NYC NOW - August 3, 2023: Morning Headlines

Episode Date: August 3, 2023

Get up and get informed! Here’s all the local news you need to start your day: Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, Anne Williams-Isom, considers a plan to house migrants in tents within New York City's large green spaces, including Central Park. Meanwhile, tensions rise during a Queens rally amid the ongoing street vendor status debate. Also, the New York State Board of Elections greenlights controversial new touchscreen voting machines. Finally, Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán voluntarily enters inpatient treatment for alcohol abuse.

Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Thursday, August 3rd. Here's the morning headlines from Tiffany Hansen. New York City is considering housing migrants in tents in big green spaces throughout the city like Central Park. That's according to city officials who spoke to WNYC. The city briefly opened a tent facility on Randall's Island parking. lot last fall. That's also a potential site as well as Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Deputy Mayor for

Health and Human Services Ann Williams Isam stopped short of confirming the plan but said there's a lot more people to house now compared to last year. I think when we originally did our tent in Randall's Island that was probably 30,000 migrants ago and so we are here now trying to make sure that we look at all the options on the table and that we're able to provide for, you know, priorities. This comes as city officials say they've run out of room in homeless shelters and emergency housing. Since the weekend, scores of mostly male migrants have been camped outside and sleeping on the sidewalk outside the Roosevelt Hotel, an intake center in Midtown Manhattan. The ongoing debate on the status of street vendors was put on full display during a rally in Queens. Yesterday, WNYC's Ramsey-Khalifah reports.

It was meant to be a show of support for displaced food food. vendors, but a rally in Corona Plaza to champion the vendors escalated into a war of words. Deputy Director of the Street Vendor Project, Corinna Kaufman Guterres, said opponents who argued the vendors undercut brick and mortar businesses were misinformed. I want to address the folks who are here directly, right? I want to educate you a little bit, because unfortunately the rules of street vending are very difficult, very complicated. The vendors were pushed out of the area this week, after an enforcement effort by the

sanitation department. And New York State's Board of Elections is giving the green light to a controversial new voting machine. The board voted 3 to one yesterday to certified the new touchscreen machine known as Express Vote XL that would replace the handmark paper balance used by voters for more than a decade. That means local boards of election can now purchase and use the machines in future elections. Opponents criticize the way it converts selections into a bar code that vote. voters cannot verify the good government group common cause says they plan to explore other methods to protect voters. Looking for a high of 83 degrees today with a sunny sky. Right now it's 67 degrees with a fair sky in the city.

It's WNYC. 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. Thank you.