NYC NOW - May 3, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: May 3, 2024

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont expects both lanes of I-95 to reopen by Monday morning following a multi-vehicle crash and tanker fire that disrupted traffic in Norwalk on Thursday. In other news, police cleared a pro-Palestinian protester encampment at New York University at the request of school officials. Meanwhile, even without New Jersey's county line system, Democratic primary ballots in much of Essex County still favor the party machine, reports WNYC's Nancy Solomon. Additionally, Long Island Rail Road President Rob Free is urging Nassau County residents to utilize public transportation ahead of the congestion pricing launch. Plus, a new film series at Lincoln Center debuting on Friday showcases rare footage from Coney Island in the 1920s and Puerto Rican activists in the 1970s and much more. Finally, glass eels, essential for local wildlife but endangered, are showing signs of recovery in New York, a contrast to low populations along the Atlantic. WNYC's Rosemary Misdary has more.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Friday, May 3rd. Here's the midday news from Lance Lucky. Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont says he hopes to have both lanes of I-95 reopened by Monday morning. Damage from a multi-vehicle crash and tanker fire have been clogging up parts of the route in Norwalk since yesterday. Workers are now removing a decimated bridge from the road. that section of the highway. Norwalk schools are closed today. The city's mayor is still deciding if they'll also be closed Monday. State officials are advising people to take alternate routes or use

mass transit. Police have cleared pro-Palestinian protesters out of a tent encampment at New York University at the request of school officials. The move early this morning follows weeks of demonstrations and police confrontations at college campuses nationwide that have resulted in more than 2300 arrests. About a dozen protesters who refuse police orders to leave were arrested. Even without New Jersey's county line system, Democratic primary ballots in much of Essex County give the party machine a leg up with voters. WNYC's Nancy Solomon reports. A federal lawsuit barred Democrats this year from using the county line,

which groups candidates backed by the party all in one place on the ballot. Random drawings are now used to decide which candidate will get the top spot in separate boxes for each race. But in much of Essex County, candidates endorsed by the Democratic Party machine are still commanding the top lines. The ballots list President Biden, Andy Kim, and Mikey Cheryl in the top spots, as well as the party chairman's son, who is running for sheriff. The chance of all four candidates winning top spots in a random drawing is about 4.2%. The head of the Long Island Railroad is urging Nassau County residents to use public transportation ahead of the expected launch of congestion pricing.

L-I-Double-R President Rob Free says commuters will see the benefits of riding the rails instead of driving to Manhattan. They'll be benefiting by taking the Long Island Railroad and not sitting in bump at a bump of traffic. They'll be taking the Long Island Railroad and have a nice, easy ride into the city. He spoke after the town of Hempstead became the latest to file a lawsuit seeking to block the tolling program from going into effect. Congestion pricing will cost drivers a base fare of $15 to go south.

of 60th Street in Manhattan, the tolls could begin as soon as June 30th. The revenue will fund improvements to public transit, including new train cars for the L.I. Double R. A new film series opening at Lincoln Center today features rare footage of Coney Island in the 1920s, Puerto Rican activists occupying abandoned buildings in the 70s and much more, seeing the city. Avant-Garde Visions of New York is a five-day film festival featuring dozens of experimental and underground films made in and about New York from the 1960s through today. You can find out more about it at our news website Gothamist. It's 57 degrees now near 65 with sun and clouds this afternoon.

This is WNYC. Stay close. There's more after the break. On WNYC, I'm Michael Hill. Up and down the Hudson, there lives a creature that's vital to the river's ecosystem, but is really easy to miss. The waterways teeming with glass eels which have transparent skinned. They're a key food source for fish and birds, but they're also endangered,

and their population along the Atlantic is hovering near historic lows, except in New York, where experts say they're showing signs of a comeback. W&M.C's Rosemary and Ms. Derry has more. Fall Kale Creek baffles as it flows out of the Hudson River in Poughkeepsie, roughly 80 miles north of New York City. Along its banks, Chris Bowser oversees a state program that tracks the waterway's glass eel population. Yes, shaking those eels down, shaking them down, shaking them down, shaking them down. Keep it going, keep it going.

All right, keep pouring more water. Keep pouring that water on down. Good, good, good, good. Bowser's looking at traps that look like camping tents that have tipped over in the water. Every weekday, he and a team of citizen scientists, usually high school students and teachers, open them to count the eels. Wow. Guys, it's a lot of eels.

That's a lot of eels. These eels floated about a thousand miles as leaf-like larvae from the Sargasso Sea in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. When they reach the Hudson, they grow into glass eels two to three inches long. Up close, you can see a dot-red beating heart and the long black line of their spine,

all visible through their clear skin. When they arrive in the late winter, they sustain life in the Hudson River. Vala! Here come these ocean-flavored snacks coming up the Hudson by the hundreds of thousands and providing a ready food source for many species at a time when they need them the most.

Fish and birds feast on the eels. They also help keep the Hudson clean. They bring muscles in from the ocean, which in turn filter pollutants from the water. The fish are so tied to the waterway that their depleted numbers are felt throughout its ecosystem, even in Bowser's favorite sushi. I love to eat them.

There, I've said it. I find them delicious. I want fish populations that are managed to such a degree that we can actually take a little bit of fish from there and eat them. Along the Hudson River, the eels are showing signs of a bumpy comeback. Bowser's crew counted 25 times more of them last year than they did 15 years ago. Still, experts warn their population remains low. George Jackman is the Habitat Restoration Manager at the Advocacy Group, Riverkeeper.

We got lots of problems right now. While past over fishing decimated the once abundant snake-like fish, recent restrictions have not done much to bring them back from historic lows in the Atlantic Ocean. Jackman says dams are also thwarting their resurgence in the Hudson. Each dam obstructs 90% of the... upstream flow of a population of eels. All these little juvenile eels enter a creek. So say you got a thousand. After the first dam, you have a hundred. After the second dam, you have 10. And after the third dam, you have one. And then there are hydroelectric power stations. Eels like to swim

along the bottom of the river, where they get sucked into turbines. And if there are no screens over the turbines, the eels will become mangled. Pollution and climate change are also impacting eels. As a fatty fish, it absorbs all the river's toxins. Mary Beth Dulusha is the director of land protection at the Nature Conservancy. They accumulate toxins, so they're less healthy when they leave. So if you've got to swim from New York to the Sargasso Sea, you better be in really good shape. And if you're impacted due to water quality issues, you might not make it to the Sargasso Sea. Experts say much is unknown about the eels breeding, which makes it difficult to manage their recovery. It's death by a thousand cuts. Everything is impacting them. They're a very challenging

species to monitor. This month, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will vote either to further limit the number of eels that can be fished or leave things as they are. And that decision could have big consequences on the health of New York's largest waterway. Rosemary Ms. Derry, 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.