NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: NJ Expands COVID Vaccine Access, Healthfirst Members Could Lose Coverage and Meet the Lute Player Serenading Ticket Hopefuls of Shakespeare in the Park

Episode Date: September 10, 2025

The New Jersey Department of Health issued an executive order effectively allowing New Jerseyans six months or older to get a COVID shot. Plus, two million New Yorkers insured through Healthfirst could lose coverage this fall for a major hospital network. And finally, while hundreds spend hours in line for tickets to Shakespeare in the Park, they’re entertained by Garald Farnham playing the lute.

New Jersey expands access to the COVID vaccine. Members of Health First could lose coverage this fall. And we meet a musician who has spent 50 years serenating line waiters for tickets to Shakespeare in the park. From WMYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Jinné Pierre. We begin in New Jersey. Officials there are doubling down on making sure residents can get COVID-19 vaccines, as federal guidance on the shots narrows.

The State Department of Health issued an executive order this week effectively allowing New Jerseyans six months or older to get a COVID shot. The decree is a standing order, which serves as a large-scale prescription for residents. New York Governor Kathy Hogle made a similar move last week. That's after the Food and Drug Administration only recommended COVID vaccines for adults 65 and older and people with health conditions that put them at risk for severe symptoms.

Back in the Empire State, a new report from the Comptroller's office shows the MTA's oldest subway equipment is causing more and more headaches for riders, including me. WMYC's Ramsey-Khalifa has more on the findings. The subway system runs on really old technology. It's so old that much of the equipment that makes your train run should have been replaced decades ago. Even the trains themselves are past their useful life. A third of them are more than 40 years old. The audit from state comptroller Thomas Donoply says major incidents or ones that delay 50 or more trains caused by those old train cars nearly tripled during the first half of the year.

The transit agency is investing billions of dollars into buying new subway trains, and even more to upgrade aging track and signal equipment. Two million New Yorkers insured through health first could lose coverage this fall for a major hospital network, New York Presbyterian. These patients are caught in the middle of a bitter contract dispute between the two, health care entities. I talked with WNYC health care reporter Caroline Lewis about what Health First members need to know right now. All right, so Caroline, how exactly is Health First coverage expected to change? And when will those changes go into effect? So Health First and New York Presbyterian have both posted notices online saying that New York Presbyterian will go out of network for

health first members starting on November 3rd, unless they can find some kind of resolution before then. And when, you know, New York Presbyterian goes out of network, that includes the dozen or so hospitals in their network in New York City and the Hudson Valley, as well as thousands of affiliated physicians with Columbia Doctors and Wild Cornell. And as far as who's impacted on the patient's side, a huge share of health first members are low-income New Yorkers on Medicaid, some are also on other types of individual or family plans, and some are older adults on Medicare Advantage. Okay, so when we talk about a resolution, what's the best case scenario here? Well, hospitals and insurance companies routinely negotiate over payment rates every few years,

and it's unfortunately becoming common for them to publicly announce that they won't be renewing their contracts as a sort of negotiating tactic. So these threats are often avoided when they reach a deal at the 11th hour. In this case, though, there is something of a twist. Health First says it already had a multi-year contract with New York Presbyterian that they agreed to last November, and that was supposed to run through 2027. And they said New York Presbyterian said this summer they're terminating the contract early. Now, a spokesperson for New York Presbyterian said that they still feel like they should be able to negotiate over a new deal even after terminating the existing contract. So it's possible that they could still find some kind of resolution. Okay, so Caroline, I'm wondering, is there a chance health first members who get care at New York Presbyterian will be able to keep their doctors?

Yes, there's a chance this split can still be avoided, but it obviously puts patients in a difficult position. You know, these two major health care entities are telling people prepare for this big change on November 3rd, and there are people who have been with their doctors a long time who are reluctant to make a switch. There are people being treated for chronic health conditions who don't want to have their care disrupted. And so they have to decide whether it makes sense to preemptively start looking for another health care provider. One important thing for people to know if this doesn't get resolved is that under state and federal law, some health first members will be entitled to continue getting in-network coverage for New York Presbyterian for a period of time after November 3rd.

