NYC NOW - July 7, 2023: Midday News

Episode Date: July 7, 2023

Efforts continue to contain a fire at Port Newark, which claimed two firefighters' lives and injured five others. Meanwhile, the Manhattan District Attorney's office accuses six individuals of creating a "straw donor" scheme to illicitly boost Mayor Eric Adams' 2021 campaign. This afternoon, Riverside Park visitors might encounter the resident goat gardeners. Lastly, a new culture and education center celebrating the life and legacy of iconic jazz musician Louis Armstrong opens its doors in Queens, with more details from WNYC’s Precious Fondren.

NYC. Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Friday, July 7th. Here's the midday news for Michael Hill. The fire at Port New York that killed two firefighters and hurt five others likely will burn a couple more days. The Port Authority's Beth Rooney says the priority now is containing the fire that begin Wednesday night. We do not have a fire department within the port of Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

We do currently rely on the local municipalities. But again, as this investigation unfolds, everything is on the table for consideration. Firefighters are trying to contain the fire on the steel cargo ship where the decks of cars make it hard to access the vehicle. The Manhattan DA's office says six people have been indicted for cooking up a straw donor scheme to illegally generate mass. matching funds for Mayor Eric Adams' 2021 campaign. Straw donors are people who give other people's money to campaigns under their own names to circumvent contribution laws. Adams is mentioned in the document, but his campaign is not charged with any wrongdoing.

A spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. NJ. Transit says the Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast Lines will run limited service in both directions in the areas surrounding the railway station and the entire system is facing slowdowns because of Amtrak-related overhead wire issues. Amtrak riders also have longer waits. New Yorkers who head to Riverside Park this afternoon may get a chance to greet the newest kids on the block. Four goats are starting their summertime gnawing on invasive species to clear them out on sharp inclines to challenging for most gardeners to reach. 84 and partly sunny now, partly sunny today in 86 for a higher than tomorrow's slim chance of afternoon

and thunderstorms, partly sunny in 86. Again, 84 now. NYC. A new culture and education center is open now in Queens, dedicated to the life and legacy of the iconic New Orleans jazz musician Louis Armstrong. W&MAC's precious fondron has more. When you think about Louis Armstrong, your mind may go to straight to New Orleans. The city where he was born and where Jazz was born, too. The number one questions we get at the Armstrong House is why is the Lewis Armstrong Museum in Queens,

not in New Orleans? And I think that's the reason. By the time he died in 1971, he was a New Yorker. Ricky Ricciardi is the director of research collections for the Lewis Armstrong House Museum. It's located in Corona Queens, and the house where Lewis and his wife Lucille settled in 1943. Those years in New Orleans were the most important years of his life. They taught. him about life, about race, about music, about women, about food, about everything. But once he got out, that was it. He was not going back. Last week, the museum hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate a new 14,000 square foot facility directly across the street.

The Lewis Armstrong Center will host exhibitions, performances, talks, and screenings. And it houses a 60,000-piece archival collection, which is explored in a permanent exhibition called Here to Stay. the legacy of Lewis and Lucille. They were two black artists who owned their own home in the 1940s who rose to megastardom. And we have to honor that.

And we honor that by telling their story. Regina Bain is the center's executive director. We also honored that by living their values. They loved their neighborhood. They loved supporting the families and the students in their neighborhood. So we have to do the same. Bain says the center will help to improve

and expand programs devoted to artistic excellence, education and community outreach. For example, the children's concert series Pops' Tops only used to happen outdoors during the summer. That is the type of education program that we want to make sure that we can offer year-round. Now we'll have an indoor space that's expansive enough for us to do programming for students.

We just got a great donation of trumpets, these amazing instruments, and now we're teaching students how to play. The center will also continue the museum's mission of preserving and sharing Armstrong's life and life, legacy. Armstrong is widely considered to have been the first black superstar in American music history. Here's Ricky Ricardy again.

The records he makes between 1925 and 28 are, I mean, inarguably the most influential recordings in jazz history. And I would also say, just American popular music, because you can name a million great instrumentalists and you can name a million great singers. Lewis Armstrong is the only person you could find who could completely change the way people played music on their instruments, and he completely changed the way people sang. As he became a celebrity, Armstrong broke down racial barriers. He becomes the first African-American to put it in his contract that he wouldn't play a hotel unless he could stay there. He becomes the first African-American actor to get featured billing in a Hollywood film.

becomes the first African-American to host a nationally sponsored radio show. Jason Moran is an award-winning pianist, composer, and visual artists. He curated the Center's Here to Stay exhibition. One of the things I'd want someone to understand about Louis Armstrong was that he took himself seriously. He took his letters seriously. He took his friends seriously. And he documented all of these relationships. Moran says the exhibition is powerful in part because of its level of detail.

Armstrong meticulously documented his life. And he took care of his community as well. And so how do we, when we walk out, back out into our worlds after visiting this exhibition, how do we take care of our community? Who do we take seriously? And to really cherish those relationships. One relationship Armstrong clearly cherished was the one he had with his neighborhood in Queens. Ricardy says Armstrong expressed his love for the borough and songs like,

What a Wonderful World. I see trees of green. If you visit the Lewis Armstrong House Museum, you'll hear one of these interviews in which he talks about how every time he sang that song, he thought of Corona. He thought of the three generations he saw on that block. And almost every interview he gave when they asked him about home, you know, he would always talk about Queens. It's so much in wonderful world that brings me back to my neighborhood where I live in Corona, New York. The new Lewis Armstrong Center is open Thursday through Saturday. from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Precious Fondering, WNYC News. 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.

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