NYC NOW - July 2, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: July 2, 2024

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is now barred from practicing law in New York State after a ruling Tuesday from the State Supreme Court. The suspension stems from allegations that Giuliani made “demonstrably false and misleading statements” while serving as former President Trump’s lawyer during the 2020 election. Meanwhile, the G train summer shutdown is here. WNYC's Charles Lane reports MTA workers are using bullhorns to redirect confused commuters to shuttle services. Finally, WNYC’s Sean Carlson speaks with culture and arts reporter Ryan Kailath about fun and free activities to do in July.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Tuesday, July 2nd. Here's the midday news. I'm Alec Hamilton. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is now barred from practicing law in New York State. That's the result of a ruling today from the state Supreme Court. The suspension stems from allegations that Giuliani made, quote, demonstrably

monstrively false and misleading statements in his role as former President Trump's lawyer during Trump's failed re-election bid in 2020. His disbarment means he is not allowed to practice law in any form. He cannot work for another attorney or advise anyone on legal matters. Prior to being mayor and part of Trump's legal team, Giuliani was U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. The G-Train summer shutdown is here. WN.YC's Charles Lane spotted MTA workers using bullhorns and pamphlets to redirect commuters. to shuttle services. Two station employees at the Quartz Street Station

in Long Island City were flagging down confused commuters and directing them upstairs to a shuttle. But Fernando Gomez says he's unimpressed with the agency's attempts to help riders navigate the new trainless terrain. A lot of people take G-Train to Brooklyn, especially to Greenpoint,

and we have to take the bus. They don't care, we have a troll. But we pay, we pay. taxis. We need a good service. The MTA says the closure is necessary to make long overdue improvements to the train. The agency also says workers should be helping commuters at affected stations from 7 in the morning to 9 at night. Mostly sunny today, a high around 84. Tomorrow looks like more of the same. Sunny with highs in the low 80s, but sorry fireworks fans, 4th of July looks like there may be a little rain in the evening. It's WNYC. Stay tuned. There's more.

after the break. On WNYC, I'm Sean Carlson. July is here. School is out. The city feels a little emptier on the weekends, maybe your job, even as summer Fridays. We're back now with WDNYC Culture and Artaporter, Ryan Kyloth, talk fun ideas for free things to do this month.

Okay, Ryan, what's at the top of your personal summer bucket list? Well, I, for years now, I've kept an iPhone note on my phone called Things to Do Every Season. So summer, some stuff on there, jump off of rocks into water. That's a classic. Easy one. More accessible in the city. Ride the ferry, literally anywhere. Obviously going out to the Rockaways is great.

I've really been enjoying the Astoria line. The ferry stop, especially the one in Astoria, like it's gorgeous if you get on there. I haven't taken the one up to the Bronx yet, which I'd like to. So maybe that'll be this summer. There's some other things. You know, we write fun, free things to do every month. I didn't actually write this month's list, but I learned about some great stuff from the person who did, our contributor, Anthony Schneck. What do we got? Give us one.

Yeah. So I didn't know about this, but the Harlem Mear Festival at the top of Central Park, listeners probably know the Harlem Mirror, you know, the tiny little lake in the northeast corner of the park there. There's a cute little building I've noticed and never been in. Built in the 90s, it's basically the visitor center for the northern half of Central Park. They offer programs, they loan out equipment, toys, fishing gear, if you want to fish up there. And every Sunday, starting July 4th for the summer, they do free performances. Ooh. So there's, what, six, seven more, you know, this year starting Bastille Day. A bunch of cool Latin jazz, though not exclusively that.

July 21st, this is a highlight for me. They're having a visit from one of the Fanya All-Stars, this incredible percussionist. And you can find the full schedule by looking up, just Google the Harle. Lemire Festival, M-E-E-R. Cool. All right. What else we have? We have another one?

Yeah. So the Met Museum, they launched their newest space in September, last September. It's called the 81st Street Studio. And it's kind of like an art science discovery center for kids. Totally free, both for kids and, you know, anyone who is chaperoning them. Though it is first come first served. You can't, like, reserve entry tickets online. You got to go to the museum and check it out.

You know, they got interactive stations, build things, play with things, art objects. They got unusual musical instruments, a little library. They do story time. It's a great place to park, you know, if you're in the neighborhood with kids or doing a museum visit with guests or just, you know, trying to get your guests out of the house for a while and find a place for them to park there, kids. Do you have any of the outdoor ideas? One item from Brick, Celebrate Brooklyn, you know, the free shows and Prossohnert Park. Oh, yeah. They're doing a cool thing July 20th.

It's part of the Habibi Festival, which is this all North African and Middle Eastern bands and artists' music festival. Now, the full thing takes place at Joe's Pub in the fall. It's several days, the Habibi Festival. Total highlight of the musical calendar. But this Celebrate Brooklyn Show this month, it's kind of a preview of the festival. So the headliner is a Moroccan band called Bob Le Blues. They do like psychedelic rock. kind of bluesy, kind of jazzy, but they use Middle Eastern instruments like the Awecha and Sintier instead of a guitar and bass instead of your basic rock band instruments.

And they do alternate tunings and they've got vocals in Arabic, very, very cool band. Celebrate Brooklyn never fails to impress. I always love it. You can read our full list of free things to do in July on our news website Gothamist. That's Dublin YC's Arts and Culture Reporter Ryan Kailoff. Thanks so much. Thanks, Sean. Thanks for listening to 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.

More this evening.