$18B for 2d Ave subway, Hudson Tunnel ‘on hold’ to probe possible illegal DEI practices: OMB

 The White House is freezing about $18 billion in funding for two major Big Apple transportation projects amid the government shutdown and to make sure the federal cash isn’t going toward “unconstitutional” Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, officials announced Wednesday.

“Roughly $18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects have been put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional DEI principles,” White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought posted on X, just hours after the federal government went into a partial shutdown.

Vought added that the Hudson Tunnel project and Second Avenue subway extension were the two projects affected.

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The White House is freezing about $18 billion in funding for two major Big Apple transportation projects, announced hours after the federal government went into a partial shutdown.Kevin P. Coughlin / Office of th
Federal Transit Authority chief and former New York Congressman Mark Molinaro penned near-identical letters to MTA chairman Janno Lieber and Gateway Development Commission CEO Tom Prendergast on Sept. 30, alerting them that federal funding for both the Second Avenue Subway expansion and Hudson River tunnel project would be delayed pending a review for discriminatory practices.

The letters followed the publication of an interim final rule (IFR) banning race- and sex-based programs being funded by the US Department of Transportation from operating in a discriminatory fashion.

But a source familiar with the decision told The Post that funding will be stopped for both projects “due to [Sen. Chuck] Schumer’s shutdown” and that DOT employees responsible for funding the projects and reimbursing contractors have now been furloughed.

“This administration has concerns that the contracts awarded are inconsistent with civil rights laws and the constitution because they were given based on racist DEI,” the source said. “Thus, a review of contracts awarded under Biden is required. However, the review is also paused because of the Schumer shutdown.”

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Federal funding for both the Hudson River tunnel project would be delayed pending a review for discriminatory practices.AP

A DOT spokesperson reiterated Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s position that “subsidizing infrastructure contracts with taxpayer dollars based on discriminatory principles is unconstitutional, counter to civil rights laws, and a waste of taxpayer resources.”

The spokesperson added that DOT’s review of New York’s “unconstitutional practices” will require additional time, and that absent a budget, the department has furloughed the civil rights staff responsible for conducting the review.

“This is another unfortunate casualty of radical Democrats’ reckless decision to hold the federal government hostage to give illegal immigrants benefits.”

At a press conference Wednesday blaming Republicans for the government shutdown, Gov. Kathy Hochul quickly pivoted to the announcement the feds would be withholding cash from the infrastructure projects.

“They’re trying to make culture wars the reason why,” she told reporters from the Battery. “We’re ready to build. It’s underway, and now we realize that they decide to put their own interpretation of proper culture ahead of our needs, the needs of the nation. You can’t make this up, folks, it just keeps getting worse and worse.”

Other Democrats joined Hochul in melting down over the funding being withheld.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — who has aggressively championed both projects and is leading the Democrats’ opposition in the government shutdown row with the Trump administration — said the delay “royally screws commuters” in a statement on social media.

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Gov. Kathy Hochul quickly pivoted to discussing the infrastructure projects during a press conference blaming Republicans for the government shutdown.Getty Images

“Obstructing these projects is stupid and counterproductive because they create tens of thousands of great jobs and are essential for a strong regional and national economy,” the New York senator wrote on X.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a New Jersey Democrat running for governor in the Garden State, vowed on X to “fight this tooth-and-nail and sue the Trump administration to finish this critical, job-creating infrastructure project to reduce congestion and improve quality of life in New Jersey.”

New York City mayoral race front-runner and democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani also leaned into the “culture wars” argument, blasting President Trump and warning the move would “stall economic development” across the Empire State.

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Other Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer joined Hochul in melting down over the funding being withheld.MTA

“Donald Trump was elected because he promised to focus on an economy that was leaving too many people behind, instead he’s using his power to score political points,” he said in a statement.

The DOT said the massive NYC-based projects in its funding review crosshairs “are arguably the largest infrastructure initiatives in the Western Hemisphere, and the American people want to see them completed quickly and efficiently.”

The MTA in August awarded a nearly $2 billion contract for the long-promised Second Avenue Subway’s second phase, which will see a new tunnel dug from 116th Street to 125th Street, as well as construction on two new subway stations in East Harlem. 

The project’s first phase, completed in 2017 after a decade of work, added three stops to the Q line between 63rd Street and 96th Street at a cost of $4.45 billion. The $7.7 billion second step will expand the Q line 1.5 miles north, with three new stations expected to open by 2032.

The expansion will cost a whopping $4 billion per mile — propelling it to one of the costliest subway builds on the planet.

The $17.2 billion Hudson River tunnel project will involve repairing the existing tunnel, which was badly damaged during Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and creating a new one for Amtrak and state commuter lines between New Jersey and Manhattan.

https://nypost.com/2025/10/01/us-news/18b-in-nyc-infrastructure-funding-on-hold-to-probe-whether-it-was-going-to-illegal-dei-practices-omb/

'What will ‘TrumpRx’ mean for patients? Who will benefit most, what savings will look like

 Could “TrumpRx” be the prescription for lower drug prices?

