When congestion pricing went into effect in New York City almost a year and a half ago, residents in the South Bronx, which has some of the highest asthma rates in the United States, expressed concern about the consequences for air quality. Some predicted that drivers, in an attempt to avoid the toll to enter Manhattan, would take detours through their neighborhood, which is chock-full of major highways and bridges.

Now, a Columbia University study, relying on data from 19 sensors across the South Bronx, shows that overall fine particulate matter — tiny, toxic particles produced by burning fossil fuels — has increased since the start of the tolling program. According to Alexander De Jesus, a Ph.D. candidate and an author of the study, a 2 percent increase in particulate matter was detected in the South Bronx from 2024 to 2025, the first year of congestion pricing.

Researchers from Columbia and other universities worked with data from the South Bronx sensors over two years, comparing the 12 months before congestion pricing with the same period after the program started. They found elevated particulate matter levels throughout most of the neighborhood, especially near major expressways. Two sensors, one near a community garden, showed a decrease in particulate matter levels.

“While New York City’s congestion pricing policy has improved air quality in the congestion pricing zone, it worsened air quality in surrounding areas such as the South Bronx, probably due to traffic diversions,” said Markus Hilpert, an associate professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health and an author of the report.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees congestion pricing, vigorously questioned the study, saying it has yet to be peer reviewed and did not take into account smoke from wildfires that affected the city for about six days in 2025. (The study is still going through the peer-review process, according to its authors, who said they had controlled for factors such as wildfire smoke.)

“Reducing air pollution has always been one of the core goals of New York’s congestion pricing program,” Janno Lieber, the chief executive of the M.T.A., said in a statement. His remarks were released on Tuesday by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who announced that the transit agency had dedicated $20 million to address asthma in the South Bronx.

According to an abstract of the South Bronx study, which is not yet available in its entirety, the increase in fine particulate matter “was statistically significant, although there was substantial variability in estimates across monitor sites.”

The study does not make a definitive link between the introduction of congestion tolling and the increased readings in particulate matter. But its authors said they had controlled for other factors that contribute to fine particulate matter pollution in the South Bronx, such as building heat, seasonality, weather fluctuations and traffic patterns. What was left, they said, was that 2 percent increase, which they attribute to the congestion pricing program.

Measuring air quality is difficult, scientists say, because of variability in atmospheric conditions. At least one year of data tracking weather fluctuations across four seasons is necessary to have a snapshot of air quality shifts. Even then, every year is unique, which makes it challenging to compare one year with another.

The city’s Department of Health conducted a three-month study that compared the spring of 2024 with the spring of 2025, before and after the start of the tolling program, and found “no significant change” in fine particulate matter around the region.

In a report released this year, the M.T.A. said that highway traffic had mostly decreased during the same time period covered by the Health Department study, including in the South Bronx.

In New York City, traffic accounts for just 14 percent of fine particulate matter; most of the pollution comes from buildings and other sectors. “The South Bronx is a densely populated area,” Dr. Hilpert said. “Very often you see schools and residential high-rises located just next to highways, so even a modest increase in air pollution can have significant public health impacts.”

The South Bronx is one of the poorest areas in New York City, with a median household income of about $32,000 and little green space. In contrast, the neighborhood has an outsize number of waste transfer stations and industrial warehouses, including Hunts Point, one of the largest food distribution centers in the United States, with almost 13,000 trucks coming and going daily. Asthma afflicts one out of five children in the South Bronx.

Congestion pricing, which charges most drivers up to $9 to enter Manhattan 60th Street and below, is funding about $70 million of mitigation efforts in the South Bronx. They include subsidizing asthma programs in the borough and replacing refrigerated diesel trucks that serve Hunts Point with hybrid versions or vehicles that run on cleaner fuels. In 2025, tolls generated more than $578 million in revenue for the M.T.A., which is using the money to upgrade subways and buses that many in the South Bronx rely on, the spokesman said.

Heralded as a success by political leaders and many environmental activists, congestion pricing has reduced the number of cars entering the central business district by 11 percent, or 73,000 vehicles, with the remaining traffic moving faster and more people opting for public transit. Air quality improvements are harder to discern. Some studies show much cleaner air, while others have found little to no difference.

For people in the South Bronx, any decrease in air quality compounds an already challenging pollution situation, according to neighborhood advocates and researchers, who want state and city authorities to adopt measures to mitigate any increase in particulate matter.