That includes patients who are pregnant or are in ongoing treatment for complex health conditions like cancer. That's WMYC's Caroline Lewis. Between August and September, hundreds of people spend hours lined up in Central Park for a chance to score free tickets to Shakespeare in the Park. After the break, we meet a musician who has been serenating people in the crowded line since 1976. Stick around. Shakespeare in the Park wraps up for the season this weekend. That means the line that snakes around Central Park the morning before each show is also coming to an end. For the eclectic mix of New Yorkers and tourists hoping the score tickets, the suspenseful weight is half the fun.

WMYC's Samantha Max reports. Hundreds of people are queued up outside the Delacourt Theater on a pleasantly warm morning. They've brought seats. This is called Wecapul. It's very comfortable. A little more cushiony would be nice. I've got a very thin towel here. A step stool.

They fueled up with coffee and snacks. Sausage and eggs on a croissant. They've also come prepared with optimistic attitudes. We're hopeful. The crowd is hoping to see the Shakespearean comedy 12th night. Free tickets are handed out starting at noon, and the line to get them technically opens at 6 in the morning. But it's become common to show up even earlier.

Demand is particularly high after the Delacourt Theater took a hiatus last summer for a multi-million dollar renovation. Plus, people in line tell me they are very excited about the star-studded cast. Peter Dinklage is the lead. I love Sandra. Oh, Lupita. Oh, my God. Those were the voices of Phoebe Jensen, Stephanie Fela, Leah Acleelieu, Megan Prenti, Danny Sexton, Lacey Elliott, and Barbara Delacarpini. Some dedicated thespians have been here since the middle of the night to get tickets.

Here's Phoebe again. She's 13 years old and showed up with her friends outside the park at midnight. So you're feeling optimistic about getting tickets? I mean, we're second in line, so I'm really sure. Farther down the path, the vibe is different. This little section is full of hope. Not really. We gave up a while ago, but we're enjoying each other's company.

That's Elizabeth Aband and Cherie Sylvie. Abin says she got here shortly after 6 a.m. She says staff were already warning her that her chances of getting a ticket were slim. I was like, you know, it is 615. Like, I'm not quite ready to hear that I should throw in the towel yet. Lacey says she didn't make it until around 7.45.

I wanted to get here so much earlier, but, you know, between getting my coffee and riding on the city bike with the coffee? That didn't happen. Melania Levitsky brought a book about the Ukrainian starvation under Stalin to read. But she's too busy getting to know her new friend, Danny Sexton. We've covered just about it. Literature, art, music, patriarchy, masculinity, portraits, parents, siblings, divorce. Yeah, we've covered a lot.

The line is filled with new friends. They hold one another side. They hold one another. spots when someone needs to go to the bathroom. They walk each other's dogs. Lovitsky is sitting on a towel with her new friend. It's been very congenial, and being that we're the outlier, we've been told it's highly unlikely we were going to get in. We've just been, like, very chill in front of you. The line is such an event that musicians have come to entertain the captive audience. Someone plays the saxophone. There's an acoustic performance of several songs from a political musical. A man dressed in a Renaissance costume sings and strums the lute.

At noon, everyone stands up and starts to make their way toward the box office. Staff members and T-shirts and fanny packs instruct everyone to stay single file. The line slowly inches along. But around one in the afternoon, there's bad news. Hi, everyone, we are unfortunately out of tickets. At this point, there are still several dozen people who did not get tickets. The box office is within view yet still yards away. A staffer says everyone can go home or stay in the standby line and see if someone cancels last minute.

Elliot is still feeling upbeat and decides to try her luck. How are you feeling right now? Good. I think I'm going to call my boyfriend and be like, I need you to come get in line. Because I have a hair appointment at four. Elliot lived in New York for about five years before moving home to Phoenix and is only in town for a few dates. She's determined to see the show while she's here. It's one of my favorite things to do in New York. You know, it's like it's a New York thing.

You can't do this anywhere else. Elliot tells me I have to try to get tickets one day, too. You have to see it. You better go. That's WMYC's Samantha Max. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.