Man.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
Look, you could say what you want about Frank. In
the end, that clip never gets sold anyway. Like I said,
it's just crazy that something like that would happen. But
I can't blame the engineers here, the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers Union. They say they're walking off the jobs because
they want parody with Amtrak and the MTA, especially the MTA,
who make way more per hour compared to New Jersey
(03:39):
Transit engineers, where their hourly rate starts at thirty nine
to seventy eight an hour. They're Long Island Railroad counterparts,
for context, making forty nine to ninety two an hour
and Metro North getting fifty seven to twenty an hour.
It doesn't really sound like anything that isn't unreasonable or
anything like that. They just want their salaries to be
more on par with their New York counterparts, especially when
(04:03):
Metro North operates trains on the Port Jervis Line in
New Jersey Transit territory, they share tracks with NJ Transit,
which has just added more fuel to the fire solely
based on geography. Now, there haven't been any updates as
of today, as spokesman for NJ Transit Management saying there
were no updates to report this afternoon, but they did
(04:24):
confirm that negotiations were ongoing, so I'm sure at the
time I'm recording this, that they are still talking down
in Washington, d C. To mediate amid these failing contract negotiations.
So I just hope, for the sake of my New
Jersey brothers and sisters listening to this, that they can
get a deal done, Because if you know anything about
(04:44):
the Northeast Corridor rail network spanning from Washington, d C.
To Boston, one of the first things you will remember
is that it is the busiest section of rail in
the United States. New Jersey Transit, of course, operating right
along that. A potential strike would impact some three hundred
and fifty thousand commuters working in Jersey and the city
(05:05):
who rely on the nation's third largest transit system, providing
nearly a million weekday trips. The transit agency urging people
to work from home if possible, But what about the
blue collar workers? What about the media folks who don't
necessarily have that luxury of being able to work from home.
You know, you got to get around somewhere. Now. I
(05:26):
will give New Jersey Transit some credit here, not a
lot of it, but I will give them some credit
for their contingency plans that they have already made pretty clear.
Should their engineers walk off the job tonight. NJ Transit
planning to increase bus service, saying it would add very
limited capacity to existing New York commuter bus routes near
rail stations, and we'll contract with private carriers to operate
(05:50):
bus service from key regional parking rides during weekday peak periods,
which is at least some consolation, not like it's going
to be able to handle anywhere near the same number
of passes that would rely on all those trains going
into and out of New York. They will also have
some additional plans in case the strike were to last
Monday morning that charter buses would run from four satellite
(06:11):
lots around New Jersey, with two of them going directly
into Manhattan to Port Authority. Buses from the Secaucus Junction
train station and the P and C Bank Guards Center
in Holmdel will go straight to Port Authority. They're also
going to have buses at the Hamilton rail station that
would take passengers to Newark Penn Station, where they can
of course connect with the Path to get them to
the World Trade Center, and also buses picking up passengers
(06:34):
at the Woodbridge Center Mall will take them to the
Harrison Path station, which like Newark Penn also will connect
people to the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. New
Jersey Transit also not offering crosshnor tickets at these park
and ride locations. Also for those going to the airport,
Port Authority is going to be operating a free shuttle
bus service from Newark Penn to those that got to
(06:57):
go out of Newark. Not that I would really see
a reason why people would even want to go out
of Newark in the first place, but stick a pin
in that for just a moment, because we will be
coming back to Newark later. But also props s Amtrak
as well for continuing to offer service to and from
Newark Airport at Penn Station. Of course, you need an
Amtrak ticket to access the service, with Port Authority buses
(07:20):
also being available, so they are adequately prepared for a
strike to go down Friday, potentially into the weekend. Now,
for all I know, this could be meaningless at the
end of the day if they were to reach a
deal regardless of whether or not there is a strike,
though the impact is certainly going to be felt either way,
already causing disruptions in New Jersey transits normal operation. The
(07:42):
agency is saying Monday that it would not offer train
and bus service to MetLife Stadium tonight and tomorrow night
for the Shakira concerts that are scheduled to take place there.
So while Shakira may say the hips don't lie New
Jersey Transit and their engineers, they certainly are not lying either,
and just a huge blow to those that rely on
(08:03):
public transit to get to MetLife, especially those coming from
New York City, especially those coming from Long Island. Like, listen,
we're going to MetLife for any concert or football game
or whatever's going on over there, most of us are
taking New Jersey Transit because, let's be real, we're not
dealing with the traffic, especially since it's during rush hour,
and if I'm being honest, I'd much rather just pay
(08:24):
for a New Jersey Transit train ticket as opposed to
dealing with all the tolls to even get to the
damn stadium in the first place. It also isn't known
at this point how long service to and from MetLife
would be affected, but it also is pretty noteworthy that
Beyonce is scheduled to perform there next week May twenty
(08:44):
second through May twenty ninth, so potential huge disruption could
be in play for those of you looking to see Beyonce.
