NYC NOW - January 23, 2024: Morning Headlines

Episode Date: January 23, 2024

Get up and get informed! Here’s all the local news you need to start your day: Mayor Adams is rolling out a plan to help low-income New Yorkers erase their medical debt. Meanwhile, New York City lost an estimated $108 million last year due to fake or unreadable license plates. WNYC’s Charles Lane reports. Plus, New York City Chancellor David Banks announces new guidance to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Tuesday, January 23rd. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. New York City Mayor Eric Adams is rolling out a plan to help low-income New Yorkers erase their medical debt. The city will invest $18 million with RIP medical debt. That's a nonprofit that buys medical debt at a fraction of the cost in the secondary market. The program aims to help up to half a million New Yorkers,

something that Adam says was too good to pass up, even amid a budget crisis. We're dealing with some real crises, and the team came to me and said, we just need to do this. Those selected must have an annual household income of no more than 400% of the federal poverty level in real dollars. That means $120,000 for a family of four,

or the medical debt must equal $5,000. percent or more of their annual household income. The program is expected to launch early this year and run for three years. People with fake or unreadable license plates cheated New York City out of an estimated $108 million last year. WNIC's Charles Lane reports. The estimate comes from city comptroller Brad Lander, who reviewed speed camera data. 22% of cars caught going over the speed limit had plates that were either fake, covered up, or otherwise unreadable. Landre says the money lost to scofflaws could fund important city services. I mean, that's, you know, $100 million a year at a time when we're cutting CUNY and, you know,

cutting libraries and, you know, we need the money. The MTA and Port Authority say they lost a combined $86 million in 2022 due to unreadable plates. New York Governor Kathy Hockel plans to propose new legislation aimed at increased. increasing penalties for plate cheaters. New York City Schools Chancellor is announcing new guidance to combat anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Schools Chancellor David Banks says all public school principals will get updated training on discipline for bullying or bigoted incidents. Staff will also get new resources for facilitating conversations on sensitive topics.

Banks' announcement follows a series of incidents in City Schools since Hamax's October. 7th attack in Israel and the war in Gaza. The EPA says the air quality is moderate today due to particle pollution. Mid-30s right now and cloudy. Slim chance of early afternoon rain, mostly cloudy in 37. Tomorrow, better chance of rain and will reach until the low 40s. 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. subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. See you this afternoon.