NYC NOW - June 27, 2023: Morning Headlines

Episode Date: June 27, 2023

Get up and get informed! Here’s all the local news you need to start your day: The New York Times reports the Federal Highway Administration has granted the city final approval to charge drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th street. According to officials, New York City is processing DNA evidence from gun crime scenes faster than any other big city in the U.S. City election officials report that under 2% of eligible voters have cast their ballots so far in the New York City primaries.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Tuesday, June 27th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. 69, some clouds out there this morning. Late afternoon showers and thunderstorms in a high near 80. New York City is one step closer to rolling on its plan to charge drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street. The New York Times reports the Federal Highway Administration has granted the city final approval of the program.

It could begin as soon as April of next year. The MTA can now decide how much to charge drivers and who will be exempt from paying. One plan suggests $23 during rush hours and $17 during off-peak hours. Officials say the plan will generate $1 billion a year for improving mass transit and will reduce traffic and pollution. New York City says it's testing DNA evidence recovered at gun crime scenes faster than any other big city in the USA. WNYC Samantha Max reports. The medical examiner's office has cut the turnaround time in half since it launched a new unit to analyze firearm-related DNA evidence last year. Chief medical examiner Jason Graham says in May, scientists completed tests in 28 days.

Faster testing results will help the criminal justice system resolve cases. as quickly as possible. Quicker turnaround times will also hasten answers to victims, families, and communities who are affected by gun violence. Mayor Adams announced last June that the medical examiner's office was in the process of hiring 24 analysts for a unit focused solely on gun crime evidence. The team is now fully staff. It's gearing up to be a low turnout election for New York City's primaries. City election officials say they received close to 60,000 ballots so far out of approximately two and a half million New Yorkers who can vote in the primary. That's a turnout of less than 2%. While turnout is lackluster so far, Harlem voters are leading the pack when it comes

to early voting. The City Council primary in Harlem's 9th District is drawing out the largest number of voters of any council race so far, election data show. Polls open. just a few minutes ago and they closed tonight at 9 o'clock. 69 and mostly cloudy now, late afternoon showers and thunderstorms and a high near 80. 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.