NYC NOW - April 16, 2024: Morning Headlines

Episode Date: April 16, 2024

Get up and get informed! Here’s all the local news you need to start your day: About half of the 16 mental health clubhouses serving New Yorkers are losing city funding and may have to shut their doors. Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Eric Adams is touting a plan to turn two dozen city-owned parcels of land into new apartment buildings this year. WNYC’s David Brand reports on what comes next for what are currently a pair of Brooklyn parking lots. Also, mayoral control of New York City’s school system is back on the negotiating table in Albany.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Tuesday, April 16th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. About half of the 16 mental health clubhouses serving New Yorkers are losing city funding and may have to shut their doors. WNIC's Caroline Lewis explains. Clubhouses are community spaces for people with serious mental illness.

where they can go to socialize and gain access to employment and other services. The City Health Department is looking to expand the number of people clubhouses serve, but it's culling out smaller locations in the process. The latest round of funding comes with higher membership quotas and other new requirements. Meanwhile, the city is also awarding contracts to some new organizations that want to adopt the model, like Phoenix House, an addiction treatment provider. Phoenix House's CEO says, they can serve their community better by addressing mental health along with addiction.

Mayor Adams is touting a plan to turn two dozen city on parcels of land into new apartment buildings this year. WNIC's David Brand reports on what comes next for what is now a pair of Brooklyn parking lots. The city's kicking cars out of two lots along Wyckoff Street in Boreham Hill. The Department of Housing, Preservation, and Development says the city needs housing there instead. They're asking developers to submit proposals. for new affordable and senior housing projects. Both sites will have about 60 units. Council members Lincoln Wrestler and Johanna Hanif represent the area and say they support the plan.

The city's also planning to build housing above the Grand Concourse Public Library in the Bronx and along the publicly owned Inwood Waterfront in northern Manhattan. Mayoral control of New York City's school system is back on the negotiating table in Albany. Senator John Lewis is a Democrat from Queens. He chairs the Senate's New York City Educational. Committee. Lou says lawmakers are discussing a short-term extension as part of the state budget, which is now more than two weeks late. The mayor wants accountability, and so looking for ways to make him accountable. Mayor Adams has been pushing a longer extension of mayoral control, which gives

him authority over the city's schools. The current system expires in June. Senator Lou says an extension would come with a mechanism to ensure the city complies with looming class-sized mandates, The legislature passed a bill two years ago, requiring the city to reduce the size of its classes. The air quality is good right now, but expected to drop to moderate later in the day. There is some tree pollen in the ear today, but levels are low. 54 and clear now, sunny and 70 and gusty today. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WNYC.

Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day, for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives. and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. See you this afternoon.