NYC NOW - February 5, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: February 5, 2024

Child labor cases have risen sharply in New York as state investigations lag behind, according to a new audit by State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. Meanwhile, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy says New York and New Jersey will use mostly private money to cover construction costs for hosting the FIFA World Cup Finals in 2026. Finally, WNYC’s Precious Fondren spotlights upcoming events commemorating Black History Month.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Monday, February 5th. Here's the midday news from Lance Lucky. Child labor cases have risen sharply in New York while state investigations are lagging behind. That's the conclusion of state controller Tom Dinapoli in a new audit of state child labor investigations. Dinapoli says nearly two-thirds of investigations in New York City dragged on longer than the targeted three-month time frame. Reid Maki is the director of child labor advocacy at the National Consumer's League's Child Labor Coalition.

He says the delays are concerning. These roles, they're there to protect kids and to prevent injury and to prevent educational damage. We really can't take them lightly. They took a long time to get in place. Child labor investigations took more than a year to complete, or were still being actively investigated in more than 40% of the cases the Comptroller studied. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy says New York and New Jersey will use mostly private money to cover construction costs for hosting the FIFA World Cup finals in 2006. Yesterday, FIFA announced that MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford will host the final match of the World Cup tournament in July 26.

Speaking on Fox 5 this morning, Murphy said the costs will be split across both sides of the third. the Hudson River. We're going to raise an enormous amount of money, Eric and I and our teams from private sources, which is the way it should be. Officials say an estimated 14,000 jobs will be created for construction and hosting the final game. The New York, New Jersey region was first announced as one of North America's World Cup host cities almost two years ago. 40 right now, near 45 and lots of sunshine this afternoon. Sunny and 42 tomorrow. This is WNYC. Stay close. There's more after the break. On WNYC, I'm Tiffany Hanson.

It's February, and that means it's Black History Month, spotlighting important moments, achievements, and people connected to the African diaspora. There are a number of ways New Yorkers can commemorate the month. Joining us to talk about some of the possibilities is WNYC's Culture and Arts reporter, Precious Fondre and Hi, Precious. Hi. So I can imagine there's a lot to choose from. So just give us a few highlights to start. Yes, there's a ton of events people can attend this year.

I don't even know where to start. There are family movie nights at public libraries across Brooklyn. There are dance performances at the Abrams Art Center on the Lower East Side. There's live music at the Central Brooklyn Public Library. Many museums have shows planned. There are even some events to honor like historical black figures at our city's parks. And there's even a comedy show that involves a lot of alcohol. Oh, boy.

I'll have more on that later. All right. So assuming there are some that you're particularly excited about? Yeah, some events that I've been eyeing include this one called Dweller Festival. One of the best ways to honor this month is just by celebrating with lots of people, even if you don't know them. And that's all that's going to be happening at this year's festival. If you're unfamiliar, it's an annual electronic music festival that aims to highlight black DJs.

From February 20th through February 25th, a number of clubs and performance venues, mainly in Brooklyn, will host parties in live music. The standout event, though, is going to be a 24-hour party. Yes, you heard me correct. A 24-hour party at Nowadays in Queens. I don't think I can do that, precious. I'm leaving that to you. And that starts on Saturday, February 24th.

Another event is called Drunk Black History. It's a comedy show that happens on Saturday, February 10th, on the Lower East Side. Comedian Charles McBee, he's going to be sort of drinking and retelling the history of historical black figures, historical moments. Black History. I'm not exactly sure if you're going to actually learn a ton, but you're guaranteed to have a lot of fun. They're going to be skunks out of their mind is what the press really said. So it's just going to be a lot of fun. All right. And something I've been hearing a lot about and excited about myself is this collection from Alicia Keys and Swiss Beets. Yeah, I'm also excited about that one too. It's called Giants Art from the Dean Collection of Swiss Beats and Alicia Keys.

This exhibition opens at the Brooklyn Museum on February 10th. It's going to feel feature more than 100 art pieces from Swiss Beats and Alicia Keys' private collection, you're going to see work from a slew of artists, including Gordon Parks and Jean-Machel Basquiat. And museum tickets start around $26. Okay, so if $26 is maybe a little hefty for you, what could folks do that if they're on a limited budget? Yeah, there's definitely free events for people. One free event that would be happening at Cortona Nature Center in the Bronx. It's called Black History Month, herbal bruise, Hughes, and Maya Angelou, very long name. But during this hour and a half event,

people are going to be drinking tea while listening to poetry written by Maya Angelou. There will also be a chance for people to write their own poetry. And this is happening February 11th at 1 p.m. All right. And now to my neighborhood, Harlem. Talk about Langston Hughes. Yes. You can also learn about another poet, Langston Hughes, over at the Schaumburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. An exhibition about him is on view now. It features photos and archival material from the center. It runs through the July 8th, so it's on view until the summer. And of course, this one is free as well.

Excellent. All right. And now, if you have kids in tow. Yeah, there's lots of events going on at a number of Brooklyn public libraries. I think one event that the kids will really love is this movie night happening at the Park Slope Library branch. They're going to be showing Disney's Princess and the Frog on February 9th. And of course, Tiana is famously Disney's first black princess. Also in Brooklyn, the Children's Museum has some.

something for families? Yes, they have a whole week of events as part of their Black Future Festival. Kids will get to see dance performances, storytelling events, and of course, art classes, all inspired by Black History. That starts February 18th and runs through February 25th. Kids will be able to make their own Afro-Futuristic comic book covers, as well as hear stories from older bed-style residents, get people involved in the history of the neighborhood and everything. And tickets for that start around $15. Precious, this is a great list of activities. We appreciate you coming in today to talk about it.

Thank you. You can read more about ticket pricing, times, locations for all of these events that Precious and I talked about right now over at our news site, Gothamist.com. 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. And subscribe wherever you get your.

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