NYC NOW - Morning Headlines: Gov. Hochul Considers Extra School Meals During Federal Shutdown, Mamdani’s Rent Freeze Plan Faces Hurdles, and Overdose Deaths Drop Across NYC

Episode Date: October 28, 2025

Governor Kathy Hochul says she’s exploring whether schools can send extra meals home to students if the federal shutdown disrupts food stamp benefits. Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s plan to freeze rents for stabilized tenants could face obstacles from the current administration. And new city data shows drug overdose deaths fell nearly 30 percent last year, with declines in every borough.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City. From WNYC, it's Tuesday, October 28th. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. The federal government shutdown could mean a lapse in food stamp benefits for nearly 3 million New Yorkers next month. That's starting this weekend. WNYC's John Campbell reports the state is looking at ways to help those in need. Governor Kathy Hokel says she's exploring whether schools can give kids extra. meals to take home at the end of the day.

It would be an expansion of the state's new universal school meal program. But the governor says there would be legal hurdles since the program applies to meals served in the schools themselves. I'm trying to get real creative here, my friends, because we're in a desperate situation. The governor says she'll announce her full strategy in the coming days. So far, she's sped up about $40 million in funding for food pantries that are bracing for extra demand. Democratic mayoral nominee, Zeran Mundani, has vowed to freeze the rent for tenants and stabilized apartments if he's elected next week.

WNYC's David Brand reports that current mayor could make that harder, but not impossible. Six of the nine members of the Rent Guidelines Board are still serving, even though their official terms expired. Mayor Adams is currently considering appointing new members whose terms will last well into the next mayor's tenure. State law allows the mayor to remove board members for cause, but it doesn't actually define what constitutes cause. That means Momdani could try to fire Adam's appointees and name his own picks if he's elected mayor. Experts say it's never been done before and could result in a court challenge. Momdani says he would use whatever powers he has to secure a rent freeze. His opponents in the race have criticized his pledge.

Drug overdose deaths are declining in New York City mirroring a national. national trend. New data shows about 2,200 New Yorkers died from overdoses last year. That's down nearly 30 percent from two years ago. Overdose deaths were down in every borough with the biggest improvement on Staten Island. The Bronx has been hit the hardest by the overdose crisis and saw a 24 percent decline in deaths last year, but its fatal overdose rate is still more than double that of Manhattan. Taking a look at your forecast, we're at 47 degrees, some clouds out there right now, increasing clouds, mid-50s for a high temperature today. Winds gusting up to 25 miles an hour.

And then tonight, mid-40s, wind gusts still up there, 24 miles an hour. And then tomorrow, wind gusts still up there again, up to 25 miles an hour with a slim chance of late morning rain in a high temperature in the mid-50s. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC. Check us out for updates every weekday, three times a date, for the latest news headlines,

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