________ Franklin square/elmont _______
2025 HIGH SCHOO L S P O RT S P R E V I E W April 10, 2025
HERALD
PLAINEDGE’S
LYNBROOK’S
BROOKE MAZZEI
OWEN DONNELLAN
’
Vol. 27 No. 16 FOR THE
Elmont school spending up 5%
9-year-old to sing at family eatery
Page 2
Page 3
APRIl 17 - 23, 2025
24 TEAMS
$1.00
Neighbors unite to reimagine Franklin Square By RENEE DeloRENZo rdelorenzo@liherald.com
Courtesy Darren Boerckel
Franklin Square neighbors stand united in front of the beloved theater they hope to bring back to life, driven by a shared vision for their community’s future.
Franklin Square is gearing up for a fresh wave of improvements, with the Franklin Square Forward coalition leading the charge through ongoing community workshops. The community-led coalition began mapping out its vision for the town during its April 9 meeting at Washington Street School, looking at the acquisition and revitalization of the Franklin Square Theater, a new tree planting program and an overlay district in the downtown area. The coalition, which began meeting in October 2024, is committed to revitalizing Franklin Square through upgrades and improvements to infrastructure, along with beautification initiatives. Because the town is not an incorporated village, the coalition is aimed at giving Franklin Square residents more autonomy over decisions made for the town. Darren Boerckel, a member of Franklin Square Forward, is part of the Franklin Square Theater Committee, a subcommittee of the coalition. He said the coalition is under contract Continued on page 32
Uber cuts driver base pay, blames congestion pricing By RENEE DeloRENZo rdelorenzo@liherald.com
Uber drivers’ wages have been cut by about 20 percent after congestion pricing, which charges motorists $9 to enter Manhattan at or below 60th Street during peak traffic times, went into effect on Jan. 5. Gover nor Kathy Hochul claims the funds raised from the state-run program are for upgrades to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. However, Uber drivers are saying the company is citing congestion pricing as their rea-
son for lowering base pay, which has been reduced from $5.39 per ride before the program went into effect to $4 per ride after. Steve Azor, a driver for Uber since 2016, lives in Elmont, but has a Taxi and Limousine Commission plate that allows him to operate his for-hire-vehicle in New York City. Azor said he blames congestion pricing for his recent reduction in wages. Most Uber rides, Azor said, have pickup and drop off points about 10 to 15 street blocks away from each other, taking him about 10 minutes to complete. With the new cut in base pay,
Azor’s average of about $25 an hour, with the previous $5 rate, is now $20 an hour. For an 8-hour day, it lowers his pay from $200 to $160. However, he said, the impact o f t h e s t at e - r u n p ro g r a m extends beyond Uber drivers. The cost is also passed along to customers, who are paying an additional $1.50 congestion pricing fee for rides during peak hours. This new fee is on top of an existing $2.75 congestion fee for Uber trips below 96th Street in Manhattan, which was implemented by the company in 2019. According to a 2023 article on Uber’s website, the company
has been lobbying for congestion pricing since 2015. “Uber supports congestion pricing,” the article states, “including on our own trips, to fund mass transit infrastructure. We do this because we are a for-profit company and good, robust, public transportation is good for business, reducing the need for car ownership and
increasing use cases for Uber.” The company wrote that it spent millions of dollars funding message testing, research, lobbyists and grassroots organizing to assist their fight for congestion pricing. In a statement to the New York Post in 2019, the company says it spent $2 million from 2015 to 2019 on Continued on page 4