“We are calling on the M.T.A. to treat congestion pricing as a living policy, one subject to continuous, transparent evaluation in dialogue with the communities bearing its costs,” South Bronx Unite, a nonprofit focused on social, economic and environmental issues, said in a statement released on Tuesday. “To declare it a success while communities like ours see air quality getting worse is premature and unjust.”

Stefanos Chen contributed reporting.

Steven Roth, the chief executive of Vornado Realty Trust, used an earnings call on Tuesday to castigate Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York for his “tax-the-rich” rhetoric, which he likened to a racial slur or a pro-Palestinian rallying cry.

“I must say that I consider the phrase ‘tax the rich’ — quote, tax the rich — when spit out with anger and contempt by politicians both here and across the country, to be just as hateful as some disgusting racial slurs and even the phrase, ‘from the river to the sea,’” Mr. Roth said, referring to the pro-Palestinian phrase that some Jews believe amounts to a call for ethnic cleansing.

Mr. Roth said “tax the rich” suggests that the wealthy are evil and should be made targets, and he criticized the mayor for singling out Kenneth C. Griffin, a fellow tycoon, in his campaign to force rich New Yorkers to pay more to support the city’s programs.

Mr. Roth said Mr. Mamdani’s decision to film a social media video celebrating Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed pied-à-terre tax in front of Mr. Griffin’s multistory penthouse — in a building developed by Vornado — was “dangerous” and an “ugly, unnecessary video stunt.”

Mr. Griffin, who bought the penthouse in 2019 for $238 million, had no immediate comment.

Joe Calvello, a spokesman for the mayor, said in a statement that “Mayor Mamdani wants all New Yorkers to succeed,” including Mr. Griffin, “who is a major employer in our city and a powerful figure in our economy.”

He added: “That does not negate the fact, however, that our tax system is fundamentally broken. It rewards extreme wealth while working people are pushed to the brink.”

Mr. Mamdani, 34, ran for office promising to fund expansive new government programs by raising taxes on wealthy individuals and major corporations. Mr. Roth spent heavily against Mr. Mamdani and in favor of his opponent, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

But in the face of a budget gap, Mr. Mamdani, a democratic socialist, has instead said those same taxes are also necessary to balance the books.

Unfortunately for Mr. Mamdani, New York City does not control its own tax policy, and Ms. Hochul, who is facing re-election this year, has steadfastly refused to accede to Mr. Mamdani’s demands. But facing pressure from Mr. Mamdani’s base, she did embrace a longstanding proposal to tax expensive second homes in the five boroughs.

And so, on April 15, Tax Day, Mr. Mamdani stood in front of Mr. Griffin’s building and claimed victory.

“This is an annual fee on luxury properties worth more than $5 million, whose owners do not live full-time in the city, like for this penthouse, which hedge fund C.E.O. Ken Griffin bought for $238 million,” Mr. Mamdani said in the video, which has since been viewed 52 million times.

At the time Mr. Griffin bought it, the condo was the most expensive home in America.

Mr. Griffin, who is worth an estimated $50 billion, responded on Tuesday with pique.

“It was creepy and weird,” Mr. Griffin said of Mr. Mamdani’s comments during an onstage interview at an investment conference in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Mr. Griffin elaborated in a separate Tuesday interview on CNBC.

Mr. Mamdani “seems to have forgotten that the C.E.O. of another American company was assassinated just blocks from where I live in New York,” Mr. Griffin said, referring to the 2024 killing of Brian Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare.

A week after Mr. Mamdani’s video, Gerald Beeson, the chief operating officer of Citadel, Mr. Griffin’s hedge fund, sent out a letter to his colleagues suggesting that the company might mothball a new $6 billion skyscraper headquarters on Park Avenue that it had been planning to build with Vornado, denouncing Mr. Mamdani’s rhetoric and noting Citadel’s existing contributions to the city.

“Over the past five years, our principals and team members (including nonresidents) have paid nearly $2.3 billion dollars in city and state taxes, providing funds to support the city’s infrastructure, schools, parks and first responders,” Mr. Beeson wrote.

Mr. Griffin said on Tuesday that the development would “probably” move forward, even as he said that Citadel has also decided to expand its office space in Miami, a move for which he also blamed Mr. Mamdani.

“We will add far more jobs in Miami over the next decade as an immediate and direct consequence of the mayor’s poor decision here, with respect to his posting of that video,” Mr. Griffin said.

Mr. Griffin has a history of leaving major American cities in the dust. He famously left Chicago amid rising crime and a feud with Gov. JB Pritzker.

