NYC NOW - Morning Headlines: Immigrant Communities Brace for Crackdown After Trump Administration Warning, Queens Hospital Redevelopment Scaled Back, and NJ Electricity Bills Set to Rise Again

Episode Date: July 23, 2025

Immigrant communities in New York are bracing for a crackdown following a warning from President Trump’s immigration czar this week. Meanwhile, plans to redevelop the abandoned Parkway Hospital in Queens into housing for low-income seniors are moving forward, but the loss of $8 million in federal funding forced developers to scrap some green energy upgrades. Plus, New Jersey residents can expect higher electricity bills next year after a deal between energy companies and the state’s grid authority.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Wednesday, July 23rd. Here's the morning headlines from Michael Hill. Immigrant communities in New York are bracing for a crackdown after a warning from President Trump's so-called immigration czar this week. Mu Zafas Christi is a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute. He says that the Trump administration does fill the city with immigrant. enforcement officers, he expects them to target work sites that are partly public. In a construction site, it's more likely because part of that is just public domain,

so they can enter the facilities more quickly. On the other hand, entering hotels and restaurants, it's harder because there you need warrants. Authorities say two undocumented immigrants with a history of crime recently attacked an off-duty customs and border patrol officer in Upper Manhattan. A new plan to turn the abandoned Parkway Hospital in Queens into housing for low-income seniors is now underway. But as WNYC's David Brand reports, the project was nearly derailed. Developer Jeff Fox says he was counting on $8 million from the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce the building's carbon emissions.

But in February, the Trump administration clawed it back, citing government waste. The removal of that funding at that late stage sent everybody in a tailspin. All of a sudden, with virtually no notice, that funding went away. Fox says he had to scrap some of the green measures and turned to the state for a smaller loan. His company began work on the site last month. The 144-unit apartment building is scheduled to open by the end of 2027. New Jerseyans can expect higher electricity bills again next year. That's after the energy industry made a deal with the state's electrical grid authority yesterday.

WNYC's Mike Hayes has more. $329.17 per megawatt per day. That's the price that energy providers in New Jersey and other states in the region agreed on with grid authority PJM. The deal guarantees that providers will have enough energy on hand to power the electrical grid when usage reaches its peak during next year's hot summer months. But the price for these megawatts jumped about $60 per day from last year. DJM says that will mean another increase in consumer bills as high as 5%. New Jersey residents just saw a 20% spike in electricity costs this June.

And then tomorrow's sunny and 88 wind gusts at 21 miles an hour. This is WNYC in New York. Thanks 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.