But if that strike is going to drive down the
prices of tickets for Beyonce at MetLife. Maybe that would
be my chance to take my mother to go see
Beyonce at Met Life. You never know. Now, if that
were the only big thing going on with the state
of New Jersey, then the podcast would pretty much end
(09:06):
right about here, because it's not the only big issue
that has been plaguing the lives of New Jersey Heights recently.
Newark Liberty International Airport has been dealing with a ton
of issues, a ton of disruptions over the past few weeks.
You have tech outages, air traffic controller shortages, and runway
construction going on. You combine all three of those at once,
(09:28):
and what do you get. Scores have canceled and delayed flights.
It got absolutely exposed the other week that the technology
that these controllers are using has just been outdated by decades,
and it's something that Texas Senator Ted Cruz weighed in on,
calling it a multi year failure. United Airlines's biggest airline
(09:49):
by far, they have a hub in Newark Liberty. They're
reducing the number of flights temporarily while the FAA meets
with airline executives to figure out how the heck, they're
going to run operations smoothly while also at the same
time reducing the number of flights. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy
stating today he's looking to reduce takeoffs to twenty eight
an hour for now, and he's also considering pay incentives
(10:10):
to air traffic controllers as a potential solution for the
staffing issues in these towers. Now, these controllers controlling the
Newark airspace, they're based out of Philadelphia now. They used
to be based out of Long Island Garden City, to
be exact, for the longest time, until the FAA moved
them to Philadelphia to let the New York air traffic
(10:30):
controllers worry about their own air space with JFK and
LaGuardia and even MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkama. This took place
just last year, and to my understanding, Duffy in the FAA,
they're looking to move some of those controllers back to
Long Island where everything was working just fine. We didn't
have any issues there just when they moved down to Philadelphia.
(10:52):
Now everything's suddenly going to hell and back. Now the
FAA's staffing target of controllers serving Newark it's about it's
eight and do you want to know how many are
actually employed to serve Newark twenty two So for those
of you who are math nerds, that's about a third
shy of the FA staffing target. And I wish I
(11:13):
could say that this issue could magically solve itself overnight
with some new hires, but it's far from an overnight process.
The transition from onboarding to getting cleared to serve in
the towers, it's a very long one. It's not something
that's magically gonna happen overnight. It's why, unlike most Democrats,
I didn't blame Donald Trump for the fatal American Eagle
crash near DC's Reagan Airport in January. God rest all
(11:36):
those souls, by the way, especially when it was revealed
that the Reagan Tower, like Newark, had staffing issues at
the time of the crash, and not to mention, it
took place like a week after Trump was inaugurated for
the second time. So if anything, if you're really looking
for a president to blame his predecessor, blame his predecessor. Also,
(11:56):
for those of you asking, by the way, Newark isn't
the only big city dealing with these air traffic controlling issues.
There's been similar issues in Denver over the past couple
of days as well, so this isn't just a Newark issue.
It's now unfortunately becoming more of a national issue. But
back to Newark and touching on the tight staffing that
they've had, it's been severely disrupting their operations, especially this
(12:17):
past week Monday, limited staffing forcing the FAA to prevent
flights heading to Newark from leaving their point of origin.
A lot of delays at the airport too, averaging about
an hour forty minutes and in some cases lasting as
long as seven freaking hours. So jeez, it's insane. And
at some of these points too, there were as few
(12:38):
as three controllers working when the staffing target was fourteen
fourteen and they only have three people working these towers.
I could count that on one hand, even if it's
Damn Chubb's doing the counting. Happy Gilmore reference by the way,
Yeah I went there. But you can't expect much success
(12:59):
when only in the amount of controllers I can count
on one hand have to deal with their radars and
other technology crapping out and not allowing them to communicate
with pilots who you know are in flight looking to
land in Newark. This is just such a big topic now.
It was also a big topic last week when I
filled in on the Joe Piscopost show on AM nine
(13:20):
to seventy The Answer, and on that Tuesday show May sixth,
I broke the news about a New York Post article
which detailed new audio being released showcasing the chaos in
the skies involving a United Airlines pilot and Newark air
traffic controllers. Why don't you take a listen?
Speaker 2 (13:38):
More importantly, Ryan, you have news about the airports. Can
you do anything?
