NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: NYC’s Foster Care to Homelessness Pipeline, Innocent Bystander Killed in Harlem, Upstate Church Community Pushes to Build More Housing and NYC’s Best Slice

Episode Date: April 23, 2025

A new report shows that young people in the New York City foster care system have a hard time finding housing once they age out of care. Also, three federal prosecutors assigned to Mayor Eric Adams' corruption case have resigned. Plus, houses of worship hope to be part of the solution to New York’s affordable housing crisis. And finally, Eater New York recently released its list of the best pizza slices across the five boroughs.

New York City's foster care to homelessness pipeline. An innocent bystander killed in Harlem. An upstate church community pushes to build more housing. And New York City's best slice of pizza. From WMYC, this is NYC now. I'm Junae Pierre. Young people in the New York City foster care system have a hard time finding housing once they age out of care.

That's the finding of a report by the Center for Fair Futures. In 2023, about a third of the young adults who were old enough to exit the foster care system had to stay in the city's care because they couldn't find a place to live. The report by the Youth Advocacy Group also lays out a plan to create 800 homes for foster youth. Tony Turner helped write the recommendations. He used to be in foster care. I took four years to get my apartment. I just kind of took whatever I could get.

And that's really the reality for the majority of young people, I would say. Turner says foster youth don't have the financial help from parents or any credit history as they navigate the city's housing market. Police are investigating after a 61-year-old woman was shot and killed while standing on a sidewalk in Harlem Wednesday night. Minerva Fabian says she heard multiple gunshots around 10 p.m. near Malcolm X Boulevard and West 113th Street. Well, they always shoot around here, but they haven't shot in a while. And now that it's getting hot, probably violence is going to increase now. Police identified the woman as Xenia Mete. NYPD officials say she was struck during an exchange of gunfire on the street.

Police took a 23-year-old man who was shot in afoot in for questioning, but have not announced any arrest or suspects. Church communities in upstate New York are getting involved in solutions to affordable housing. Faith leaders are backing a bill that would give them a pass from local regulations that make it hard to build homes. More on that after the break. The lack of affordable housing continues to be one of the most pressing issues across New York State. One community has an idea for tackling the problem.

Let houses of worship be part of the solution. WMYC's Jimmy Vilkine has more. It's a Wednesday evening before Easter, and dozens of people are at the Messiah Lutheran Church in Rotterdam, praying for housing. Reverend Dustin Longmeier preaches that Christians have a holy obligation to help others. In 2025, he says that means helping to house the homeless. When we serve our neighbors, in the end we are serving Christ himself.

Jesus was a poor man, and his witness can inspire us. So he had an idea. His congregation merged with the nearby church several years ago. Longmeyer decided to turn that church into a community center and food pantry and redevelop it with two floors of affordable housing. Before he could get started, the town stepped in. Mr. Dawson, yes. Mr. Masteriani, yes. Mrs. Kalucci, yes. Mr. Schlaug, and this is Collins. Yes. Resolution passes. The town board voted to change zoning law to prevent Longmire from constructing a three-story building. Longmire says his project won't work with lower density, so now he's pushing for the Faith-Based Affordable Housing Act. It's a bill in the state

legislature that would give religious organizations breaks from local Zorning in order to build affordable housing. You know, if this bill passes, build over 60,000 units of affordable housing, and be able to reinvest back in their ministries, their poor programs. But many municipal officials, like Chris Ketzley, don't like the proposal. He's executive director of the New York State Association of Towns. He and other opponents say any developer, even if they're a priest, rabbi or imam, should follow local zoning rules. Folks who live in a community have the right to determine what that community is, what's built in that community, how you zone.

And I think that's critically important because that's governance from the bottom up. Some state officials say the only way to fix the affordable housing crisis is to build more. In Brooklyn, Assembly member Brian Cunningham says many houses of worship have more land than they need. We are facing a new challenge for these state-based institutions, and that is the challenge of many of their parishioners not being able to stay in communities. He says that's true across New York, including in Rotterdam. Back in the town, Lori Lumbra is eating a dinner of baked CD after the prayer service. The 72-year-old is a retired nursery school teacher who moved to Rotterdam as a child. She says her rent is now $900, and her total income is $1,300.

Everything's gone out. You know, it's just, you have to decide which bills you're going to pay, you know, or juggle. So if this new housing is built, it sounds like you would be interesting. Yes. If I could afford it, if I could afford the affordable housing. Supporters of the Faith-Based Affordable Housing Act hope it will come up for a vote before state lawmakers leave the capital in June. That's WMYC's Jimmy Vilkind. New Yorkers love a good slice.

An Eater, New York recently released its list of the best pizza slices across the five boroughs. We're constantly trying out slices and double-checking ourselves. That's Melissa McCart, lead editor of the Northeast region for Eater, New York. She explains what makes the perfect slice. One of the things that you have to keep in mind is that most slices are reheated, And so the dough has to be able to withstand that. So it's going to have a heartier dough, for example, than, say, a Neapolitan slice, which is often a little droopy and softer. Now that we know what to look for in the perfect slice, Melissa shares where we can find it.

I love Scars pizza. It's so good. Scars is at 35 orchard streets. You might have to wait in line because Scarlet, Pimentel, He mills his own flour to make the dough for his pizza. It's naturally leavened, and it is just a great tasting slice without any toppings. Now to Brooklyn. Let's go to 305 Bedford Avenue to Feeney Pizzeria. And this is Lillia co-owner Sean Feeney, who has a slice shop.

So this is a Williamsburg destination. We like their white slice. There's no ricotta on it, and instead it's Fontaine. and Parmesan over mozzarella. It's finished with a bit of lemon zest, and if you want to squirt some lemon juice on it, it's terrific. Back in Manhattan,

Melissa says Mamas too, on the Upper West Side, has a really good slice as well. This is a combination of something between a Neapolitan and a New York style. It's one of those new wave pizzerias where there's more craftsmanship with

the dough and the quality of the ingredients are better. And And if you want, you could try a grandma-style squared slice that is more like a ficccia as well. Melissa says it's also pretty reasonable. Grabbing a slice of pizza is always an economical choice. Melissa says with recent talks of tariffs, that uncertainty shouldn't have an effect on the price of a slice. A lot of Italian ingredients are imported and there allegedly will be some kind of a tariff on them. and yet it is so inexpensive to make a pizza.

And so I don't think that it's going to get particularly expensive to make them necessarily. That's Melissa McCart with Eder, New York. And I guess it's time for me to get out of here and grab a slice. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.