NYC NOW - Midday News: DOJ Sues NJ Cities Over Immigration Policies, Albany Payroll Tax Fight, Parents Frustrated by School Group Chats, and St. Marks Food Scene

Starting point is 00:00:02 Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City. From WMYC, I'm Jinnay Pierre. Happy Memorial Day. Our team is taking the day off to observe the holiday, but we're still here to keep you informed. So here's your news headlines from Michael Hill. The Justice Department is suing four New Jersey cities over their sanctuary city policies. WMIC Stephen Nesson has more. The lawsuit was filed last week against Newark, Jersey City.

Starting point is 00:00:34 Hoboken and Patterson. According to the Associated Press, the federal lawsuit targets those cities over their policies meant to protect undocumented immigrants from detention and deportation. The mayors of the four cities say they'll fight the lawsuit. In a statement, Governor Phil Murphy says a 2018 state directive restricting local police from cooperating with immigration officials still allows them to assist with criminal investigations. Prosecutors say the city's sanctuary policies are hampering the Trump administration's immigration enforcement efforts. Democrats anomaly say they cut a payroll tax for small businesses in the New York City area. Republicans say the Democrats increased it overall. I believe it might say it's John Campbell reports.

Starting point is 00:01:18 They're both right. Earlier this month, Governor Kathy Hokel and the state legislature increased the tax by more than a billion dollars a year. The money will help fund the MTA's construction program. But that hike is centered entirely on big businesses. Small businesses will actually pay less. The governor hopes that strategy will help shield her from criticism. It involves a tax cut for small businesses. So if Republicans want to criticize that, I don't think that's a good political strategy for them. Republicans say Hoke will hike the tax any way you look at it, and they intend on reminding voters when she's up for re-election next year. The New York Times is reporting that longtime Harlem Congressman Charles Rangel has died at the age of 94.

Starting point is 00:02:06 68 and partly sunny now, sunny and low 70s today. Coming up after the break, no one hates a group chat more than the parents of New York City school students. Stick around. That's next. When school ends next month, some New York parents may be sad to leave behind the routine of it all. But one thing they may not miss, The intense onslaught of parent WhatsApp chats, reporter Vito Emmanuel explains. That chime is something Renee Sufer was hearing all the time after joining a parent WhatsApp group for her daughter's school during the pandemic. She says most of the messages aren't really helpful.

Starting point is 00:03:02 There was a lot of spreading a lot of paranoia. Oh, the schools are going to shut down. They should wear masks. They shouldn't wear masks. My kids complaining every day. It was all too much. Those kinds of conversations can have an undue influence on the way that you parent or add unnecessary concerns about things. And I think it made me feel more isolated than connected because I didn't share in the sentiments. So she left the chat.

Starting point is 00:03:29 But that can be a tough choice for others. The group chats are meant to provide updates about school events like potlucks or homework assignments or a field trip. But some parents say they can quickly spiral out of control with endless notifications. Still, leaving them is in simple. easy. There's a great fear in stepping away from anything to do with our children. That's Nancy Collier. She's an author, psychotherapist, and New York City mom. She says there's cultural pressure for parents to be involved in their kids' lives. We're being demanded as parents to be in the weeds on everything, to understand everything. And I don't think it's good for our

Starting point is 00:04:05 children. And I know that it creates an enormous amount of stress to have to be involved at such a granular level. That idea that being a more involved parent makes you a better parent makes it difficult to just leave the chat. Plus, you may miss something important. Collier says her therapy clients can barely take the info fatigue. The first instinct, you know, which I get to hear about because I'm in the field here, is, are you kidding?

Starting point is 00:04:34 I have to know this too. Gossip about teachers has spread like wildfire on these WhatsApp chats, like who assigns lots of homework or who is a difficult grader. But one parent told me that parents in her group egg each other on to lodge formal complaints. So I asked the teachers union, is it worried about this? Quick answer? Not really. It's something that always happened at PTA meetings in communities and other ways. That's Christina Collins, Director of Education Policy at the United Federation of Teachers.

Starting point is 00:05:03 She says parents and students have been complaining about their teachers for probably about as long as there have been teachers. Still, she says social media presents new challenges. People may say things that they wouldn't say if it was a face-to-face conversation. So I think that's across the board a concern we have around WhatsApp. Collins isn't concerned about rumors that go too far on WhatsApp. Teachers are entitled to due process. And Colin says complaints are investigated to figure out what's true and what isn't. In the meantime, parents and teachers will just have to deal with the chatter

Starting point is 00:05:33 and hopefully get a little break from it this summer. That's reporter Vito Emanuel. One of Manhattan's iconic streets has a lot to talk. offer. And no, it's not in Times Square. St. Mark's place in the East Village has at least 63 restaurants within three blocks. Food critic Robert Seatsima actually counted them. But you know, the restaurants are always turning over. They change so quickly that unless you walk down once a week, say, you will not get a correct tally. Robert recently tried a few spots along St. Mark's with good eats. He started at Danny and Coup's cheese steaks. And if it sounds familiar, that's because

Starting point is 00:06:15 actor Bradley Cooper is one of the restaurant's partners. And sometimes he even cooks there, although I haven't seen him cooking there, but I hear reports from time to time. The places just started opening up on Wednesday and Thursday. It used to be open only on the weekends, and its only product is an $18 cheese steak of imperial length. Every little curl of meat is coated with this kind of like weird cheese that is halfway between velvita and aged cheddar. How much can you praise a cheese steak? Well, this one is one of the best that I've ever tasted. Not in a move for cheese steak? Okay. Well, Robert has another suggestion. There's a place called Electric Burrito near the corner of First Avenue and St. Marks,

Starting point is 00:07:03 right on St. Marks, that specializes in San Diego-style burritos. And you want to or what's a San Diego burrito? It has things like cheese and chorizo and stuff like that in it. But the most remarkable thing is that some of them have French fries in them. Robert says, in his opinion, adding French fries to any dish makes it better. I'd say juries out on that one. However, when it comes to regional, Chinese and Taiwanese food, Robert says St. Mark's Place has a great restaurant to satisfy your taste buds.

Starting point is 00:07:35 It's called Lung Noodles between 3rd and 2nd Avenues. It has all sorts of regional Chinese dishes, all of them involving noodles or dumplings. They have like this beef noodles with a lot of beef in it, a lot of like firm wheat noodles, and also a lot of bok choy. That's food critic Robert Sitsima. Check out his top 10 list of restaurants on St. Mark's Place at our news site, Gothamist. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WMYC. I'm Jene Pierre.

Starting point is 00:08:09 Enjoy the holiday. We'll be back. tomorrow.

NYC NOW - Midday News: DOJ Sues NJ Cities Over Immigration Policies, Albany Payroll Tax Fight, Parents Frustrated by School Group Chats, and St. Marks Food Scene

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