NYC NOW - August 10, 2023: Midday News

Episode Date: August 10, 2023

Beginning this Saturday, subway lines "1", "6", "C", "N", and "R" will experience improved service, as the MTA adapts to weekend ridership nearing pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, in yesterday's report, a clarification states the settlement between Newark and New York City doesn't limit the number of homeless families the city can transfer to Newark. Also, Following a shark bite off the Rockaway peninsula, the FDNY will now patrol the coastline every morning throughout the swimming season. Due to a shortage of air traffic controllers, the FAA is permitting airlines to limit flights to New York City airports until October 28th. Finally, the arrival of tens of thousands of migrant newcomers in the city has presented New Yorkers with hard questions about how to respond. But for actor and comedian Judah Friedlander, the unfolding crisis calls for personal action, however small.

NYC. Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Thursday, August 10th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. We'll see more service on the one-and-six subway line starting this Saturday. We can expect trains to arrive every six minutes. The MTA's improving weekend service when ridership is closer to pre-pandemic levels.

more improvement coming to evening service on the CNNR Transit President Richard Davy. More to come in December and next year as we hire more crews and bring on more trains to be able to continue to accommodate more service on weekends and nights. The MTA has hired hundreds more people to run more trains. And a story yesterday on a settlement between Newark and New York City about rental assistance to homeless families, we misstated some of the terms. The settlement does not specify any limits on how many families New York City can relocate to Newark.

The FDNY says they'll be patrolling the seas and skies after this week's shark bite off their Rockaway Peninsula. Officials will do a sweep of the Rockaway Coastline by air and sea every morning before beaches open for swimming. First Deputy Fire Commissioner Joseph Pfeiffer says that surveillance will run through swimming season next month. Before the beach is open, we will fly drones and we'll have our fireboats and police boats scanning the water. During that time before

opening, if we spot a shark, then we'll make a decision to close the beach. A woman was hospitalized this week after a shark bite. Her family has thanked the public and first responders. The Federal Aviation Administration is letting airlines continue to reduce flights coming in and out of New York City area airports beyond summer and into this fall. That's because of a short of air traffic control, as the agency says, is out of the airlines' control. Normally, airlines face penalties if they don't use all the takeoff and landing rights they hold at airports, such as LaGuardia and JFK in New York Liberty. But the FAA has waived those penalties all the way to October 28th to encourage airlines to limit their New York flights. ADN clouds now a high of 82,

showers and possibly a thunderstorm this afternoon, and tonight's storms could bring gusty winds in heavy rain and there's a threat of flash flooding. The arrival of tens of thousands of migrant newcomers in the city has presented New Yorkers with hard questions about how to respond. But for actor and comedian Judith Friedlander, the unfolding crisis calls for personal action.

However small, WNYC's Arun Vennigal, spent time with the former star of 30 Rock to learn how the situation is fueling both his activism and his comedy. You all need food at all? Judah Friedlander was outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown on a recent morning, handing out granola bars. Signorita, signorita. Do you need food?

Occasionally, he'd reach into his little cart and pull out bagels and offer them to the migrants he encountered, a small family or a cluster of four men. Some of them looked a little wary, but took the food. What I've been doing in the past few days is as simple as this. There's people that are hurting, and I'm just trying to show up and directly help. That's it. Friedlander is best known for the years he spent on the cast of the TV show 30 Rock, opposite Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin. His character, Frank Rossitano, was a world-class schlub,

a connoisseur of porn and trucker hats. Hey, Pete, you want to see a comic book with pregnant zombie nuns? Not a social justice sort of guy. The real life, Judah Friedlander, is more serious, more attuned to the world in life and in work. Here he is performing. Do you know what the national animal is in the United States? No, I don't. Yes, yes, the bald eagle.

No, no. No. The scapegoat. The scapegoat. Our political leaders, they're like, yeah, us political leaders, the people with the most power in the country, we're not the ones fucking up. It's those people who just crossed the border here 30 minutes ago. Friedlander talks a lot about the powerful and the powerless, the haves and have-nots,

the fact that homeless immigrants had huddled on the sidewalk outside the Roosevelt Hotel last week. While just a few feet away, New Yorkers were enjoying expensive lunches and drinks. Like there's not a care in the world. You want any food? You need any food? No, you go. Friedlander says he was alerted to the situation outside the Roosevelt Hotel by his mother.

She's like, you've really got to get up there. So he did. And he was jarred by the sight of homeless asylum seekers bunched up on the pavement outside the hotel. Men from Latin America and Africa penned in by police barricades for days. So he shot a video and shared it with his 400,000 followers. He called it a failure of society. They're just being forced to live on about a 7-foot wide area of the sidewalk,

body-to-body. and the city, state, and federal government don't provide any food, any water, or any bathrooms. Eventually, the city cleared migrants from the sidewalk and said there was room for them in the shelters. He and I met a few hours after this happened. They're in a much better spot than they were the last five days, but, you know, this continues.

As Friedlander was venting, a young man stood with an earshot and listened in, then decided to weigh in. I have a solution. What is it? Immediate deportation. Okay, yeah, no, not for me. Freedlander seemed to be going out of his way to not engage, but it didn't help.

No, no, no. There are people who are hungry. I'm just trying to get food. I'm hungry. I have food if you want any food. I offered you food to you want it. Sir, I'm hungry. I'm homeless.

I need money. I need resources. But people can come over across two continents. Freedlander said he was just one guy. Then gently extracted himself from the argument and walked away. So many people are hurting in the country, whether they're from here, whether they're not from here. It's terrible and it's angering because you know this country has the resources to do so much better. Then he went right back to what he'd been doing.

Anyone need food? Anyone need food? Need food? Yeah, good. You good? You good? Arun Van Goghaw Paul, WNYC News. Anyone did food? 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 podcast. We'll be back this evening.