NYC NOW - Morning Headlines: Federal Rental Aid Ending, NYPD Deploys Queens Q-Teams, and Hudson River Canoe Journey

Episode Date: August 11, 2025

The looming end of a federal rental assistance program has New York housing officials scrambling to find alternative aid to prevent thousands from becoming homeless. Meanwhile, the NYPD will launch its “Q-teams” in Queens on Monday, targeting quality-of-life issues like abandoned cars, illegal mopeds, and noise complaints. And a PhD student from New Hampshire completes a full-length paddle down the Hudson River, arriving in the city Sunday after testing water quality along the way.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Monday, August 11th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. The upcoming end of a federal rental assistance program is forcing local housing agencies to come up with new aid or put thousands of people at risk of homelessness. WNYC's David Brin reports. Back in March, the Trump administration warned cities that the Biden era, emergency housing voucher program was about to run out of money. Local officials said they were caught off guard and had to find a new funding source to keep

low-income families in their homes. Now the New York City Housing Authority says it will transition 5,500 households from the expiring voucher to the more common Section 8 program. But they say the new decision means the agency can't issue vouchers to people who've been waiting years for new assistance to become available. The NYPD is rolling out its quality of life enforcement teams in Queens starting today. The so-called Q teams focus on everyday safety issues such as towing abandoned cars, seizing illegal mopeds, and responding to noise complaints. The units already have been deployed in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn, after a pilot program earlier this year.

Officials say those teams have handled more than 25,000 calls and seized nearly 300 illegal e-bikes and scooters. Staten Island is next, with an expansion there planned for later this month. A Ph.E. student arrived in New York City on a red canoe yesterday after paddling the entire length of the Hudson River for nearly a month. John Henkelman studies natural resource management at the University of New Hampshire. Along his journey, he'd been testing the water quality in the Hudson. Hankman started his canoeing endeavor at Henderson Lake in the Adirondacks, which is the mouth of the Hudson River. his journey is part of an initiative to raise money for charities supporting American rivers. Hankleman's journey ended yesterday, as we said, as he paddled towards the Statue of Liberty.

We're at 70 degrees right now with clear skies across the region, but we have an air quality alert starting at 11 this morning, so be careful out there. Sunny and hot on this Monday up to 88. Tomorrow's sunny and hot near 90, and then Wednesday, it looks as if we have chances of showers and thunderstorms, and hot once again at 90. for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives and subscribe wherever you get your podcast. More soon.