NYC NOW - July 31, 2024: Morning Headlines

Episode Date: July 31, 2024

Get up and get informed! Here’s all the local news you need to start your day: New York City Mayor Eric Adams' campaign faces questions over millions in undocumented expenses. WNYC's Brigid Bergin reports on an exclusive draft report. Meanwhile, lifeguards will stay on duty two extra hours at city beaches during heat emergencies for the rest of the summer. Plus, City Hall says the number of new migrants seeking shelter each week has dipped below a thousand for the first time since October 2022.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Wednesday, July 31st. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. Mayor Adams' campaign is facing questions over millions of dollars in undocumented expenses. WNIC's Bridget Bergen reports on the draft report WNYC has exclusively obtained. The campaign finance board's draft audit of Mayor Adams' 2021 campaign is 900 pages. There are 22 categories documenting disclosure problems, improper donations, and questionable expenses. Examples include TV ad buys, missing key broadcast details, vendors without contracts on file, and car repairs and parking tickets paid for by the campaign. The watchdog agency audits every city campaign, and a draft audit is a standard part of the process. Records show Adams' campaign attorney Vito Pitta asked for an extension to respond to the

board. He said all the issues raised in the audit will be addressed and that the campaign follows the letter of the law. Lifeguards remain on duty for an extra two hours at New York City Beaches during heat emergencies for the rest of the summer. Mayor Adams says the change is necessary due to the half dozen drownings at City beaches this year, five of them while lifeguards were off duty. Unfortunately, we had a series of drownings, particularly with young people, so we want to do everything we can to alleviate that threat, if not eradicated altogether. Lifeguards usually clock out at six in the evening. The new policy means a select group will remain on the beaches until eight whenever the city declares a heat emergency. But Adam says it doesn't mean the city will allow beachgoers to swim later.

He says the lifeguards work in the late shift will help first response. patroling the waters after hours. The number of new migrants seeking shelter each week in New York City has dipped below 1,000 for the first time since October of 2022. City Hall says just more than 900 migrants sought shelter in the first week of July. The count hovered between 820 and 840 over the following three weeks. The decline comes as illegal crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border are falling as well. In June, the Biden administration instituted new restrictions on those applying for asylum, but the data show the flow of migrants into the city was slowing even before then.

Now, taking a look at your weather here, 76 and overcast right now, scattered showers and thunderstorms today, mostly cloudy in 87, but feeling hotter than that. As a matter of fact, we have a heat advisory beginning at one this afternoon until Thursday night. Thanks for listening. This is NYC Now from WNYM. 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.