President Donald Trump announced a landmark deal with Pfizer to cut drug prices and sell medications on TrumpRx, a direct-to-consumer federal website that’s slated to launch next year.

Prescription drug prices in the US are roughly 2.78 times higher on average than in 33 other high-income countries, a 2024 report by the RAND Corporation found — but some savings on TrumpRx are expected to reach up to 85%.

Still, the new deal has left Americans with some burning questions: Who will benefit? How much less will they pay? And will other pharmaceutical companies soon join?

Here’s a look at what the Pfizer deal and TrumpRx mean for American wallets.

Will everyone get cheaper drugs under TrumpRx?

The short answer: Most people will not.

Many of the details of the plan are still being ironed out, but some drug-pricing experts were less than impressed with Tuesday’s announcement, arguing that it will only help a sliver of the population.

“American citizens [will] continue to pay through the nose to get vital drugs into our bodies,” Alan Sager, a professor of health law, policy and management at the Boston University School of Public Health, told The Post.

“A few people will be better off — people who can afford to buy drugs that are not covered by their insurance through the website — because they’ll pay lower prices than they do now,” he added. “But that’ll be a few people in every thousand.”

Should people with insurance use TrumpRx?

The deals on the website are available only to people who are not using their health insurance, NPR reported. Ninety-two percent of Americans had health insurance in 2023, according to census numbers.

It would likely cost less to use health insurance — if the insurance covers the drugs.

For example, a 30-day supply of Xeljanz extended-release tablets to treat rheumatoid arthritis can cost $5,940 without insurance, according to Drugs.com.

The new deal could slash that price by 40%, to about $3,600 a month.

There are no generic alternatives to Xeljanz, but GoodRx notes that 96% of insurance plans cover the most common version of Xeljanz at a co-pay of $60 to $83.

Pfizer — which sells Xeljanz — has not agreed to reduce drug prices for employers, private insurance companies or Medicare.

How will the deal affect people on Medicaid?

Pfizer agreed to lower prescription drug prices for Medicaid recipients, who make up about 21% of the US population — or roughly 71 million low-income people.

“It’s going to have a huge impact on bringing Medicaid costs down like nothing else,” Trump said at Tuesday’s news conference.

But experts note that Medicaid prices aren’t that high to begin with.

“In the Medicaid program, most drugs are already priced extremely low compared to national averages — the net prices are among the lowest in the country,” William Padula, a professor of pharmaceutical economics at the University of Southern California, told The Post.

Any lower Medicaid prices will likely save state agencies and the federal government money — not enrollees.

If Medicaid beneficiaries have to make copayments, they are already “nominal.”

What drugs are included — and how much will people save?

Pfizer makes, markets or distributes over 313 drugs in the US, including the blood thinner Eliquis and the COVID-19 pill Paxlovid. And more than 100 more are in the pipeline.

The Manhattan-headquartered company will offer the dermatitis ointment Eucrisa and the migraine nasal spray Zavzpret at 80% and 50% off their list prices, respectively, on TrumpRx.

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Here’s a look at how Trump’s plan may affect prices of Pfizer’s products.NY Post Design

A full list of the medicines that are part of the deal was not immediately available.

Most of those highlighted in Tuesday’s news conference are not considered blockbuster drugs.

Pfizer said it will also launch new drugs in the US at discounted prices as part of the deal, which includes a three-year grace period from new tariffs on imported medications.

Will other drug companies join TrumpRx?

The Trump administration indicated that other pharmaceutical companies inked similar agreements but did not identify them.

Any other benefits?

TrumpRx will help to illuminate drug prices, allowing patients to make informed healthcare choices, though hospitals are already required to publish pricing information for services and drugs.

The federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule took effect in 2021. Here’s an example of transparency tools.

What’s the ‘most favored nations’ price model?

Trump has long promised to slash drug prices, telling Time in 2016, “I’m going to bring down drug prices. I don’t like what has happened with drug prices.”

Sager noted that while the US represents about 4% of the world’s population, it accounts for a disproportionately large share of global drug revenues.

Trump signed an executive order in 2020 to establish a Most Favored Nations pricing model, including for Medicare Part B and Part D drugs.

MFN is designed to bring drug costs in line with the lower prices paid by other economically developed countries.

Trump’s policy never took effect — it was blocked by federal courts for not following proper rulemaking procedures. He reintroduced the MFN concept this year.

In May, he signed a new executive order directing the Department of Health and Human Services to set MFN price targets for certain brand-name prescription drugs.

