NYC NOW - June 2, 2023: Midday News

Episode Date: June 2, 2023

It's hot hot today with an air quality alert! Queens prosecutors found an arsenal of many illegally owned weapons at Charles Foehner's home, the man who allegedly shot and killed a man who he said was trying to mug him, and some New York State lawmakers are demanding TV studios resume bargaining with the striking writers union. And finally, 13 years ago on Saturday New York City officials painted bright green strips along Prospect Park West in Brooklyn. That was the birth of some of the first protected bike lanes along with controversy and fighting about the benefits to them.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Friday, June 2nd. Here's the midday news from Tiffany Hanson. Queens prosecutors say Charles Foner had dozens of handguns and assault rifles, as well as ammo and body armor in his Q Gardens apartment. The arsenal was found as police took Foner into custody after he allegedly shot and killed a man, he says, was trying to mug him.

The incident happened in an alley off 82nd Street earlier this week. Police say Foner had claimed to the other man, Cody Gonzalez, simulated a sharp object, and demanded cash and cigarettes, and that's when Foner shot him. As for the guns, officials say most of them were illegally owned. Foner was arraigned on multiple weapons charges this morning and is scheduled to be back in court. On Monday, his lawyer could not immediately be reached for,

comment. And some New York state lawmakers are demanding TV studios resume bargaining with the striking writers union. In a letter sent today to the Association of Motion Picture and Television producers, lawmakers said studios benefit from a recent tax credit expansion in New York, yet they've failed to negotiate fair pay for their writers. This falls on one month to the day since the start of the writer's strike. The writers union is demanding fair pay amid concerns about artificial intelligence and streaming, the producers' association did not respond to a request for comment. The forecast for today includes an air quality alert, the New York State Health Department recommending limiting strenuous outdoor activity. A high of 90 this afternoon with a chance for a shower or even a

possible thunderstorm tonight. Shower is likely late, otherwise mostly cloudy with a low around 60 degrees. currently were 80 degrees in the city, 80 degrees in Central Park. 13 years ago, tomorrow New York City officials started gearing up to paint bright green strips down a treeline street alongside Brooklyn's Prospect Park. Enter the Prospect Park West Protected Bike Lane and the years of controversy surrounding it. City officials, cyclists and old school Brooklynites battled it out over the lanes and the citywide embrace of the bike they represent. Kathy Park Price is the Brooklyn organizer with the advocacy group transportation alternatives.

She was just a park slope resident back in 2010, but she says it was a different era for transportation. This is when protected bike lanes were not commonplace the way they are in many areas of New York City now. So you have to go back to a time before City Bike had docks in many areas of New York City. New York City and to a time when protected bike lanes were pretty rare. And that's part of why the lane whipped up so much controversy. Advocates like Park Price say replacing space for cars with space for bikes challenged the traditional way of doing things and surfaced some unprecedented reactions. Here's a Park Slope resident we talked to back in 2010.

The drawbacks in terms of increased traffic safety issues and the cost to the The architecture and aesthetics of Park Slope seemed to outweigh benefits. I actually can't find any benefits to having the bike lane right here. Opponents for years leaned into those arguments and took them to court. Two civic groups sued the city to get the lane removed, an effort that was dismissed and then resurrected again. City Comptroller Bradlander was called to the stand during that trial when the bike lane was being built. He was a city council member representing Park Slope. It's such a lovely addition to the neighborhood.

The idea that it could have sparked so much uproar seems hard to reconcile in retrospect. Carl Sperry is a lifelong resident of the area and has vague memories of all the fighting, but now almost everything has changed. I'm a biker now. I didn't used to be, but I've adjusted, and that's my mode of transportation of choice. And it's not just Sperry, who's adjusted city data shows riders took almost 91,000 trips on the Prospect Park, West bike lane last month alone. 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.

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