NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: Jersey City Schools Propose Cell Phone Ban, Gov. Hochul Expands Vaccination Authority, Community Responds to Labor Day Violence, and Summer Produce Phases Out but Not Cucumbers

Episode Date: September 5, 2025

Jersey City school officials are considering following the lead of their neighbors across Hudson and banning phones in schools. Plus, Gov. Kathy Hochul is declaring a health emergency to help New Yorkers get COVID vaccines. Also, we share what elected officials and other leaders in Brooklyn are saying in the days since six people were shot after the West Indian Day festivities. And finally, as summer comes to an end and farmstands switch produce, there's still plenty of cucumbers at farmstands across the city.

Jersey City Schools proposed a cell phone ban. Governor Kathy Hokel expands her vaccination authority. A Brooklyn community responds to Labor Day violence. And summer produce phases out, but not cucumbers. From WMYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Jinnay Pierre. We begin in New Jersey, where school officials in Jersey City are considering following the lead of their neighbors

across the Hudson and banning phones in schools. The local Board of Education floated a potential personal communication device ban at a meeting last week. It would also cover devices like tablets and Apple Watches. Unlike New York State's ban, which extends from bell to bell, students would still be able to use their phones during lunchtime and recess. About 27,000 students attend schools in New Jersey's second largest city. The board's next meeting is scheduled for September 18th. New York Governor Kathy Hockel is declaring a health emergency to help New Yorkers get COVID vaccines. WMYC's Jimmy Vilkine has more on her executive order.

Hokel says uncertainty over federal vaccine policy is creating a barrier to getting COVID boosters this year. Her order allows pharmacists to distribute vaccines without an individual prescription. I don't understand why you won't let families have the choice to protect their children's health. That's what this is about. The order lasts 30 days. COVID vaccines will be available to people aged 3 and older. That's a broader group than the federal FDA recommended last month. That agency only approved COVID boosters for people 65 and older,

or with underlying medical conditions. Other states, including Massachusetts, have taken similar steps to increase access to COVID vaccines this year. Have you made it to the beach yet this summer? This weekend is the summer's last, where New York City beaches and outdoors, or pools will be open. They'll close for swimming at the end of the day Sunday.

The weather is looking to put a damper on things Saturday, though, with showers and possible thunderstorms expected throughout the day. There's also a chance of showers Sunday morning, but the National Weather Service says skies should clear up in the afternoon, with highs in the mid-70s. So get to the beach. Elected officials and other leaders in Brooklyn are responding to vice.

that ensued after the annual West Indian Day celebrations earlier this week. That's after the break. You're listening to NYC now. The annual West Indian Day parade and juvei celebration drew enormous crowds to Brooklyn this past weekend. The event also drew an enormous police presence and scores of workers from anti-violence groups to help ensure a peaceful celebration. But despite their efforts, six people were shot and another person was slashed as the festivities came to a close Monday evening. WMYC's been fewer heard has been reporting on what elected officials and other leaders in Brooklyn are saying in the days since.

So the violence that happened seems to be less of a talking point this year than in years prior. And that could be because no one died or that it all happened right as the parade was coming to an end. And I was out on Eastern Parkway on Tuesday just talking to residents and noticed I didn't see any little. local news trucks out there, and they typically cover crime in the city really closely. I spoke to Pastor Gil Monroe's. When I was out there, he works in the Adams administration now as a faith advisor and helped found the 67th precinct clergy council. His position was basically that the weekend in Brooklyn was a success despite the violence that broke out as the parade was wrapping up, and he really seemed angry at the people who showed up to the parade with guns.

We can't sugarcoat what they're doing. What they're doing is not just normal violence. What they're doing is causing terrorism on a community that is beloved and who is enjoying the culture. And on Tuesday morning, the MIPD acknowledged in a statement that they had what they called a tough end to the Labor Day weekend, but then highlighted that shootings in the city are at historic lows. So they kind of pivoted right to that positive note. Ben, did city leaders talk about a plan to put in place in the future to keep this, celebration safe? So the public advocate, Jamani Williams, released a statement after all this,

and he said the best way to prevent gun violence is to stop people from picking up a gun in the first place. And he suggested one of the answers has to be making it more difficult for people to have access to what he called weapons of war. So if there's another mayor next time around, I don't think we know exactly what their relationship will be with those nonprofits as well as the police department and how we also don't know how those dynamics will play out in terms of public safety in the city. That's WNYC's Benfuer. The warmer season is coming to an end soon, and summer produce is starting to phase out. But there's still plenty of cucumbers at farm stands across the city.

Amelia Tarpie is a program and publicity manager for GrowNYC Green Markets. If you love cucumbers, it's time to get your fill. and also time to preserve those cucumbers. The garden and slicer cucumbers are sort of your classic cucumber. They tend to have thicker skin that can be a little more bitter, so I recommend peeling those.

The other types of cucumbers you're going to find are the thin skin cucumbers. Within that, you can find Persian cucumbers, English cucumbers, Japanese or Korean cucumbers. They're really good for a smashed cucumber salad, So usually when I'm doing that, I slice them into sort of thick chunks and then take the side of my knife and just press down and smash them.

And then you can hook that with some microplained garlic, ginger, some soy sauce, rice vinegar, makes a really nice salad. Lastly, we have the Kirby cucumbers. Those are the cucumbers that are really good for pickling. You can pickle them whole or slice them, get them in a jar. If you want to do just a quick vinegar pickle, the classic way to do that is doing half vinegar of choice, usually like a white vinegar and half water. Bring that to a boil, add a little bit of salt and sugar to the mix, and then pour that over your cucumbers. I like to put some dill in there.

Sometimes at the market, you can find flowering dill. So you take the head of the flowering dills, it's gorgeous yellow flour. Stick that into your jar with the cucumbers. some cloves of garlic, and then, you know, your classic pickling spice blend, perhaps some coriander berries, some all-spice berries, black pepper, just to, again, infuse that with, like, some nice flavor. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. Hope you have a lovely weekend.

I'm Jene Pierre.