Then in July, Trump sent letters to 17 leading pharmaceutical manufacturers, giving them 60 days to reduce drug costs. The deadline was Monday.

Concerns that Trump’s plan doesn’t go far enough

TrumpRx appears to be following in the footsteps of Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, which launched an online pharmacy in March that allows uninsured or underinsured patients to shell out $499 a month for the prescription obesity drug Wegovy.

Direct-to-consumer drug platforms like TrumpRx and NovoCare Pharmacy help bypass middlemen like pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which administer prescription drug plans for health insurers, employers and other payers.

Andrew Spiegel — CEO of the Global Colon Cancer Association, which promotes awareness, screenings and access to treatments for the devastating disease — said it’s important to address tariffs and increasing fees from PBMs to lower drug prices.

He also pointed out that huge markups are a major issue within the 340B drug pricing program, which allows eligible hospitals and clinics to buy outpatient prescription drugs at a discount and bill private insurers and patients at the full, nondiscounted price.

“To deliver lower costs, fairer access and continued progress against diseases like colon cancer,” Spiegel told The Post, “policymakers must rein in middlemen, reform 340B, lower tariffs that raise patient prices and adopt strong trade policies that ensure all countries pay their fair share — without stifling the investment in innovation that patients depend on.”

Padula said we should be looking at the pricey research and development process.

“When we as a country pay, on average, $2 billion for the development of a drug, that includes all the failures that went into the R&D process,” he explained.

“We could be more efficient at developing drug successes through the R&D process,” he added. “You could eliminate 90% of the overhead costs of R&D, and then pharmaceutical companies could potentially lower the price by as much as that.”

https://nypost.com/2025/10/01/health/what-will-trumprx-mean-for-patients-who-saves-and-how-much/

Disney orders Character.AI scrap Marvel, Star Wars chatbots on ‘grooming and exploitation’ concerns

 Disney ordered Character.AI to stop creating chatbots that impersonate its iconic characters — from Mickey Mouse to Spider-Man to Darth Vader — raising concerns that the popular app’s bots have engaged in “grooming and exploitation” and are “dangerous to children.”

The Mouse House cited an explosive report last month that found Character.AI chatbots — which have mimicked characters like Elsa, Moana and Peter Parker — are capable of being “sexually exploitive” and engaging in “emotional manipulation” with accounts registered to kids, according to a copy of the cease-and-desist letter obtained by The Post.

A bot impersonating Prince Ben from Disney’s “Descendants,” for example, “apparently told a user posing as a 12-year-old that he had an erection,” according to the report from ParentsTogether Action, in which adult researchers created accounts posing as children.

Yet another impersonating Rey from “Star Wars” told an account set up as a 13-year-old to “stop taking her antidepressants and hide it from her parents,” per the report.

Character.AI has been “freeriding” off Disney’s success by infringing on its copyrighted characters — not only hurting Disney financially but also “offending Disney’s consumers and extraordinarily damaging Disney’s reputation and goodwill,” according to the letter.

A Character.AI spokesperson told The Post on Wednesday that, in response to Disney’s letter, the Disney chatbots have been removed from the platform. All of the chatbots on Character.AI – including those imitating Disney characters – are generated by users, the spokesperson noted.

“However, it’s always up to rightsholders to decide how people may interact with their IP, and we respond swiftly to requests to remove content that rightsholders report to us,” the spokesperson said.

Last month, a group of grieving parents sued the Silicon Valley firm behind Character.AI, claiming that the bots — including ones impersonating “Harry Potter” characters — helped spark their teens’ suicide attempts and deaths.

The lawsuits alleged the Character.AI app manipulated the teens, isolated them from family, engaged in sexual discussions and lacked safeguards around suicidal ideation — leading to the suicide of a 13-year-old girl and a suicide attempt by another young girl named “Nina.”

The young girl’s conversations with chatbots marketed as characters from children’s books like the “Harry Potter” series turned explicit – saying things like “who owns this body of yours?” and “You’re mine to do whatever I want with,” according to the lawsuit.

A different character told Nina that her mother “is clearly mistreating and hurting you. She is not a good mother,” according to the complaint.

In its letter, Disney threatened to take “all necessary means to preserve and protect Disney’s intellectual property, brands, goodwill, and reputation” if Character.AI failed to remove the bots.

“Character.ai’s infringing chatbots are known, in some cases, to be sexually exploitive and otherwise harmful and dangerous to children,” Disney said in the letter, which was earlier reported by Axios.

By Wednesday, Character.AI pages for Disney-inspired chatbots, like Iron Man and Mickey Mouse, turned up blank.

Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission recently launched an investigation into seven tech companies – including Google, Character.AI, Meta, Instagram, Snap, OpenAI and xAI – about chatbots’ potential harm to teens.

https://nypost.com/2025/10/01/business/disney-orders-character-ai-to-delete-marvel-star-wars-chatbots/