Possibly aware of that, Mr. Mamdani has since softened his rhetoric on Mr. Griffin, even thanking him during a recent Police Department ceremony for funding a memorial wall for fallen officers.

And Mr. Roth on Tuesday offered a note of modest praise for Mr. Mamdani.

“Our mayor is young, smart and energetic,” Mr. Roth said. “With a little tweak here, a little tweak there, his leadership could make this great city even greater.”

But Mr. Griffin deserves an apology, Mr. Roth argued.

“The rich, whom the politicians are targeting, started with nothing, are the epitome of the American dream,” he said. “They are at the top of the great American economic pyramid for a reason. They should be praised and thanked.”

Rob Copeland contributed reporting.

A starry season on Broadway means a starry list of Tony nominees: John Lithgow, Daniel Radcliffe, Lesley Manville and Rose Byrne all picked up nods on Tuesday morning as the first groups of nominees were announced on CBS.

Among the other nominees for performances in leading roles are two longtime Broadway favorites: Nathan Lane and Kelli O’Hara. This is O’Hara’s ninth Tony nomination (she has won once).

The race for best new musical — traditionally the category with the greatest financial impact — came down to four shows, all of which could use a box-office boost: “The Lost Boys,” “Titaníque,” “Schmigadoon!” and “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York).”

For best new play, the nominees include Bess Wohl’s “Liberation,” which on Monday won the Pulitzer Prize for drama, as well as “The Balusters,” by David Lindsay-Abaire; “Giant,” by Mark Rosenblatt; and “Little Bear Ridge Road,” by Samuel D. Hunter.

Lane (“Death of a Salesman”), Lithgow (“Giant”) and Radcliffe (“Every Brilliant Thing”) were all nominated as best actor in a play, alongside Will Harrison (“Punch”) and Mark Strong (“Oedipus”). Byrne and O’Hara, co-starring in a revival of “Fallen Angels,” will face Carrie Coon (“Bug”), Susannah Flood (“Liberation”) and Manville (“Oedipus”), in the race for best leading actress in a play.

The nominees for best leading actress in a musical are all first-time nominees: Sara Chase (“Schmigadoon!”), Stephanie Hsu (“The Rocky Horror Show”), Caissie Levy (“Ragtime”), Marla Mindelle (“Titaníque”) and Christiani Pitts (“Two Strangers”). The race for best leading actor in a musical, dominated throughout the season by Joshua Henry of “Ragtime,” also features Nicholas Christopher (“Chess”), Luke Evans (“The Rocky Horror Show”), Sam Tutty (“Two Strangers”) and Brandon Uranowitz (“Ragtime”).

The nominations are being announced in New York by the actors Uzo Aduba and Darren Criss. A half-dozen top categories were first made public on “CBS Mornings,” and the full slate is set to be read at 9 a.m. on the Tony Awards YouTube channel.

The nominations announcement begins a monthlong award period as the 857 Tony voters — mostly people who work in theater or who help finance Broadway shows — finish seeing the latest productions, while the productions, constrained by newly restrictive rules limiting campaigning and promotion, look for ways to remind voters about the strengths of their nominees. The awards ceremony will take place on June 7 at Radio City Music Hall, hosted by the musician Pink and broadcast on CBS.

The season has been a mixed bag for Broadway. Overall attendance and grosses are up over last season, but profitability rates are low because of skyrocketing production costs, and there is rising consumer concern about ticket prices. Only six new musicals opened this season, down from 14 last season.

The Tony Awards, which honor plays and musicals performed in the 41 Manhattan theaters that make up Broadway, are presented by the Broadway League and the American Theater Wing. This year, 19 plays and 11 musicals are eligible for awards because they opened on Broadway between April 28, 2025, and April 26, 2026.

The nominees were chosen by a committee of 55 people with theater expertise or experience, but who do not work on, or have a financial interest in, the season’s shows.

Some noncompetitive awards have already been announced.

Lifetime achievement awards will go to André Bishop, who last year stepped down after leading Lincoln Center Theater for 33 years; Jules Fisher, a lighting designer; and James Lapine, the playwright and director. Mary-Mitchell Campbell, a music director, will receive the Isabelle Stevenson Award, which honors volunteerism.

This year’s Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theater will go to the 1/52 Project, which supports early career designers, as well as to Jake Bell, a production manager; Kenn Lubin, a signage designer; and Loren Plotkin, an entertainment lawyer.