NYC NOW - April 4, 2024: Morning Headlines

Episode Date: April 4, 2024

Get up and get informed! Here’s all the local news you need to start your day: The NYPD says major crime is down 2% so far this year over last year, driven by a decrease in murders and burglaries. Meanwhile, New York state doesn’t charge sales tax on private planes. WNYC’s Jon Campbell reports, some Democrats in Albany want to change that. Plus, New Jersey law enforcement is cracking down on drivers who text or talk on the phone this month.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Thursday, April 4th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. The NYPD says major crime is down to 2% so far this year over last year, driven by a decrease in murders and burglaries. Police say crime in the transit system is also down by 1%. Mayor Adam says he's deployed almost 2,000 more police officers

in the subway system every day to make people feel safer. I've never heard one passenger say, I don't want to see police. Never. Because you have to feel safe and you have to be safe. There have been four shootings in the subway system so far this year. Just last week, Adams debuted weapons scanners with artificial intelligence in a lower Manhattan subway station. He said the city is considering installing them across the system.

New York State does not charge sales. Tax on private planes. WNMIC's John Campbell reports some Democrats in Albany want to change that. Brooklyn Assembly member Robert Carroll says it just doesn't make sense. You have to pay sales tax when you buy a car. So why don't the wealthy have to when they buy a private jet? It just seems like an unnecessary giveaway to a niche luxury item that I don't think really has any efficacy. He wants to eliminate the sales tax exemption for private jets and certain luxury yachts.

The state senate included the measure in its budget proposal last month, but New York's airports and marinas are pushing back. They say the tax breaks put New York on par with competing states, and they say their business is improved since the state put them into place in 2015. New Jersey law enforcers are cracking down on drivers who text or talk on the phone this month. Drivers can get up to a $400 fine for using a phone while driving in the garden state and up to $800 for. more of those violations. In 2022, the state says almost half of drivers involved in crashes in New Jersey were distracted while driving. New Jersey's highway traffic safety provided law enforcement agencies across the state with more than a million dollars in grants to pay for additional patrols this month. So watch out. 38 with clouds are now slim chance of late morning showers and early

afternoon ones mostly cloudy and 50. Thanks for listening. This is NYC Now from WN. 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