Nov 12 (Reuters) - Strengthening winds and bone-dry conditions were hindering firefighters working to gain control of a stubborn wildfire burning in a forested stretch along the New York-New Jersey state border about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of New York City.

The Jennings Creek fire is currently burning across 3,500 acres, officials said, and is expected to grow to over 5,000 acres.

New York City's congestion pricing program, the first of its kind in the U.S., was initially to have charged a toll of $15 during daytime hours for passenger vehicles driving in Manhattan south of 60th Street starting June 30.

A new congestion pricing plan for New York City will be announced on Thursday with a reduced toll for drivers, sources said. The new plan would reduce the originally proposed toll for cars traveling south of 60th Street in Manhattan from $15 to $9,

Jonathan Quiles, with the Medford Fire Department, was charged with arson and reckless endangerment. A volunteer firefighter on Long Island, New York, was arrested on Tuesday after authorities said he intentionally started a brush fire.

The broker fee, long a bane of New York City renters, just got voted out. The New York City Council passed a bill Wednesday requiring landlords to pay fees for brokers they hire to list and show apartments.

The New York City Council passed a bill Wednesday to have NYC landlords pay for broker fees, instead of tenants.