NYC NOW - June 23, 2023: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: June 23, 2023

New York will offer more legal protections for abortion providers to prescribe medication to patients out of state. Plus, the Port Authority is moving forward with plans to boost bus service to and from LaGuardia Airport. And finally, we share a few summer getaway ideas from the WNYC newsroom.

Good evening and welcome to NYC Now. I'm Junae Pierre for WNYC. A newly signed New York State law will shield abortion providers who prescribe abortion pills to out-of-state patients, in part by preventing New York from cooperating with states who try to bring charges. Governor Kathy Hoke will sign the law Friday morning. She says she's sending a message to anti-abortion states.

You can continue hell-bent down your path on continuing this radical behavior. but we'll be just as hell-bent in stopping you. There are already workarounds for people who live in other states, like ordering pills from abroad or using a forwarding address. But Hogle says the new law will allow New York providers to mail pills to people directly. This Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision,

which overturned federal abortion protections. The Port Authority is moving forward with plans to boost bus service to and from LaGuardia Airport. WNYC's Stephen Nesson has the details. On Thursday, the Port Authority approved $30 million in funding to start the process of building a dedicated bus lane on the Q70 line. The money will also go toward creating a new route running from the Astoria Dipmar's Boulevard subway stop. These lines will only use electric buses.

The plan comes after Governor Hockel killed former Governor Cuomo's $2 billion air train to LaGuardia. The cost for getting both bus routes up and running is $500 million. It could be completed in five years. Stick around. There's more after the break. It's officially summer, a time when many of us start daydreaming about beaches and vacations. But if you don't have much time in your schedule, there are lots of great weekend getaways and day trips you can take advantage of right here in our region.

And they don't even involve a car. WMYC's David First asked reporters in our newsroom for some of their suggestions. So here are some ideas for easy getaways from New York City all using public transportation. We start on the Jersey Shore with WNYC's Sophia Chang. I'm a fan of Point Pleasant Beach, which is on the Jersey Shore, and it has a classic boardwalk with arcades and aquariums and games galore and people watching and tons of roller coaster rides. It's just a really special place. From the city, you would take a two-hour bus ride from a. Ford Authority, or what I like to do is go to Penn Station and take New Jersey Transit on the

North Jersey Coast Line. It takes you right to Point Pleasant Station, and then it's about a 15-minute walk to the beach. The first time I went, I said to my husband, like, let's make sure our child can have a souvenir, let's budget like $10. And my husband, who did grow up on the Jersey Shore, just looked at me and said, we're going to win the souvenir. And of course, that took a lot more than $10. So it's the classic, like, throw the baseball at the pitchers and, you know, try to aim the water cannon into a character's mouth. All the stuff that is just classic arcades. And after taking the train back from Point Pleasant, newsroom editor Christian Santana says we should consider a walk in the garden. I chose Untermeier Park and Gardens.

It's located just north of the city in Yonkers in Westchester. and it's a public park made up of the restored remnants of what used to be an estate. It's very easy to just spend the day wandering through the gardens there. They're very beautiful. It actually overlooks the Hudson River, and you can see really stunning views of the palisades from the section called the Overlook. When I go there, I usually take the one train all the way to the end of the line at 242nd Street in the Bronx. And then from there, you can catch the Westchester B-line bus.

It's the number two bus. And that'll leave you just across the street from the gardens. Alternatively, if you take the Metro North, you can get off at the Greystone Station. But from there, it's pretty much a 20-minute uphill walk. So only do that if you're up for some exercise. I recommend taking the bus instead. That's only for the truly intrepid, I feel. Definitely bring water either way.

The park doesn't sell food or water, so you should bring your own. It's really peaceful, and I think it's a great place to just. get away from it all. After a cleansing stroll, reporter Jacqueline Jeffrey Wollenski says it's time to head back to the beach, this time on Long Island. The place I chose is Long Beach, New York, a pretty sleepy beach town on the south shore of Long Island, accessible by the Long Island Railroad. And honestly, if I'm being real, like, it's not that much of a destination, but in my opinion, it is one of the nicest beaches that you can reach by train from New York City. The water is just really nice, the sand is soft and sloping, and there's not, like, gross seaweed in the water all

the time, the waves are gentle, but, like, you still, if you're all about, like, swimming and, like, laying out and doing those core beach activities, I think it doesn't get better than that. The way that you get to Long Beach, it depends on where you're starting from, but in most cases, it starts with getting on the Long Island Railroad, you take it all the way to the end of the Long Beach line, Long Beach Station, and then it's about a 10-minute walk, and you're there. Once you get off the train, you pretty much have everything you need for a beach day. You can stop by the grocery store for snacks and drinks and sandwich fixings. You can stroll down to the beach.

You do have to pay, which is annoying. It's like maybe $15. You can also just be like me and bum a seasonal beach pass off a friend or family member. It's about an hour on the train. It depends a little bit on whether you have to transfer at Jamaica that can make it longer or shorter. I definitely feel like I've gotten away. you just step off the train and the air feels fresher and cooler compared to the sort of like damp, close, humid air when I step outside my apartment in Brooklyn. And it just feels like you get to take a deep breath and you're like, ah, like I'm somewhere different.

Nice. Thanks to Jacqueline Jeffrey Wollenski, Christian Santana, and Sophia Chang for sharing their getaway ideas with WNYC's David First. For more on easy car-free trips from New York City, just go to gothamist.com. for listening to NYC Now from WNYC. Our production team includes Sean Boutich, Ave Carrillo, Audrey Cooper, Leora Noam Kravitz, Jared Marcel, and Wayne Schollmeister,

with help from the entire WNYC newsroom. Our show art was designed by the folks at Buck, and our music was composed by Alexis Quadrado. I'm Jene Pierre. We'll be back Monday.