NYC NOW - Midday News: Stolen Phones, SI Ferry Concessions, and December Meteor Showers

Episode Date: December 2, 2024

new law now requires companies to immediately disable stolen cell phones. WNYC’s Charles Lane has more. Meanwhile, Staten Island Ferry riders can expect onboard concession stands to return within the next two months under a new agreement with the coffee and doughnut company, Dunkin’. Also, December will bring some great stargazing opportunities with meteor showers and other celestial events. WNYC’s Rosemary Misdary has the details.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City. From WMYC. It's Monday, December 2nd. Here's the midday news. I'm Jean-Aid. A new law requires companies to cut service to cell phones as soon as someone reports them stolen. Here's WMYC's Charles Lane. The law aims to eliminate thieves' incentive to steal cell phones by quickly making them inoperable.

Right now, some stolen phones can still be used internationally or through Wi-Fi connections, the legislation says. Hockel signed it into law this week. The law is named after NYPD Detective Brian Simmons, who was killed in 2019 during the robbery of a T-Mobile store. Police said Simonson confronted a man who was holding a fake gun. They said he was killed accidentally by a fellow police officer in a hail of more than 40 bullets. The NYPD detectives union called the law the best memorial, Simmons, and could have. Major cell phone companies did not respond to your request for comment.

Some good news for Stad Niley Ferry riders, the service's onboard concession stands, are coming back. The city's Transportation Department and Economic Development Corporation say the snack and refreshment bars on the ferries will be back within the next two months. They've been closed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. They'll be operated by coffee and donut chain Duncan as part of a 10-year agreement with the city. The Staten Island Ferry is the country's busiest municipal ferry service, about 45,000 passengers ride it on an average weekday. 34 degrees, mostly sunny and chilly. Today, you can expect highs around 39.

Clear skies tonight with lows around 32, and it'll be sunny again on Tuesday with a high around 41. Stay close. There's more after the break. On WNYC, I'm David First. As the holiday lights go up around New York City, the December skies will also be shining with a colorful cosmic show. WNYC's Rosemary Midsdairy joins us for her monthly rundown of astronomical highlights. Welcome back. Great to be back, David. Okay, so if we bundle up and head to an appropriate dark location at night and look up, what can we see this month?

You will see one of the best meteor showers of the year. It's like they save the best. for last, or called the Geminids, that goes until Christmas Eve, and it peaks December 13th with about 120 very bright, very colorful, and very fast meteors per hour. Really colorful? Yes, it's almost like they're in holiday lights. You'll see red, green, and blue. It depends on its chemical composition. But the thing is, is that when it peaks on December 13th, it's not going to be the best time to it. So if you want to see a really good show, you might want to catch the meteor shower the first nine days of the month, mostly because there'll be less moonlight. That's why the 13th is not a good

date, because it's really close to the full moon. There's a full moon on December 15th. And the key to all really good stargazing is getting the darkest sky you can. And part of that is avoiding when the moon is very close to full. And my rule of thumb for that is the eight days. The eight days before or after the new moon, including the new moon itself. So it's between the new moon in the first quarter or the last quarter in the new moon. And that's when the moon is, appears its smallest. It's really easy to find that information out. I use the old farmer's almanac, the trusty and tried true source, but you can also go online and do a search of moon phases for the month of December. And it'll show you what phase the moon is in each day this

month, and that'll help you figure out what days are the best for going stargazing. All right. Well, I definitely want to catch the colorful Geminids meteor shower. But what planets can we see this month? The first planet that's going to rise in the sky is going to be Venus. It's going to be super bright. Many people look up in the sky and they see this really bright object and they think that must be a plane that hasn't moved in a really long time or it's a satellite. That is, in fact, Venus. You'll see it just after sunset. That'll be the first to rise. rise and it's very bright and it tends to be lower in the sky. And you'll see it in the western portion of the sky. Okay, so Venus, the airplane that hasn't moved in a very long time, got it.

The next up is going to be Jupiter and that's going to rise around 7 p.m. And this month, it's going to be very bright because it's going to be in opposition. And that just means it's going to be at its closest position to the Earth. And so you'll be able to see that all month long. But December 7th is when it's at its exact closest position to the Earth. But also on, if you see all these bright pinpoints in the sky and you can't figure out which one is which, on December 14th, you'll see Jupiter appear next to the full moon and Torres's red star Aldebaran. So you can place it using other things in the night sky as well. Well, Rosemary, Ms. Derry, thanks again for planning our December stargazing. And once again, dress appropriately. It's, you know,

gets extra cold when you're, you know, standing still on a winter night. Yes, especially when you are looking for meteors, because if you're going to look for meteors, you're going to be lying on your back and you're going to be out there for a half an hour, maybe an hour, and you're going to want to dress warm. Okay, bring along that coat. Thanks, Rosemary. Thank you. Thanks for listening.

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