NYC NOW - May 28, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: May 28, 2024

A plan to bring a casino to Queens appears to be dead after State Senator Jessica Ramos said she won't allow parkland near Citi Field to be converted. In other news, a man in New Jersey is facing a state weapons charge after TSA agents at Newark Airport found a loaded handgun in his backpack over Memorial Day weekend. Meanwhile, severe flooding is becoming more common in low-lying, inland sections of New York City. In response, city officials are planning a voluntary buyout program for properties in one section of Flushing, Queens. But as WNYC’s David Brand reports, the city’s housing shortage and high prices complicate these plans. Finally, after 30 years, the Concourse Plaza Multiplex Cinemas in the South Bronx is closing on Tuesday, leaving the borough with just one theater. WNYC’s Amanda Rozon reports that many residents are upset.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Tuesday, May 28th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. A plan to bring a casino to Queens appears to be dead. State Senator Jessica Romo says she will not allow parkland in New York City Field to be turned into a casino and entertainment complex. After three town halls, a poll, a survey, and I can't tell you how many conversations I've had around the district, I've concluded that the vast majority of our neighbors would not welcome a casino in our backyard. Ramos's approval was necessary for the Metropolitan Park project in her district.

Metz-honor Steve Cohen has proposed this project and has not yet responded to Ramos's rejection. but Queensboro President Donovan Richards supports the project and he says no one single elected official should be the sole arbiter of this $8 billion investment in our borough. A Newark man is facing a state weapons charge in New Jersey after TSA agents at Newark Liberty International Airport say they found a loaded handgun in his backpack and Port Authority police arrested him over the Memorial Day weekend. The TSA says the man faces fines of $15,000 for. bringing a gun to a security checkpoint. Agents say the man had a 9-millimeter handgun packed with two gun magazines containing 30 bullets. The TSA is reminding travelers that those with concealed carry permits may carry firearms onto airplanes if they're unloaded, packed securely in checked luggage, and declared to the airline.

76 and sunny now, sunny and 83 today with a chance of afternoon showers and storms tomorrow and 78. Stay close. There's more after the break. NYC. Severe flooding is becoming more common in low-lying inland sections of the five boroughs. Now city officials are discussing plans for a voluntary buyout program to acquire vulnerable properties in one section of flushing queens. But as WNYC's David Brand reports, the city's housing shortage and skyrocketing prices make those plans even more complicated.

Vinicia Vijay-Iraja lives with her fan. on a block surrounded by lush Casina Park. It's a two-story tan house with a wind chime hanging near the front door and a basketball hoop on the concrete patio. But it floods a lot. Their basement overflowed during Hurricane Ida. Around the corner, three people drowned. She says she worries every time it rains.

Yeah, we don't sleep. We don't sleep. We just keep them watching, opening the door every single I see if the rain increases. Yeah. Now the city's Department of Invivision, The city's Department of Environmental Protection is also watching. They're publicly discussing buying properties in this three-block stretch as a strategy to protect people from constant flooding.

DEP Commissioner Ritt Agarwal says there's no concrete buyout plan yet, but it would be the first time the city purchased inland properties to protect against flooding. It's obvious that Casina Park is one of the places that has suffered the most from flooding across the city. The area used to be marshland in a stream. before a developer carved it into lots decades ago. Now the water's coming back. But Agarwal says a serious housing shortage could complicate buyout plans.

Where a housing-constrained city, like buying a home and turning it into something that's not a home, has got to be one of the last resorts you can imagine. It's not like everybody has a lot of options right now in housing in New York City. Homeowners in the neighborhood tell WNYC they'd be interested in selling to the city. But it's really hard to find a comparable place, at a decent price. Tenants are affected, too. Alvaro Sierra cleans restaurants

and says he lives there with his family because it's affordable. Back at her house on 153rd Street, Vijay Araja says she and her family want to learn more about a buyout. She says water destroyed their cars and appliances, ruined wedding photos and diplomas, and left them chronically anxious.

She has videos of the murky water filling the basement and sloshing through their house. She says she'd be open to a move. It does seem good as long as we're getting Market Valley and we relocated to another location where we're not affected with the flooding because the damage that the flood did to us. But she says her neighborhood might be hard to match. As long as they find an area that is no flood will come

and it has to be convenient to work, school. So this area, a lot of people don't move because we have easy access to transportation, so bus, train, and then the main street where everything is there. The city's also proposing some major infrastructure projects like underground storage tanks and bigger sewer pipes to reduce flooding. The DEP is holding a series of public meetings with residents

to discuss the options. David Brand, WNYC News. Bronx residents who want to watch a movie in theaters will soon have only one place in the borough to do that. After more than 30 years in business, the Concourse Plaza Multiplex Cinemas in the South Bronx is closing today. WNMAC's Amanda Rousone

reports that for many residents, that's just not an inconvenience, it's also devastating. There's a sizable crowd at the theater for a Monday night. Most people are here to either see the new kids movie If or the latest installment

of the Planet of the Apes franchise. Caesar Ortiz is playing a motorcycle arcade game with his kids in the lobby. It's heartbreaking, you know, for the kids and whoever else in the community keep people entertained. You know, a little family night. You know, people need that.

Now, he and his family will have to hop on the train and cross into Manhattan for the nearest theater. That's a 30-minute ride, whereas the Concourse Theater is conveniently up the street from his family's apartment. We have a lot of memories here. We've been coming here since 99, maybe. We grew up here.

Yeah, it's traditional, you know. The movie theater first opened in 1991. It's in a shopping center on 161st Street, on the lower level of a mall which is, mostly empty now. 34-year-old Bronx resident, Constance Scott, says she's not surprised the theater's closing. I just hate that in the Bronx.

They're constantly taking away things from the kids. You know how they say that there's no more third spaces anymore? This was like a third space. Like, you're home, you have school, home, and then you have other places you can hang out with your friends. What's happening in the Bronx is happening across the country. According to the National Cinema Foundation, the U.S. lost more than 5% of movie screens between 2019 and 2020.

But Bronx official Rosemary Days, who chairs the municipal services committee for Community Board 4, says losing this movie theater is one more blow to a borough that's already plagued by divestment. It's a reminder that kind of we're like last on the totem pole, you know, and we feel sometimes that other folks feel like we're not worthy. We're not worthy of nice things. Starting tomorrow, residents in this area who want to see a movie in the Bronx will have to go to the AMC at Bay Plaza, almost 10 miles away. Amanda Roseone, 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. Also subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

We'll be back this evening.