Speaker 3 (13:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Indeed, so, this just came out a little over an
hour ago from the New York Post's Emily Crane. New
audio reveals tense moments after Newark Airport air traffic controllers
lost contact quote are you there now? This article goes
on to talk about the roughly thirty seconds of silence
(14:05):
as a United Airlines pilot and route to New Orleans,
radioing the controllers at least five times as he sought
clearance to land at the airport.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
This was the twenty eight Joe, you said April twenty.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
On April twenty and we still don't find out what
happened there, huh, And Sean Duffy on Laura Listen, I
did not, and I don't think they knew what happened,
but I think it was just some kind of glitch
that they got.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Well, like I said, they lost contact for about thirty
seconds and they knew that. Yes, thank you, Ron, it's
very good.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
That's amazing. That's amazing that that would happen.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
And thank you to Joe for letting me break that
on his show. So as the chaos continues on in
the skies, there's also more chaos unfolding with another big
national issue, which I mean really it's been a big
national issue for almost a decade now, which has been
Trump and the borders are Tom Homan overseeing the deporting
of all these illegal migrants. And if you want to
(14:58):
take a wild guest who does not like that, it
is the Democrats, especially in the Democratic run New Jersey,
with many taking to a new federal immigration detention center
at Newark's Delaney Hall last Friday to protest, and there
they were being warned to lead the facility or face
an arrest on trespassing charges. There was somebody who ignored
(15:20):
said warnings and was arrested at the detention center. But
it just so happened to be the mayor of Newark,
New Jersey being arrested. Ross Baraka was being held in
custody for a few hours before being released from prison.
This coming as he's in the midst of a run
for governor to succeed the term limited Phil Murphy and
also embracing the fight with the Trump administration over the
(15:43):
illegal immigration issue. Speaking of embracing, we're gonna go back
to the Joe Piscopos show for just a moment here,
as some of Baraka's opponents in that race, like Jack Chiarelli,
really embracing the Republican's point of view of these stems
just being absolutely crazy. And this was something that he
discussed with Joe on a show just last Tuesday.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
What are these people doing? Do we know these people?
Speaker 4 (16:06):
You've known him for years, You've served with these people
as an assemblyman.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
What are these people thinking? How are they so off base?
The Democrats in the state of New Jersey, Jack.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
Joe, I don't mean to be mean spirited here, but
they've lost their minds. Let's think about this for a second.
This is a detention center, a federal ice detention center
in which illegals who committed crimes are housed. What is
there to protest? Are we about keeping our community safe?
But you know what, Joe, I hope they go back
time and time, Akain, because it reveals who they are
and how I don't touch they are with everyday New Jerseyans,
(16:37):
everyday New Jerseys and people across this country want us
to be safe again. That's what the President's trying to do,
and that's what we need governors to do.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
In partnership with the President and.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
Jack, you wouldn't allow New Jersey to be a sanctuary
state or cities.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Correct, you would make that change Jack.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Generally on day one, Joe, it's Executive Order number one.
No city will be a sanctuary city. We will not
be a sanctuary state. And my attorney Jen, we will
support me one hundred percent of that, otherwise he won't
be my attorney general.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Now, Baraka's argument is pretty understandable. He argues that Delaney
Hall shouldn't be allowed to operate due to building permit issues,
and that's why they're protesting against this. Also that the
federal government has just been targeting him and trying to
intimidate him, which is a sentiment that not only he
is expressed as he's appearing in court, but also it's
something that his wife Linda is expressing publicly. And like
(17:28):
I said, Ross Baraka in federal court today after his
arrest by Ice and he's hoping to win a lawsuit
against the federal government on account of a new video
claim which he says proves that he didn't step foot
and trespass into Delaney Hall during the protest. Either way,
it's just a very tense situation going on with the mayor.
This whole border issue really has been nothing but tense
(17:51):
since that first Trump administration. I'm willing to bet you
could probably feel that tension right now as you're listening
to this. Like if this tension was a block of
butter and you tried to cut through it with a knife,
the knife will break on you. That's how bad this is.
Whether it's because of alleged human rights issues getting rid
of some extra votes for the Democrats allegedly accidentally deporting
(18:14):
American citizens, or just because Donald Trump is in support
of the wall in deporting the illegals and they just
want to hate on anything and everything that he does
because of that. Either way, it's tense all around, and
I can only hope as a fellow American that these
issues resolve and that the great State of New Jersey
can get back to what they're doing, and that we
(18:34):
could focus on all these other pressing issues going on
right now that US Americans are so very concerned about.
I can only help the best for New Jersey. Whether
it's with the New Jersey Transit strikes, the air traffic
controller chaos, or even the illegal immigration issue in Newark.
There's a lot that we could only hope is resolved.
(18:56):
And that's exactly why I felt it was important to
my perspective on this as an outsider, just looking at
it from the outside ind and that's something I will
continue to do if necessary here on PEG's perspective. Now,
watch me have to make another episode in just a
couple of hours saying that New Jersey Transit and their
engineers have come to an agreement, because it's the way
(19:18):
that this always goes with this podcast. Just watch it happen,
trust me.
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