NYC NOW - July 9, 2024: Morning Headlines

Episode Date: July 9, 2024

Get up and get informed! Here’s all the local news you need to start your day: Driverless shuttles are coming to JFK Airport in Queens. WNYC's Catalina Gonella has more. In other news, the New York City Council is allocating funds to save community centers for people with mental health issues after nine clubhouses recently lost their city contracts. Plus, prosecutors will wrap up their closing statements Tuesday in the federal corruption trial against New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, who is accused of accepting bribes of money and gold bars in exchange for favors for Egypt, accepting bribes and interference in criminal cases.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Tuesday, July 9th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. Driverly shuttles are coming to JFK Airport in Queens. WNYC's Catalina Gonella has more. The Port Authority says customers can ride the autonomous vehicles starting next week. The Squarespace blue and yellow shuttles will be served.

circling parking lot nine, a massive and remote long-term parking lot currently serviced by human-driven shuttles. Seth Wainer is the program director for innovation at the Port Authority. He says the agency will retain the drivers, but their jobs will look different. We can have one driver supervising more than one vehicle and really paying attention to the folks actually getting on and getting off, right, helping out with luggage, with people that may need a little bit of assistance and understanding their way around the airport. The test will continue through the summer. In other news this morning, the New York City Council is putting up money to save community centers for people with mental health issues. Nine of these clubhouses recently lost

their city contracts and could shudder at the end of September. The Adams administration is not giving up on the model, but says it's focusing on larger clubhouses that serve more people. Existing users says they don't want to lose their tight-knit communities. The city council is now planning to give out $2 million to keep some of these centers open. Councilmember Linda Lee says it's a worthwhile expense. They're literally providing services to the most vulnerable people in New York City, people with severe mental illness that need a lot of the supportive services to keep them healthy, right? The council is still figuring out how to allocate the money, and some clubhouses may still close their doors. prosecutors will wrap up their closing statements today in the federal corruption trial against

Senator Bob Menendez. Over the last several weeks, federal prosecutors have told the jury about sensitive information shared with Egyptian officials, Google searches about the value of a kilo of gold, and cash-filled envelop stuffed into boots and jackets in Menendez's home. Prosecutors say all that points to a scheme where New Jersey's senior senator did favorites for Egypt and try to interfere in criminal cases in exchange for money, for gold, bars, and for bribes. Menendez denies he's done anything wrong. The Democrat has also filed to run for re-election as an independent.

74 and mostly sunny with a heat advisory until Wednesday night, hot and humid today, slim chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms in this New York region here, partly sunny in 92, the real feel in New York, 99, in Newark 103. 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.