NYC NOW - January 16, 2024: Morning Headlines

Episode Date: January 16, 2024

Get up and get informed! Here’s all the local news you need to start your day: New York City schools are open despite snowfall, while Jersey City and Montclair schools in New Jersey are closed. Several other schools, including those in Yonkers, White Plains, Tarrytown, Newark, Passaic, and East Orange, are operating on delayed schedules. Meanwhile, the Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez says he will no longer prosecute people for cannabis possession. Also, the NYPD is searching for four suspects involved in robbing Manhattan newsstands.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Tuesday, January 16th. Here's the morning headlines for Michael Hill. The dusting of snow still falling on New York City and the surrounding area means closed schools and morning delays for some students. It's business as usual for public school students in the five boroughs today. But across the Hudson River, Jersey City public schools are shuttered for the day,

as are schools in Montclair. Dozens of other schools will operate on delayed opening schedules for the day. That includes public schools in Yonkers, White Plains in New York, plus in Jersey City, in Garden State, that is, New York, Passaic and East Orange, as well as others. The National Weather Service expects more than just three inches and a half, three and a half inches of snow to fall in New York City in all. The Brooklyn District Attorney says he will no longer prosecute people for cannabis possession. W&MIC's Caroline Lewis explains. Even though New York legalized marijuana in

2021, it's still against the law to possess more than three ounces. But judges in two Brooklyn cases recently threw out felony possession charges because of a legal loophole. They said the law requires police to measure the pure weight of seized cannabis, meaning only the parts that can get you high. Police usually report the aggregate weight. The Brooklyn DA's office said that it's an impossible standard to meet, but not all prosecutors agree. Since the current law was passed, there have been at least 137 convictions for cannabis possession or sale statewide, including 13 in New York City. Police are looking for four people who have been robbing sidewalk newsstand vendors in Manhattan, stealing thousands of dollars in cash. The NYPD

says four men have hit nine separate newsstands from January 1st to the 11th, Officials say the robberies follow a similar pattern where the suspects push newsstand clerks to the ground before taking cash and property. Most of the crimes have happened at night. Anyone with information about the newsstand robberies should call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline. 28 with snow out there now. It is snowing. Later, freezing rains lead in more snow, more than three inches total, a high just below freezing at 31, but feeling as cold as 15, and then cold tomorrow, just 26. 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 podcasts. See you this afternoon.