NYC NOW - August 24, 2023: Morning Headlines

Episode Date: August 24, 2023

Get up and get informed! Here’s all the local news you need to start your day.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. The Health Department says three New York City residents have contracted the West Nile virus. WNIC's Elizabeth Shway has more. Two are from Queens and ones from Manhattan. All were hospitalized and two have already been discharged. New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin-Vosin says people can take simple steps to prevent infections.

Using an EPA-registered insect repellent, especially when you're outside at dusk and dawn, as well, really treating standing water, which is where mosquitoes, of course, lay eggs. Dr. Vassan also says another possible case is under investigation on Staten Island. Although West Now can be fatal, most people experience no symptoms, or they're manageable. A fever, headache, muscle aches, a rash. The U.S. has recorded around 240 cases this year, mostly in the southwest. More than 59,000 asylum seekers are staying in New York City's shelters, but a new report argues taxpayers could save $3 billion a year if the city instead gave rental vouchers to migrants. The report comes from the New York Immigration Coalition and Wend, a homeless shelter provider.

It notes the cost of keeping a family in a hotel. or emergency shelter for one day is more than five times what it costs to cover an apartment rental when President Christine Quinn says the city needs to help asylum secrets find stability. If we are going to remain New York, we have to have an open door and an open heart to folks who are in need. A spokesperson for Mayor Adams says the administration will review the findings. A new gun safety law makes New Jersey the first. state where people who sell illegal guns could face prison for crimes committed using those guns. Governor Phil Murphy made it law yesterday. He says anyone who sells a weapon illegally should be held

accountable for how that weapon is used. So if a gun dealer, for instance, in South Carolina, sells weapons to a gun trafficker, knowing that they will bring them into New Jersey, then that dealer could face criminal penalties for violent crimes committed with those guns. New Jersey has one of the lowest gun death rates in the country, but the CDC says firearms are the number one cause of death for children in the USA. 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.

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