NYC NOW - July 6, 2023: Morning Headlines

Episode Date: July 6, 2023

Get up and get informed! Here’s all the local news you need to start your day: Efforts are underway to extinguish an ongoing cargo ship fire at Port Newark that has claimed the lives of two firefighters. Meanwhile, the New York City Board of Elections has released the first ranked-choice results from last week’s primary vote. Also, East Harlem residents have expressed mixed reactions to the MTA’s new renderings for the Second Avenue subway extension.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Thursday, July 6th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. 76 and sunny and near 90 today. Efforts are underway at Port Newark to extinguish a shipfire that has killed two firefighters. Multiple outlets report the blaze broke out on the cargo ship dock at the port around 9.30 last night. Officials say several small vehicles on the ship caught fire before the flames spread to the rest of the ship.

The Port Newark Container Terminal is in the main container ship depot for anything entering or leaving the northeast. It's the second largest port in the nation and moved more than $271 billion of goods last year alone. The New York City Board of Elections has released its first ranked choice results from last week's primary vote. WNMIC's Bridget Bergen reports on who came out on top and on why the count was a straightforward affair. Ranked choice tallies were needed in just three races. In those cases, none of the candidates held on to more than 50% of the vote as more ballots came in. In a surprise, officials deployed the process in Harlem's 9th Council District. There, the primary night winner, Yusuf Salam, expanded his victory, capturing nearly 64% of the vote after the ranked tally. In Northeast Queens, Tony Avella is the likely winner in the Democratic primary for the 19th Council District,

while Christy Marmarado is the presumed victor of the Republican primary in the 13th Council District, which runs from Throgs Neck to Pelham Bay Gardens. The results won't be certified until later this month. East Harlem residents were having mixed reactions to the MTA's new renderings for the 2nd Avenue subway extension. The transit agency plans to build three new stations with a large hub at a hundred, 125th Street and Lexington Avenue. 26-year-old Kathleen Brown lives in East Harlem and is looking forward to new subways in the area, but she worries about years of construction. It's going to be more traffic up here.

It's already crazy as hell. I like how it's going to look. It's a good idea that people could be able to travel outside of the 4, 5, and 6 from Harlem. The project will extend the Q train by a mile and a half. The MTA expects it will cost $7 billion, and to speak to Ms. Brown's concern, and it hopes to finish the work in eight years. New York's under an air quality advisory until 11 o'clock tonight. It means active children and adult.

And those with respiratory issues such as asthma should limit prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors. 76 and sunny. Sunny in 89 for a high today. And then tomorrow's slim chance of midday showers and thunderstorms, partly sunny, and 86. Once again, 76 now. 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.