NYC NOW - February 12, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: February 12, 2024

New York City Public Schools will have a remote day tomorrow due to expected snow. Meanwhile, Mayor Eric Adams is imposing curfews at 20 emergency migrant shelters across the city for safety purposes, but advocates say the policy will do more harm than good. Plus, a judge rejects claims from California vendors that New York’s marijuana licensing program unconstitutionally discriminates against out-of-state residents. Finally, this Black History Month, WNYC’s Community Partnerships Desk is visiting Black-owned bookstores in our region. Today we visit the Source of Knowledge bookstore on Broad Street in Newark.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Monday, February 12th. Here's the midday news from Lance Lucky. With up to eight inches of snow forecast for tomorrow, New York City Public Schools are set to have a remote day. Mayor Adams announced it in a message on X, formerly Twitter, this morning. Since the pandemic, the school system has said students will be expected to attend school remotely on snow days. Meanwhile, Mayor Adams is imposing curfews at 20 emergency migrant shelters across the city, which

his office says will help keep people safe. But advocates say the policy will do more harm than good. Joshua Goldfine is staff attorney for the Homeless Rights Project. He says the new curfews will interfere with migrants' work schedules. It's totally counterproductive. People are working. They're working late. Many, many people are working doing delivery for apps.

and it doesn't make sense to create this additional burden for them. The curfews will be imposed at less than 20% of the city's emergency shelters set up for migrants. They require anyone staying there to be inside from 11 p.m. until 6 a.m. A judge is rejecting a challenge to New York State's marijuana licensing program. Vendors from California say the program unconstitutionally discriminates against out-of-state residents. The federal judge's ruling in Albany says the public insuburn. Interest is in letting properly licensed businesses take over the state market outweighs the plaintiff's concerns. The ruling may clear the way for New York to issue hundreds of licenses to sell marijuana in a state where most sales occur at businesses without a cannabis license.

44 now, about 50 today. Enjoy the sun because a winter storm watch is in effect from late tonight through tomorrow afternoon. Rain this evening, rain and snow after midnight, and then snow tomorrow heavy at times up to eight inches possible. Stay close. There's more after the break. On WNYC, I'm Michael Hill. A store can sometimes become much more than a place to shop. That's the case in Newark, New Jersey, where an independent bookstore also strives to become a neighborhood hub.

This Black History Month, WNYC's Community Partnerships Desk, is visiting black-owned bookstores in our area. This morning, we drop into Source of Knowledge bookstore on Broad Street in Newark. My name is Masani Barnwell, George, and I'm one of the owners, a source of knowledge bookstore, located in Newark, New Jersey. It started out as a family business in Manhattan on the streets, selling books and carts. And with my husband's family, that's where they began, and my husband decided to bring it over to Jersey. We've been opened since 1993. Why?

Why? Because the books that we specialize in, there's not many venues for them. You don't see books with children of color. And if they are displayed, it's very few. So you think there were none. So at source of knowledge, that's our purpose is to make everyone aware and let people who color know that you are also seen on pages and how children are scene, and they can get literature, they can relate to, and they can see themselves. When you read a book, you want to relate to the characters and be able to fantasize and put

yourself in those situations like you're watching it. And if you can't relate to the characters, then you're like, oh, there's a book, it's a nice book, whatever next. The importance of this bookstore in Newark is because there's always so much negative that you hear about the city over the years it has been, it's changing and growing. But we need to see that we are a part of this world change, then we have a place to get away from all the chaos in the world just off the street and see further that there's more to what's going on right now.

I can drop all my baggage at the door and I could go into another world. And this world is going to help you catapult to your next level. We're like, yeah. It's a bookstore, but it's more than a bookstore because people need to be able to feel like a place they can gather. You don't have to just shop. You can stay, hang out, clear your head, just come in, smell the paper, and enjoy good conversations.

Masani Barnwell-George is one of the owners of Source of Knowledge Bookstore in Newark, New Jersey. 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. Also subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back this evening.