NYC NOW - February 15, 2024 : Midday News

Episode Date: February 15, 2024

New York City officials are closing down a Bronx office that helps New Yorkers with food stamps and cash assistance. Also for New Jersey drivers, the Pulaski Skyway will be closed in both directions Thursday night as it goes through rehab work. The Knicks have now lost four games in a row, and the Nets lost to the Celtics by 50 points. And WNYC's Ryan Kailath takes a tour of an apartment that was decorated with items found in the garbage or yard sales.

NYC. Welcome to NYC now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Thursday, February 15. Here's the midday news from Lance Lucky. Tomorrow, New York City officials are closing down a Bronx office that helps New Yorkers apply for food stamps and cash assistance. WNYC's Karen Yee has more. The Human Resources Administration Office on Jerome Avenue in Mount Eden offers residents who rely on public benefits,

a chance for in-person services if they have problems with their case, experience a delay, or have spotty internet access. But the city says it's closing down some of these services and relocating others to another center about five miles and two subway trains away. Advocates say the move is detrimental to those who needed most and can't afford the extra transportation costs. The partial closure comes as the city is processing food assistance benefits and cash assistance applications at its slowest pace in a decade. And as city data shows, 70% more New Yorkers applied for help last year than in 2019. Heads up, Garden State drivers. New Jersey's Pulaski Skyway will be closed in both directions tonight for several short periods as it undergoes rehab work. The 92-year-old bridge will be closed from just before midnight tonight until 5 a.m. for 10 to 15 minutes at a time. The New Jersey Department of Transportation says if work is completed early, the Skyway will reopen before 5 a.m.

The All-Star break can't come soon enough for the local NBA teams. The injury-plagued NICS have now lost four in a row after a scorching hot January. They lost to Orlando last night, 118 to 100. And the Nets got drubbed by the Celtics by 50 points. One bright spot for local hoops fans, New York Liberty star, Sabrina Yonescu, is set to face NBA superstar, Steph Curry, in a three-point shooting contest as part of the first. of the NBA's All-Star Saturday night. 34 now, 38 and sunny this afternoon.

Stay close. There's more after the break. On WNYC, I'm Michael Hill. Do you love thrifting, vintage, and secondhand furniture? Our cool play series on WNYC, and our news website, Gothamus, looks at, well, cool apartments in this city. WNYC's Ryan Kailoff takes us, to a third floor walk-up in Clinton Hill, where the renter has furnished the place almost entirely

with street fines and junk store items. Josh Tierney's been in his Brooklyn walk-up for 16 years. He runs creative strategy for a marketing firm, and he says the number one reaction people have upon seeing his apartment is surprise. You walk up to the building, and it's unremarkable, and you come in and, you know, there's been some. deferred maintenance, let's say. As you walk up, the carpets coming off the stairs. Old stained linoleum, fluorescent lighting, dirty walls. And it's kind of like, where am I going?

And then the door opens, and it's that very New York moment where it's like, okay, expecting this. Inside, imagine the backdrop of a two-page vogue spread, designed by Ralph Lauren. He's like a Franciscan monk carved. I don't know. all hard woods and warm fabrics. Deep greenery and beautiful objects arranged in Tablo. This lamp is brutalest.

Tierney does not have social media. He's not an influencer or trying to build a following. Only his friends know that his apartment looks like a million dollars and cost a whole lot less. How much would you say is purchased new? New? Very little, if anything. like bedding, pillows.

Like, that's it. Everything out there that's new is junkie. So there's no point in buying it. I'd rather shop in the garbage, which is where this chair came from. This is a local. So you've got to support local, you know? Every inch of the living room floor is covered in Oriental rugs.

This one I got in Budapest. This one I found on Bleaker Street in the garbage. This one I found out a yard sale on Clinton Avenue. The approach has served him very well, with only occasional mishaps. There was a 1920s club chair that I found in the garbage. It was stuffed with horsehair, and the mice moved into it. So, like, whenever I would sit in the chair, the mice would, like, come running out of the chair. Unfortunately, for us more aesthetically challenged, folk, there isn't an easy way to shop.

the look. Ryan Kyloth, WNYC News. Cheapy, fake velvet velour, whatever. 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.