NYC NOW - Evening Roundup: Subway Train Comes Apart in Bronx Tunnel, Queens Restaurant Name Raises Eyebrows, Thousands of New Yorkers Could Lose Food Benefits Under New Rules

Episode Date: October 20, 2025

MTA officials are inspecting hundreds of subway cars after a train carrying passengers decoupled and split apart Sunday night in the Bronx. Plus, a new Mexican restaurant in Jackson Heights has a name that's prompted a bit of a neighborhood backlash. And finally, the Trump administration will begin implementing new work requirements for people receiving food stamps.

A subway train comes apart in the Bronx. The name of a queen's restaurant raises eyebrows, and thousands of New Yorkers could lose SNAP benefits under new rules. From WNYC, this is NYC now. I'm Jene Pierre. It is our goal to be able to provide great bus service, great train service, and in this case, we didn't do that. MTA officials are inspecting hundreds of subway cars

after a train carrying passengers decoupled and split apart Sunday night in the Bronx. Transit officials say two cars of a southbound four train decoupled near the 149th Street and Grand Concourse Station. New York City Transit President Demetrius Critchlow says the agency is still investigating what caused that. We're also going to go out and inspect all of the R142 car class to ensure that there's no other issues remaining with the car. No one was injured in the incident. Officials did not say, how many passengers were aboard the train or how long it took for them to be rescued. A new Mexican restaurant in Jackson Heights has a name that's prompted a bit of a neighborhood backlash. WMYC's Arun Venetapal has more.

The name of the restaurant is Whitesikens, a combination of white and Mexican. Experts say it's a term that refers to highly privileged, fair-skinned people in Mexico. One of the owners, Matteo Gomez-Bermudas, says the name is meant to be satire, but Also good for marketing. Christina Furlong is a neighborhood resident and community board member who begged him to pick another name. She says people in Jackson Heights these days constantly worry about ice raids and neighbors self-deporting. You know, we live in a real stressful time right now. And it's just not nicer kind to try to joke about what some people consider racist terminology.

Gomez-Bermudez, the co-owner, says the true spirit of white sickens. is expressed through a sign inside the restaurant. It reads, all humans are legal. New Yorkers have a rare chance to witness history this week. Misty Copeland is giving her final performance with the American Ballet Theater on Wednesday, and it will be streamed live for free at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. Copeland became the first black woman named Principal Dancer in ABT's 85-year history. This farewell marks her first return to the stage in five years.

Tickets to the simulcast are free and first come first served, starting at 4 p.m. Wednesday. The show begins at 6.15. Up next, thousands of New Yorkers are at risk of losing their food stamps now that the Trump administration has implemented new rules. More on that after the break. Starting next month, the Trump administration will begin implementing new work requirements for people receiving food stamps. For many years, SNAP recipients in New York State have been in. exempt from work rules. And now the Trump administration says it won't pay next month's benefits at all if the government shutdown continues. Starting November 2nd, if you're able-bodied and able to work, you're going to have to prove that you're working at least 80 hours a month or volunteering or in school to keep your benefits. That's WMYC's Karen Yee. State and city officials expected this

to happen eventually, but Karen says not so soon. The waiver was supposed to expire in February. And if recipients don't meet the new work rules, then you'll only get SNAP benefits for three months in a three-year period. So people could start losing their benefits by March of next year. These expanded work rules are part of the spending measure President Trump and congressional Republicans passed this summer as a way to cut back on what they say is waste, fraud, and abuse. The big thing here, Karen says,

is that states and cities across the nation will have to pay a lot more than they ever have for the SNAP program. And now, the Trump administration says it won't pay next month's benefits at all if the government shutdown continues. In New York City alone, local leaders say 240,000 people will be affected. We're talking about SNAP recipients between the ages of 18 to 64. And in many cases, people are working, but it's jobs that can be hard to consistently document that they are employed. Like house cleaners or people who labor in the cash economy or do gig work. Jerome Nathaniel is the director of policy at City Harvest.

He says New Yorkers haven't had to do this before, so it's going to be quite a shock to recipients and their support system of nonprofits. The NAF administrative offices are going to be overburdened, so really it's going to fall on nonprofits and advocates and community support to help folks navigate it, but it's a muscle that we haven't used. Meanwhile, Karen says city leaders are working furiously

to get letters out to people who now will be subject to these work requirements. They're also going to send out guidance for people who may not be able to physically work because of a disability, but they haven't had to report that in the past since there was always an exemption. That's WMYC's Karen Yee. Every Tuesday night for more than a decade, Brooklyn's High and Mighty Brass Band has been performing at a speakeasy in Chinatown. WNYC's Hannah Frischberg has more. It's after midnight, an Aphotech is bursting at the seams with eight members of the high and mighty brass band and their crowd of dancing fans.

Drinks are flowing and the sousaphone is blowing. The Worling-style brass band music is pouring out of the small mixology bar and into the alley beyond. This may seem like a special night, but it's fairly standard. High and Mighty have been here just about every Tuesday since 2014, but it's still something of a well-kept secret. Every single time, people are like, what? I've never heard of this.

I've never, and it's been happening for 11 years, so that feels good, you know. That's Charlie Kay. High and Mighty's lead singer since 2019. We spoke outside Apotech between sets. She says part of the evening's ongoing appeal comes from the bar's intimate size. Its single dimly lit room quickly filling up with patrons who dance alongside the illuminated Carrara marble bar. It kind of just creates this very, like, cozy, homemade.

Almost feels like a house party. It just with like a super loud brass band and like the best drinks in Manhattan. Many fans are regulars. Morgan Floss has been attending for some three years. They just get you hooked. You hear it once, and you realize it's kind of this, like, untapped gem for the city itself. Others stumble upon it and are shocked by what they find. Ellen Clare works by Madison Square Garden and was stunned by how different the vibe at Apotech was in comparison.

I walked in, I started dancing, I started a bop, and I couldn't help it. It was so much fun. That was it. If you want to see the fun for yourself, high and mighty brass band performs every Tuesday, from 10 p.m. till half past midnight at Apotech Chinatown at Nine Doyers Street. That's WMYC's Hannah Frischberg. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.